stairway

[Dennis Bishop]

Oberlin is a small-town gem in north-central Ohio. The Monroe House, built in 1866, is now part of the Oberlin Heritage Society. It originally belonged to General Giles Shurtleff who lead the first African-American regiment from Ohio that fought in the Civil War. For a time afterwards, it was the home of James and Julia Monroe. He was an abolitionist and advocate of voting rights for African-Americans, a professor at Oberlin College, a member of the US House of Representatives, and a US Consul to Rio de Janeiro. This stairway to an open hall on the second floor is in that house.





iPhone 5s, PureShot camera app, ISO 200, three-shot HDR in 2 EV increments, iPro Super Wide auxiliary lens

processing highlights

• Most of the intentional distortion of the stairway is from the wide angle lens, but it was augmented with the fisheye option in Edit>Transform>Warp.
• Topaz Simplify -- saved watercolor preset
• Alien Skin Snap Art -- saved watercolor wash preset, Hard Light blend mode
• Nik Silver Efex for conversion to black & white
• Fractalius -- three saved black-on-white presets; Multiply, Divide, Multiply
• Snap Art and Simplify -- saved black-on-white edges presets, Multiply
• Accented Edges filter -- masked off lower right
• Nik Color Efex -- Pastel and Darken/Lighten Center (used to darken the center, probably for the first time), partially masked off the bottom
• Belle Fleur vintage frame texture with a clipped Black & White adjustment layer
• Nik Analog Efex -- to add some character

[Diane Miller]

I was about to post an "orbital" when I saw this. Mind-reading??

These old houses are treasures! I love the recursive curve here, and wonderful antique finish. I'm not so sure about the border, though -- it keeps pulling my eye away from the wonderful image.

[Adhika Lie]

The composition on this one is amazing. Maybe a tad more contrast, but I really like it, Dennis. But I agree with Diane. The border is not my favorite thing in this image.

[Dennis Bishop]

Thanks for your comments, Diane and Adhika. The frame / border seems to fit with the woodwork, and I wouldn't be surprised to see something like it in the house. However, it does make sense to subdue it.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Dennis,

Greetings. Very cool! It reminds me of something by M. C. Escher... almost a Möbius strip. I particularly like the overall look - graphic? sketched? whatever you might call it. Maybe a little more contrast in the wall paper on the right as it goes up the wall. I actually kinda like the border but could see the top, right and left edges toned down to about half way between the OP and the repost.

Thanks for posting.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Diane Miller]

Actually, I think what distracts me about the border is the tension created by how close it is to the frame edge. A little more white space would make it feel better, for me. There is more space on the right, too, which makes it even more attention-getting.

[Anita Bower]

Excellent. I love the curves and the beautiful wood details on the stairs. The stairs are the main focus of attention because of their beauty and curves, and because they are darker than the rest of the image. I like being able to see the surroundings -- wallpaper, continuation of the stairs, doorway-- if I want to after I've examined the stairs. The border doesn't bother me--it seems in keeping with the stair designs. Until I saw the bottom border, I thought of this image as a stamp. Very nice work.

[Nancy Bell]

Very, very cool! I looked in Edit>Transform>Warp and did not find a fish eye option. Which version of PS are you using? And as always, I am impressed with your vision of the final product that you must have in your mind before you do your processing. So much of what I do seems to come under the willy-nilly and let's see what happens approach!

[Anita Bower]

Very, very cool! I looked in Edit>Transform>Warp and did not find a fish eye option. Which version of PS are you using? And as always, I am impressed with your vision of the final product that you must have in your mind before you do your processing. So much of what I do seems to come under the willy-nilly and let's see what happens approach!

I completely agree with Nancy.