In My Back Pocket - Photography
'It is not what you look at that matters. It's what you see.' – Henry David Thoreau
Derelict Farmhouse II
The front face or façade of a derelict farmhouse precedes a wooden grain shed and newer, state of the art grain silos. The image contrasts new, old and older. The house sits on a ridge overlooking a storage yard for people’s equipment, a collecting point or nexus for anything unused and nearly disposed of … old mobile homes, vehicles, farming implements and machinery. This house, on the other hand, has structure and form and context – it has beauty; it had purpose in a former time. What would this house have been like in its day, when people were proud of the land’s first fruits? Is this a homestead house built following World War I or World War II? Would the farmers who farmed here have come to Canada or would they have been a generation or two arrived. In terms of today, why has the building not been torn down? What memorial does this house provide and to whom? Who does this house continue to serve?
Listening to – Radiohead’s ‘Little by Little’ from the King of Limbs album (Live from the Basement).
Quote to Inspire – “Quit trying to find beautiful objects to photograph. Find the ordinary objects so you can transform it by photographing it.” – Morley Baer
Old buildings are always fascinating. I like to imagine the people who have lived there. These are great shots, and the middle one seems extra mysterious
Hello, hello …
Imagining who had lived in a former home – that’s something we all do; and, then to be able to look through the building … the way we might as kids, a derelict house becoming ours for the time we were in it – reminds me of tromping through old farm houses as a boy of about 11 or 12.
Definitely fascinating – old buildings are …. 🙂
I love the crisp focus you bring to your pictures, do you set up and use a tripod or does it vary?
Jim
Hi Jim:
Very few of the images I post here are handheld. Most or perhaps all images are the result of setting my Canon 60D on a Manfrotto tripod with a hand squeeze ball mount. And, my Canon 60D has something called live view so that I can establish crispness with manual focus. Beyond seeing the image as it would appear, the live view allows for 10x optical zoom to establish greater focus; Canon recommends focusing on a subject somewhere around the top third of the photograph (there’s a U.K. publication called PhotoPlus which is nothing but Canon Camera tutorial and mentoring … I’ve had a subscription for three years). Beyond this, I use NIK software within Adobe Lightroom which allows you to draw out the crisp details – have a look at their website for video tutorials and you’ll see some of the process I use with photographs.
Yesterday, I was shooting a basketball game. With the motion involved the choices were either to create stop action, crisp shots or to accentuate motion with panning and blur. In terms of photos when there’s tons of motion and people are involved, it’s easier to hold the camera and shoot. Afterwards in processing I can crop and correct.
Good questions … ones that will drive consideration of the next camera and gear you purchase; maybe have a look at a PhotoPlus magazine to see what’s what and for ideas.
Take care, … 🙂