A window to the past

[Grady Weed]

Canon EOS 5D, Shooting Date/Time: 3/28/2009 13:18:33, Shutter Speed 1/20Sec. Av(Aperture Value) F16, Evaluative metering, Exposure Compensation 0, ISO 100, Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM @ 38mm, RAW, White Balance: Auto. One-Shot AF, Monochrome, hand held. 1 0f 3 images. Full frame for a 12 x 18 print. Cloudy over cast skies, dappled light at times with the sun going in and out every few seconds.

This a side wall of an old barn up here in Maine. I made this image the same time as the Maple buckets and the old Plymouth car. It was a good day spent with my wife as strolled the countryside looking for the past. Please let me know what you like or do not like. All comments welcomed and constructive critiques appreciated.

[Robert Amoruso]

Grady,

Thanks for posting this cool looking image. There is much to like about it - the details in the weathered wood, use of diagonals, etc.

Lacking is the landscape element. Grady posted an old car in the forest a few days back. It was an extreme close-up of the front of the car and lacked any significant natural element. I moved it to the Travel and Cityscapes forum.

So that everyone reading this knows, I talked to Grady on the phone yesterday and asked if I could leave this image here and discuss how people feel about this type of photography in the landscape forum. Or do we need a new critique forum for "Urban Landscapes"? In no way does this question or this discussion reflect negatively on Grady.

Grady had a good point during our conversation, which being from New England myself I understand. In the winter up there, photography many times lends itself to concentrating on the details like Grady has done here.

The problem with the Travel and Cityscape forum, it is not a critique forum. So if you want a critique, what do you do?

So I am interested it what you all think. Is a new forum a good idea to capture these types of images? Leave them in Landscapes Forum?

I will have some of my own thoughts to add later but for now I just kick this discussion off.

[Dave Mills]

Well heres my two cents...I find that there are many subjects that the site doesn't have a section for. When I wanted to post some car show images I had to put it in travel since there was no other place. Grady's window is a good example of where to put it. Travel doesn't seem like the right place to go since it doesn't represent that. There should be a critiqued section where all other images go that don't meet the criteria of the other sections. Some of the images I recently put in OOTB were converted to B&W or had effects added otherwise they would have gone to travel. I feel there is a definate need for that "other" section...

[Robert Amoruso]

Thanks Dave, I appreciate your input.

[Robert Amoruso]

Please see the Sticky related to the questions raised in this thread.

Link: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=33402

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Grady,
Nice use of the tones and textures. Very interesting. I am OK with this in the landscape forums......as it is a part of a landscape. Not too hung up on the nature/city thing.

[Kim Rollins]

Grady -

I like the image here.

I have thought about making a gallery of only old windows and doors as I have a few myself.

[John Ippolito]

Grady, I think you did a very nice job on the composition and the conversion. Great texture and a full palette of gray tones. Well done.

[Grady Weed]

Thank you all for your kind remarks. Whatever the outcome here as to a new forum or just moving this image to wherever Robert feels it should go, I will always find BPN a great place to park my carcass, I mean images.

Thanks Robert for your hard work here at BPN.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

These days I hardly photograph landscapes. However, landscape obviously means nature. I am ok if you focus on a interesting part of a mountain to show the textures or if one shows the awesome wilderness lying infront of us. I certainly won't place closeups of man made structures in the landscape section.

I like this image. One can certainly find lot of interesting compositions in old dilapidated buildings and structures.

[Robert Amoruso]

Thanks Sabyasachi for your input.

My feeling is that some essence of nature needs to exist in an image for us to be able to include it here and in this case I do not believe that this image is an appropriate location for this image. As this was the source of a discussion on this issue, the image remains here as part of that discussion. Thanks to all for the input.