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Vultures and the remains of a train station
Vultures and the remains of a train station
itripn


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Abandoned Buildings (Basic Editing III)
Camera: Canon PowerShot G3
Location: Portland, OR
Date: Apr 10, 2005
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO: auto
Shutter: 1/1024
Galleries: Black and White
Date Uploaded: Apr 10, 2005

 I really liked this building -- but it was behind first a no trespassing sign, and second a large barbwire fence on some land some chemical company owns now (grrr). My wife pulled up in front of the building, which is about 600ft from the entrance to the chemical company, where a security guard hut stood.

I hopped out of the car, not expecting any trouble -- as I walked up the fence, my wife yelled out that the guard was watching me. I waved my camera and pointed at the old building. I then took a few shots, but couldn't get the angle I wanted. I looked over and then 2 men were standing there surveying my behavior. I took a couple more shots, and walked back to the car.

My wife suddenly pointed out the turkey vultures circling the building, and I pulled the camera out in time to catch one landing on the clock tower. I was far away, and don't have any reasonable telephoto.

Every ounce of processing (levels and constrast) was to make up for the fact that I didn't set my camera setting correctly for the lighting (was too nervous about the guards), so the building was dark and the sky was overwhelming. I do not expect it to do well at all.

Here are my steps, which I believe adhere to the basic rules:

cropped
adjusted levels to compensate for extreme darkness
unsharp mask
adjust contrast and bightness up to taste
decompose to red/green/blue channels
eliminated red channel
mixed blue in at 11% with green at 100%, in NORMAL mode
flattened image
rotate -.3 deg
reduce contrast/brightness to make up for overwhelming white sky
adjust levels back towards white a tad
resize
border

Statistics
Place: 327 out of 500
Avg (all users): 4.9595
Avg (commenters): 4.7273
Avg (participants): 4.8085
Avg (non-participants): 5.2222
Views since voting: 883
Views during voting: 390
Votes: 296
Comments: 13
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Fujifilm X-M1
Fujifilm XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS
 04/19/2005 09:29:02 PM
I dont even wanna drive by this place!!
8 for scaring the crap ouuta me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1
Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko
 04/19/2005 01:40:50 PM
I passed by this on the first go-around, voting only, as needed to come back to it.
That being done, the post-processing used here makes this look like a 40-50 yer photograph. Well seen !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony DSC-S85
 04/19/2005 08:47:21 AM
focus is off..
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-300D Rebel
 04/18/2005 11:41:20 AM
nice pix. whites need work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Fujifilm FinePix S3000
 04/18/2005 09:56:58 AM
This is a nice image. I like the fact that the building looks so old. I also like the fact that the image was taken in black and white. Nice work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-70D
Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM
 04/15/2005 11:58:00 AM
Focus is a little soft. I think the detail in the roof shingles would have been good to bring out. A little more contrast would have brought out the details a little better as well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-40D
Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon
 04/14/2005 11:08:11 PM
focus looks a bit soft. Good idea to go with B&W. 6
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
 04/14/2005 04:19:02 PM
Seems to be out of focus.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D300
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED
 04/14/2005 11:06:23 AM
focus seems a little soft, but a good subject with a nice composition, save that it may be a little tilted down to the right
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
 04/14/2005 02:36:27 AM
vultures? really?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 04/13/2005 10:48:47 PM
Seems a bit soft.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM
 04/13/2005 05:25:04 PM
Hmmm... I think someone else entered a photo of this same building. Anyway, you did a good job. The birds add a nice touch.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/13/2005 03:42:09 AM
Don't like the border or the grayish tone of the sky.
The birds on the roof make it special.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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