# Old mountain cabin



## Compaq (May 14, 2012)

Some friends and I were spent a long weekend at their cabin up in Hemsedal. Located beautifully. The neighbour was my friend's grand mother's place before she died. I asked, and I was allowed inside to take some shots. I could spend hours in there, so many things to shoot. Here is the first one I'm editing. It shows the living room. More from this visit will come in due time 

First one is with some more detail. Too much? Second one has less.

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Stova by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr




Stova by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr

Thanks for looking and commenting!


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## MK3Brent (May 14, 2012)

Yeah, way too much.


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## Compaq (May 14, 2012)

Thought so


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## Trever1t (May 14, 2012)

no way, I really like the shot man, look at that detail and perspective distortion!


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## manaheim (May 14, 2012)

Seems like a neat place, but you've sort of stripped some of the emotion out of it by doing the HDR thing.  I suppose you could do a less-bright/more contrast one...  also seems a little tilted and the perspective leaves you so dead-on with the bed it seems that the bed is lost.

Dunno, sort of a "real estate" composition, in a place that's clearly not about being "for sale"?


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## Compaq (May 14, 2012)

Trever1t said:


> no way, I really like the shot man, look at that detail and perspective distortion!



Not sure if sarcasm 



manaheim said:


> Seems like a neat place, but you've sort of stripped some of the emotion out of it by doing the HDR thing.  I suppose you could do a less-bright/more contrast one...  also seems a little tilted and the perspective leaves you so dead-on with the bed it seems that the bed is lost.
> 
> Dunno, sort of a "real estate" composition, in a place that's clearly not about being "for sale"?



I see. I'm just fond of the "HDR treatment" for old places like these. I've seen many good shots on here of similar places. I wanted to try something similar. It brings out textures in the wood pretty nicely. A high contrast monochrome should be doable. It would be a completely different photograph, though. Definitely something I should try! Thanks for input!


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## vipgraphx (May 14, 2012)

I say the second one but would be nice to add some warmth to the photo like so........


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## Trever1t (May 14, 2012)

not sarcasm, promise. HDR seems to really accent perspective distortion, I like it


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## Compaq (May 14, 2012)

Well, thanks then, Trever! 

I desaturated slightly, vip, to lose some red. I ended up liking it. Some warmth was nice, though! :thumbsup:

It doesn't really belong here, but here's a quick high contrast monochrome version. Probably not the best edit, just to see what it might look like.




Stova, seng, omn sk by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr


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## vipgraphx (May 14, 2012)

compaq after looking at the image a bit the really bright window and curtain was bugging me a bit. I thought it would be a nice touch to add in some light rays.....







This is a pretty cool image you have posted and I agree 100% that wood and hdr work so well together.


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## manaheim (May 15, 2012)

Trever1t said:
			
		

> not sarcasm, promise. HDR seems to really accent perspective distortion, I like it



HDR should have no effect on perspective.


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## Compaq (May 15, 2012)

Vip, one of the things that bugged me there was the lack of light rays! I probably could have hit some old pillow to get that effect, but I didn't want to move around too much, you know. I think it's a bit heavy in your edit. If you had toned it down a little, it would be awesome, imo. I'm not sure how to make this in PS, though. How did you do it, exactly?


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## Bynx (May 15, 2012)

I think you should have taken at least one more underexposed shot for the window so the curtain details would be more detailed instead of blown. There is something going on with the window in the second image. Is the blue and yellow stripes just chromatic aberration? The cabin reminds me of an old Charlie Chaplin movie set. The only thing that spoils the image is that red plastic basket on the shelf.


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## Compaq (May 15, 2012)

I know, Bynx, I should have  I did expose properly for the windows in the other shots, just not this scene. The curtains are blue and yellow, not CA, though it might appear that way. In the other shots, I pulled the curtains away to get more light in. Never thought of moving that red basket.


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## Compaq (May 15, 2012)

Here's a one closer up on the old oven.

O.MUSTAD & SØNS JERNSTØBERI*

*jernstøberi: danish for blacksmith that handles iron 




O. Mustad &amp; Søns jernstøberi by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr


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## Bynx (May 15, 2012)

I thought I saw this place before.


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## Compaq (May 15, 2012)

Here comes another one. I really like the textures in the bed. I can almost feel them. Coloured and monochrome version.




Seng by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr




Seng sk by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr


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## vipgraphx (May 15, 2012)

Here you go. I used your second image and did not adjust any color all I did was add the light rays and I made them more subtle.


