# Spring House - Boyertown, Pa



## Rick58 (Feb 17, 2014)

Here's my contribution taken with my 40 year old 135mm/3.5 AI
I spent about 2 hours playing with this until I got it to where I want it.
Thoughts? Opinions? Critiques?


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## Rick58 (Feb 18, 2014)

New record:
Views=43
Comments= o


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## timor (Feb 18, 2014)

Rick58 said:


> New record:
> Views=43
> Comments= o


No yet, Rick. The record is 1575 views and 0 comments. In 2007. You posted in bad time, when everybody was busy drinking for President's health.  I had here a Family Day... so, you understand I hope diversion of my attention. :hug::
You picture is just fine, one of the better lately, two hours of work gave the results. The crop is maybe a little tight, IMO this changes the dynamics of the picture and make them "uneasy", but the light, the angle and basic compo seems to be on spot.


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## Rick58 (Feb 18, 2014)

Thank you timor. There's a twin spring house just to the right of this one. I'm going to work on another crop tonight. Maybe I'll open it up a bit.


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## jenko (Feb 18, 2014)

Is it buried in ... snow? 

I agree it's too tight. It's an interesting subject, the angle and light look nice to me, but I just want more space. Maybe more space to the left, showing the entire shadow.


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## weepete (Feb 18, 2014)

I like this Rick, the snow over the door really makes this shot for me. The exposure looks spot on too


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## Rick58 (Feb 18, 2014)

Thanks folks. It seems the common consensus is... too tight. The height of the snow is only an illusion from the angle I took the first shot 
Here's another take of the same location with the second spring house included. This time I opened the crop giving more room in front of the buildings


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## Woodsman (Feb 18, 2014)

I like the two house wider shot the best and the snow detail is great


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## Rick58 (Feb 18, 2014)

Thanks. I had a lot of fun with these two and spent a lot more time processing them then any others. I'm beginning to enjoy the challenge of snow texture. This two house version is growing on me. I wanted the larger stone detail, but the closer I cropped the more room I thought was needed in front of the buildings. Thanks everyone for smacking me in the back of the head and saying "Too tight". Looking at it harder, I tend to agree.


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## limr (Feb 18, 2014)

Everyone said everything before I even saw this thread!  I like the wider crop with the two houses. Great job with the lighting.


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## Rick58 (Feb 18, 2014)

Thanks Leonore  I waited a LONG time to get some sun shining on these. It's been a long gray winter.


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## timor (Feb 18, 2014)

Rick58 said:


> Thanks folks. It seems the common consensus is... too tight. The height of the snow is only an illusion from the angle I took the first shot
> Here's another take of the same location with the second spring house included. This time I opened the crop giving more room in front of the buildings
> View attachment 67059


This is a great situation. And tough one. Rick, good factual picture, but do you have a taste for some pictoral influx ? For me it would be #1 - remove the forest, replace with white sky. #2 - crop the forest to just very thin line, maybe 2 mm in the high point on the left. We don't need to see that forest in full, it destroys the isolation of this two huts.


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## vintagesnaps (Feb 18, 2014)

The first one I think needs more space to the left so the shadow doesn't look quite so cut off, and that might adjust the balance. I like the second one too, but maybe with less space to the right. I like the two houses at different angles, works great in the snow in B&W.


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## mmaria (Feb 19, 2014)

you got some really nice thought already and I pretty much agree with what is pointed in all above

more space in the first one
the second on I would like the whole shadow to be visible and you could try to straighten the crop a bit


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## Rick58 (Feb 19, 2014)

Thanks everyone for the thoughts. I'll definitely keep these for some rainy day crop exercises.

Timor? You made me spit out my fruit juice this morning . If you knew how much pain I went through to clone out the houses that occupied the left side of the woods. Getting that angled snow /woods line merged so it looks natural was a real pain in the... 
If you look closely you'll see a repeating image in the woods from the clone. I was so proud of that cloning I wanted to see if anyone picked up on it. Now you want me to erase it :banghead:...

Thanks again everyone.


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## mmaria (Feb 19, 2014)

you made me laugh Rick 

thanks!


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## jenko (Feb 19, 2014)

You did an excellent job cloning! 

Really, though, it's tough to clone shadows that close to an edge. Did you have to dodge it some?


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## mishele (Feb 19, 2014)

I get so excited when I see a post about a local Pa area and then I notice it's just you...hehe <I kid>
Good shot, friend. I need to get out in the countryside and see if I can find anything interesting.


