11 stops in a schoolhouse

I won't double post this, but here's an 11 stopI shot yesterday inside an abandoned schoolhouse out in the middle of nowhere. I only had a few minutes when I did this, but thought later I should have stirred up some dust in there to get some rays from the windows. It was early morning and the sun was beating through them from the side.

Nice job. I like the natural processing, but can't help but wonder what Victor would have done with this. 11 shot handheld is pretty impressive, especially with an 8 second exposure. The dust would have been a nice touch, but it looks like the ceiling was ready to attack at any moment. Plus who knows how much lead, asbestos and other nasty's you would have breathed in.

Not really handheld...there was a flat surface for me to hold it down on. I prefer a natural look, and this one is a bit deceiving. It took quite awhile for my eyes to adjust so I could even see that panel behind the stage because it was so dark. I will post up the min/max/mid shots in thumbnail when I get a chance. I'm also going to go back and generate something of the overprocessed look for those who like that. I saw a couple of those come up as I was working them. Also, when I finalize what I like, I'll run the raws. These were all done as full res jpgs, something I don't normally do. It's kind of a "trial run" to see how they come out.

Is it just me or did you already change the image linked to a darker version? Regardless, I really like it and think the darker tones tend to make it more realistic. I was also thinking of how it might look with that "Vmlopes look". Imagine all those ghosts of students past that spent their days here.

navydoc wrote in post #12346170
Is it just me or did you already change the image linked to a darker version? Regardless, I really like it and think the darker tones tend to make it more realistic. I was also thinking of how it might look with that "Vmlopes look". Imagine all those ghosts of students past that spent their days here.

I didn't change it, Gene. I also came up with that ghosty idea while I was posting this morning. I could shoot with my remote and go stand in various places in the room just to see what it would do. To be honest, I didn't enter the room. The entrance where I was standing was pretty rikkety (sp). I haven't tested the floor beyond that point yet. This is in my normal area of travel, so I may give it another go on another trip. Especially if I can catch that bright clear early morning like I did here.

Ok. For those who prefer a little stronger processing, this is the PM4 version, kept fairly mild, but obviously stronger. There is a bit of loss in the window brightness. By the way, If you look at the blue in the windows, that is clear blue sky, and at the bottom of the window you can see the horizon on the full res images.

I'll cut down the small ones a bit later tonight.

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I like the edit. It doesn't look so bright and 'cheery' now, a bit more foreboding.

Here's the min to max composit.

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Very nice !!.............do you mind if I have a crack at processing it also?

If you don't mind, I have an interpretation of your image I'd like to share as well Gary.

I can' see why you bothered. Wide-range HDR is useful in situations here there are real extremes of light and dark, with each containing important detail, but this shot didn't seem to warrant it. Am I missing something? Wouldn't a more conventional (and easier) three or five-stop series have done the job?

Sure, guys, go ahead.

Steve - I didn't try to minimize the number of shots. I'm sure it could have been done with less, but I saw no need to go to the trouble of weeding through them. That wasn't the purpose anyway. This was shot in about a 5 minute road stop, 10 at the most. As for being "easier", it couldn't have been much easier than it was. I put it in live view, focused it, set it down on the "shelf", and held it down with one hand, and shot with the other while turning the wheel through the stops. No real effort at all. Why shoot only a few and take a chance on missing a critical one? Besides, if it was a bother, I wouldn't have even stopped. This is supposed to be fun. I'm too lazy to do it if it isn't fun!

Gary McDuffie wrote in post #12358283
Sure, guys, go ahead.

Steve - I didn't try to minimize the number of shots. I'm sure it could have been done with less, but I saw no need to go to the trouble of weeding through them. That wasn't the purpose anyway. This was shot in about a 5 minute road stop, 10 at the most. As for being "easier", it couldn't have been much easier than it was. I put it in live view, focused it, set it down on the "shelf", and held it down with one hand, and shot with the other while turning the wheel through the stops. No real effort at all. Why shoot only a few and take a chance on missing a critical one? Besides, if it was a bother, I wouldn't have even stopped. This is supposed to be fun. I'm too lazy to do it if it isn't fun!

Gary - I wanted to ask the same question - why so many exposures on a scene where clearly fewer would do.
Thanks for a very simple and non-defensive answer.
Anyway, I also wanted to say that I love the shot...and yes, I admit also to playing with it way beyond my bedtime.

When I did a test shoot in my family room that had a sliding glass door to the patio, there was a much larger dynamic range than I would have expected too. I wound up with a 12 exposure set to capture a dark room along with a sun lit patio.

I didn't add any ghosts but here's my attempt at a more somber class room.

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Thanks, Gene. A bit dark for my taste, but I like the rays added. I've been thinking of going over to a friend's place and trying something. He has a nice old large barn. I don't know if it has a leaky roof or not, but if it does, I could stir up some dust and shoot that for grins. I've wanted to shoot over there for quite some time. It may be something to do this afternoon, not that I don't have plenty already. Come to think of it, I need to put the finish on a new front door.