March 2019 Challenges
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RussellBrunet-Challenge8-Abandoned-244
Once again, I had a fun time with the assignment. It was truly a challenge, because living on the Monterey Peninsula affords very few opportunities to find abandoned items. I thought about going around and photographing the homeless, but I thought it would have been a bit weird and awkward. In the end, I didn’t have time to do this approach. The only other area I knew I could count on was the abandoned and condemned buildings of the former Fort Ord.
Aside from being my birthplace, Fort Ord was a US Army base that was in operation from 1940 until the Clinton era military downgrade and base closures in 1994. From 1917 until 1940, the land was used as a maneuver area and field-artillery target range. It was popularized by Goldie Hawn in the movie Private Benjamin. Goldie’s character hoped to be sent to Fort Ord for basic training because it was where the recruiter told her she would find herself amongst “yachts and condos".
I spent an hour or two exploring the ruined barracks and other buildings. Some of these buildings would have been the "condos" Pvt. Benjamin was hoping to live in.
This particular shot was inside a mess hall that would have been where the occupants of the four or so neighboring barracks would have eaten. Because the barracks were so spread out, they had smaller dining areas than one would expect. I took this photo, which is comprised of three bracketed exposures through a hole in the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. One shot was used for the windows, the next one was for the wall in the foreground, and the third was of the dining room itself.
Interestingly, you can see that like a lot of early to mid 20th century buildings in California, the lumber used was old growth redwood. I believe the panels on the dining room wall were made from redwood as well. Sadly, this will eventually all be torn down and disposed of due to the high amounts of lead paint and asbestos that is found in these old buildings.
If you have time, please peruse the images on my SmugMug page. I had a very hard time choosing which image to submit for the challenge this week. I’ll post the link below.
AbandonedFort OrdRicky Tims Week 8bracketingcondemned buildings
Russell T. Brunet
on March 29, 2019Heres the link again, I reorganized my page: https://russellbrunet.smugmug.com/Ricky-Tims-52-Week-Challenge/Challenge-8-Abandoned/
rickytims
on March 8, 2019Selected for critique: Technique! Excellent! Here, Russell has a very close subject - the near wall with the opening. Look at the texture of the paint swirling around - so sharp and in focus. But the far back wall is also sharp. This cannot happen with an f-4 or f-5 aperture. The aperture MUST go up and here it is f/22. The easy shot would be the shoot inside with lower f/stop and the near wall would just be out of focus. The high aperture f/22 and even the punched up ISO 1600, still required TWENTY-FIVE seconds to shoot. Obviously only a tripod (or resting on a stationary object) can manage a shot like this, but the end result shows technical excellence. When you are in the field, you have to think first about what your goal is - what you want to happen - then, make the setting to do just that.
Russell T. Brunet
on March 4, 2019Lorne, I think it was white balance, they were pretty much pure white. This was the last one I edited and so it didn't cross my mind to edit the white balance. I'm going to go back and mess with it tonight and see how it comes out. However, it kind of fits the mood because it was darker than the photo would suggest. I also think the eye sees more blue because of the graffiti.
Lorne Wald
on March 4, 2019Well done! It does not look like a photo that was in any way manipulated, which is what you want! The walls in the foreground are slightly blue - is that how they appeared, or is it a white balance thing?
Marta Moyle
on March 4, 2019What a lot of work you did here and so well executed. I love the picture and the way the hole leads you into the mess hall.
Russell T. Brunet
on March 4, 2019https://russellbrunet.smugmug.com/Challenge-8-Abandoned/