Industry's Ghosts...

[Bearface]

Stephen and I found a great place last year for photographing old, decaying machinery. Yesterday the light was good, so we made a trip back there to shoot some more.

Here are a few of mine. They're mainly abstract interpretations rather than scenic shots, so it'll be interesting to see how Stephen saw the place; I haven't seen any of his images yet :D

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/685/018e.jpg

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/685/052e.jpg

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/685/041e.jpg

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/685/017e.jpg

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/685/007e.jpg

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/685/089e.jpg

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/685/075e.jpg

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/685/086e.jpg


Thanks for looking :)

[Ian]

That's a lovely set of images, Tim - nicely done :) t-up

The one of the link chain is blurred at the edges - I would guess that you added that intentionally? Is that right? It doesn't look like usual lens blur as it has a directional aspect to it.

Are these imags purely for personal fun or do they have some commercial value in your work?

Ian

[Pol]

Wot phun! I especially like the fifth one - the one with the handle lever thingy with knobs on the end (some sort of door seal handle?) Very good depth of field on that'n ..... looks good enough to reach out and grab/turn the handle.

Pol

[Pops]

Very different. Lots of detail to seek out and I particularly like the No5. The handle really jumps out at me.
A site to invoke emotion.

[Bearface]

That's a lovely set of images, Tim - nicely done :) t-up

The one of the link chain is blurred at the edges - I would guess that you added that intentionally? Is that right? It doesn't look like usual lens blur as it has a directional aspect to it.

Thanks Ian :)

Yeah, the chain image has had some motion blur applied to the edges, the idea being that at one time it would've been driving something or other, so it's likely that during it's career, life would've been vigorous and fast-paced. Now it's lies motionless, exposed to the elements in retirement. I thought the contrast would be best highlighted with the motion blur.

It's a very simple process to achieve - you select the area you want to remain sharp and detailed; I made an oval-shaped area with the lassoo tool. You then invert (select >> invert) the selection and feather it (select >> feather) according to your needs. On any 6MP or larger image, you need to set the feather value to at least 100 to achieve a smooth transition, I'd suggest. You then go into filter >> blur >> motion blur and adjust both the strength of the blurring and the direction of it; I chose to have mine flow with the dominant lines of the chains. All this assumes you use Photoshop, of course - my version is CS2.

Are these images purely for personal fun or do they have some commercial value in your work?



Well I never consider this sort of thing to be real work (and I know Stephen feels the same way), but I do have an area of my business in which we market our images via the photowall concept (MyFotoWall). We recently became a reseller for the company and essentially the concept is applying images to entire walls (mostly interior walls) in cafes, bars, restaurants, board rooms, receptions and many other places in the form of an advanced, visually seamless wallpaper. The process used to enlarge files is top secret, but the company have full wall images which originated from 3MP digicams (and they're flawless to the naked eye), so our Canon DSLRs are more than up to the job :D

The images here will be used for the MyFotoWall area of our business, plus a few will go in the art portfolio. Commercial clients love to see your personal work (even if you're there to discuss shooting interiors or products) because it gives them an insight into your vision and creativity, which your regular commercial shots don't always portray fully. Hope that answers your question :D

[Stephen]

Great set of images Tim, and some good sympathetic processing. Not had much time to do anything with mine today. Oddly enough, though we were quite a long way away from each other whilst shooting at this site, I've got 3 of those shots almost identical to yours :)

Tim was shooting with a 17-40 lens with his FF camera, whilst I was using a 24-70 with my 1.3x crop camera. I think its significant when it comes to depth of field, many of mine were shot nearer 70mm and at f.8-11 ish and I sometimes feel I needed more. I often took 2 or 3 of the same shot but at different apertures just to see which I liked the best. Still I picked 63 out of 115 to look further at, so I think thats pretty good.

[Stephen]

Finally got round to processing a few of the images from that shoot. These were 3 I was quite pleased with.

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/542/IMG_8565.jpg

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/542/IMG_8651.jpg

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/542/IMG_8571.jpg

[Bearface]

Finally got round to processing a few of the images from that shoot. These were 3 I was quite pleased with.



Nice. I like the first because guages and dials just do it for me, the second because I didn't really get any great shots of the freight wagon and yours looks great in mono, and the third because it shows how nature has begun the slow process of taking back what it gave up for industry. That place is a gold mine, if you get my drift ;)

[Stephen]

Nice. I like the first because guages and dials just do it for me, the second because I didn't really get any great shots of the freight wagon and yours looks great in mono, and the third because it shows how nature has begun the slow process of taking back what it gave up for industry. That place is a gold mine, if you get my drift ;)

Indeed I do :)
Here's another I've just finished playing with, nothing fancy done to it, however its worth noting that all except the B/W shot and the frames which are created with an action, all the processing was done in Lightroom

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/542/IMG_8654.jpg

[Bearface]

Indeed I do :)
Here's another I've just finished playing with, nothing fancy done to it, however its worth noting that all except the B/W shot and the frames which are created with an action, all the processing was done in Lightroom

That's superb. The treatment, feel and DOF give it a similar look to my handle shot (the 5th, I think) posted above. This is a really good shot.

[coupekid]

Hi Tim and Stephen,

Some super images there, nice textures.

I particularly like Tims chains, and Stephens cog, I am wondering whether two could be combined in layers, withthe opacity turned right down on one of the image, I reckon they would compliement each other, and fit in nicely with your title Tim! ;)

[Jocelyn Walker]

Hi Tim, I love your pics. The textures & colours are grreat. I enjoyed the first more! Not saying my pic is anywhere near as good as yours, but it reminded me of the old wheel pic I took! That came out well with the textures & colours of the corrosion! Quite fascinating! I'm really grateful for your tips on how to do the feathering when selecting blurs. I've always been in a quandry as to what size to make the feathering. I was using aroung 5, but you are saying to use up to 100 with any pic taken with 6 MP or more! I will give that a bash as I really enjoy incorporating blurs to some of my work! Thanks...all tips appreciated muchly!

[vlarcombe]

To you both: *clap *clap *clap *clap *clap

As for me: *sob

Wonderfully evocative images, which are both an inspiration and joy.

Vernon.

[DennisP]

Both of you, some great shots of long abandoned relics of a fast declining industrial heritage. Just the type of shots I enjoy seeking out, although we here down south do not have many sites such as you have access to there 'oop north'. !!!. I envy you in having such opportunities, although as an ex-northern lad it is tinged with sadness to see the continual loss of so much industry, from where much of it all began.

[Bearface]

Thanks all for the feedback.......it's good to know that we're not the only ones who love old, decaying stuff :D