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## Compaq (May 15, 2012)

Pretty neat. How do you do it? I tried doing something similar by adjusting the offset slider (exposure panel), and masking out everything but the where I wanted the rays to be. It looked like I would get a result pretty close to yours if I'd done a proper job.

So, what's your technique?


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## vipgraphx (May 15, 2012)

Compaq -

When doing the rays of light I have a few methods. I created my own in photoshop by adding a blank layer then using my polygonal lasso tool and filling with white. I then will add a gaussian blur to it and in different circumstances add a cloud filter to give it a foggy look. I will also add a color over lay depending on lighting and a glow. I then create a mask and use the gradient tool and make sure its black and transparent and then drag a line from the ending point to the starting point or half way so the light ray/ fog fades out like normal light would. 

Another method I use are brushes. These do not work for every situation because there are preset light ray brushes and well anything that is a preset works for curtain situations only. You can buy or download free light ray brushes. When using them you just want to do similar things such as fading the light changing adding a glows, colors, foggy look and dust particles. 

So yeah these are the two methods I have used in the past. hope it helps. My processing style is heavily weighted by my graphic design background. I am a big time pixel pusher and look at a picture and think what can I do to this to make it pop, make if feel surreal, make it feel like if you are in another world. I love a good untouched actual photo just as much as I love a good processed image and everything in between.


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## Compaq (May 15, 2012)

Thanks, vip, great information there. I always sit back in awe when I read about your workflow. You know your tools!


Here's another one from the cabin. Kitchen shelves. I didn't notice that plastic bag until today. It's a little bit hard to clone out properly, at least for me. So I'll leave it there and use the excuse of "modern person  in primitive cabin", hehe  The top most book is labled "Book of the Month from The Book Club".





Kjøkenhylle by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr


And another one of the shelf/living room/guest room.




Stova 2 by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr


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## vipgraphx (May 15, 2012)

Nice!... i like that Stova 2, Is it small in there? It likes like its a tight space. Well I could not resist to try this out. This time I added atmospheric fog inside along with dust particles. With the glow around that window it seemed like it was a perfect candidate, next time take
your bag of dust to through in the air 

It is a little thicker on this one but, I also think it adds to that early morning old log cabin vibe.


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## Bynx (May 15, 2012)

Im liking the added sunbeams.


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## Compaq (May 15, 2012)

Yup, very tight. I'd guesstimate apprx 4 metres across. I stood about in the middle of the room, taking Stova 2 (which just means "Living room 2"). The 11-16mm/2.8 really shines thorugh, here. 18mm of a kit lens would be too "tele" to really fit everything in.
Again, I like your edit. I really should learn to do this! Or better yet, start having a dust bag with at such times  Great suggestion! 


Here's one from the kitchen. A box of old coffee, some old postcards and other stuff on the bench, here.




MILLS kokmalt kaffe by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr


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## Compaq (May 15, 2012)

Some more:





Gamal hytte utside 2 by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr




Gamal hytte utside 1 by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr




Gamal hytte utside 3 by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr




Gamal hytte utside 4 by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr


Monochrome versions are on flickr, for those overly interested, + some landscapes.


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## vipgraphx (May 16, 2012)

out of the last batch I like 2 and 4 the best. 4 would have looked real cool if you were able to get the whole house in the frame. Is that still snow on the mountains? It is freegen hot here in Tucson ....... wanna trade?


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## Joel_W (May 16, 2012)

While I realize that VIP added the light coming in from the window, it's the image I like the best. The tonal value is just so much richer, while the original images seem bland and washed out.


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## Compaq (May 16, 2012)

Joel_W said:


> While I realize that VIP added the light coming in from the window, it's the image I like the best. The tonal value is just so much richer, while the original images seem bland and washed out.



Yup, still snow at around 1000 metres above sea level, I'd say. This spring has been crazy. We've had the warmest March ever, and the coldest April  in 46 years :lmao:



vipgraphx said:


> out of the last batch I like 2 and 4 the best. 4 would have looked real cool if you were able to get the whole house in the frame. Is that still snow on the mountains? It is freegen hot here in Tucson ....... wanna trade?



Yea, those really are awesome. I will try to remember to bring a dust bag next time I go somewhere similar!


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## Demers18 (May 16, 2012)

Those are some really nice shots Compaq, Nice work!


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## Compaq (May 16, 2012)

Thanks, Demers!


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