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## Rick58 (Feb 19, 2014)

jenko said:


> You did an excellent job cloning!
> 
> Really, though, it's tough to clone shadows that close to an edge. Did you have to dodge it some?


Thanks. Not a touch other then straight cloning. I was surprised how well it blended


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## Rick58 (Feb 19, 2014)

mishele said:


> I get so excited when I see a post about a local Pa area and then I notice it's just you...hehe <I kid>
> Good shot, friend. I need to get out in the countryside and see if I can find anything interesting.


Thanks. Sorry to disappoint you. :mrgreen: 
I've been waiting for a little sunshine for these. There's another really nice Mail Pouch barn very close to these. Unfortunately, there was no place to get off the road due to the snow banks. I'll have to go back for that one


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## oldhippy (Feb 19, 2014)

Like the two house shot more. Great perspective. Later Ed


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## terri (Feb 19, 2014)

Honestly, my main nitpick with the tight cropped one is that the shadow had to cropped.    Then I see the shadow is long enough to get cropped on the one with both houses - so it's still a nitpick on that one, too.    :razz:

Aside from that, I will be different and say I prefer the tight crop.   I don't find it claustrophobic (aside from the shadow loss).   I like being able to see the texture of the stone up close, AND the bit of snow texture on the roof, slightly enhanced by the sun hitting it, is lovely.   It is a nice touch that is lost completely on the other image, but adds so much to the texture of the first one.   

I appreciate why there are protests to the sense of closeness in the shot, but for me, there is just enough space around the whole frame that you get away with it.   The illusion of the deep snow is also exciting here.    

In short: me likey.   :mrgreen:


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## Rick58 (Feb 19, 2014)

Thanks Terri, Several folks mentioned the shadow cut. Here's a hurried edit showing the entire shadow. Leaving the entire shadow makes the photo feel "heavy" on the right side...to me. I'd be very interested in hearing how others feel about this. Like I said, this is just a rushed edit to show the shadow.


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## timor (Feb 20, 2014)

Rick58 said:


> If you knew how much pain I went through to clone out the houses that occupied the left side of the woods. Getting that angled snow /woods line merged so it looks natural was a real pain in the...
> If you look closely you'll see a repeating image in the woods from the clone. I was so proud of that cloning I wanted to see if anyone picked up on it. Now you want me to erase it :banghead:...


:crazy: Now I choked on a piece of donat with my coffee. HA !!! Rick is cloning ?! I didn't pay attention to detail in the line of woods, it is for me just one more compositional element in this picture. If it took that much to get this line "clean", then I am sorry, , but good job. Now I would like to see it as a thick "pencil" line only, closing nicely the perspective. 
The last "one house" version with full shadow is good.


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## Rick58 (Feb 21, 2014)

[/QUOTE] :crazy: HA !!! Rick is cloning ?!. [/QUOTE]

Yeah, I felt so dirty afterward I showered for an hour but couldn't scrub those key stokes from my mind. Hopefully the nightmares will subside after counseling. 

Well, back to the cropping board. Get it. See what I did there? "Cropping" board? "Chopping" board?..ehh...Never mind.
I'll next do a crop to make everyone happy and create world peace:
Both houses, full shadow, AND... a pencil line forest.


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## robbins.photo (Feb 21, 2014)

> :crazy: HA !!! Rick is cloning ?!.
> 
> Yeah, I felt so dirty afterward I showered for an hour but couldn't scrub those key stokes from my mind. Hopefully the nightmares will subside after counseling.
> 
> ...



I guess my question would be if you are cloning what are you doing with all the extra sheep?

Probably just me again, huh. Lol

Sent from my LG-LG730 using Tapatalk


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## timor (Feb 21, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> I guess my question would be if you are cloning what are you doing with all the extra sheep?
> 
> Probably just me again, huh. Lol


It looks like sheep country.


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## Rick58 (Feb 22, 2014)

OK, last take on the ol' Spring houses...

I trimmed back the forest. After looking at it harder, I agree with Timor. The added thickest added zero to the shot and it was just wide enough to look awkward.
I included the entire shadow, but in my mind, that made the shot seem unbalanced by pushing the buildings too far to the right, so I countered the shadow with the swirl of the snow on the right. This also opened the shot to help show the openness of the actual scene.
Now everyone can tell me how wonderful it is so I shut up and move on :mrgreen:


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## Rick58 (Feb 23, 2014)

Going once...


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## timor (Feb 24, 2014)

I like it. it gives a "closure" to the perspective.


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