BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

Found in Augusta, Montana. Best viewed larger. Thanks

I really like this picture. The starkness of winter contrasted with the bright red of the building is an interesting combination. Nice job! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for looking and commenting.

I've been trying to figure out why this photo is attractive, and finally I figured it out - it's the ball on the roof. And I'm sure there is another one hidden behind the branches. The building has balls! However, these buildings are a dying breed probably because they have their balls on the roof.

Now the question is: is it good that buildings like this are disappearing? Guess it depends what they are replaced with. It might be good. You know, Dave, I wonder if your D200 and the lens need some psychological counceling after so many shots of old stuff (even when the photos are nice). Maybe

you should take a trip to the Caribbeans and shoot a blue ocean for a while :-D

Cheers, Micheal

 

Like your idea of a trip to a tropical paradise. Assume you are willing to chip in to defray expenses of poor retired pensioner. Also REALLY like the concept of shooting on the beach, but thinking more along the lines of scantily clad vixens.

 

On a serious note, those balls are a cool touch. I think the one on the right has been knocked off by the tree.

 

And, lastly, I'm sure that both me and my D200 are in need of counseling, but like many sick folks, we are resisting treatment. Cheers

This is the kind of old building I'd love to own and convert into a home with a studio. Someone had a bold spirit and chose to accessorize the facade with RED paint and certainly this building has "cajones". It looks to be a duplex and was probably fine quarters in it's heyday. The disproportionate (is that really a word?) windows on the front are a puzzle, perhaps one had been broken out and replaced. I like the sweep of tree branches across the front.

For me, it the gate at the side - I wanna go around back and look through windows and see what's there! I love this shot - I am just so drawn to it.

Why did I know you would like the red? Thanks for the look. I'm thinking that it might have been a store back in the forties and fifties and that would explain the windows. And when it wasn't working as a store, the owner probably put the two doors in and divided it for a duplex. Just a guess. It just doesn't seem like it was built as a residence. But then again, you are the Montana expert....

I, too, found the gate on the side of great interest. There is a stream down there. The other thing that I found really charming are the greatly faded drapes. They have seen many a year, concealing what? We are never going to know.

I've been staring at this for about 5 minutes now and just find it captivating for some reason. The ball on the roof looks like the kind that would be on the rail at the bottom of a staircase. A very nice touch. Maybe it's just me, but do the doors look small? In most buildings, the doors are about the same height as the windows, I think. Could be wrong. It adds a lot of character to this building. Very nice and interesting picture--jason

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm convinced that there was some kind of grander public entrance here and that the doors were added much later. I think you are right that they seem small in the context of the windows.

Hi David. How do you doing. Time to time, if I feel a little bet down, I open up you site, and have a good laugh. "can you hear me now....?" It is so fanny for me. You have a tremendous good humor. I like your answers to some comments, and those comments have a lovely humor too. As I read the comments for this image too, and your counter comments, you are a sarcastically,-sometime, humorous, happy fellow. To bad, you are not in the neighboring area of Toronto. Anyway, enjoy my fanny English.

 

I like the image as well, as many people mentioned all ready, lots of story, behind those windows.

 

Best regards; Bela from Toronto

David,

 

I'm back looking and this caught my eye....another structure with character. They seem to ripen with age and become more interesting...like humans!

 

Regards,

 

Dick

Glad to see someone sifting through the old stuff. Seems like once it moves beyond the three most recent, they fall into a black hole.

David, You have good photos. This is not one of them. There is not much range of zones. It has no inner glow as some do...what Ansel called Luminescent. The image is flat, no depth. The snow has no texture. Probably the wrong time of day. To get the texture in the snow you pretty much need a raking light which also gives more detail in other areas. If you check out a closeup portrait which shows every detail in the skin....it was done with raking light not staight on. This looks like an overcast day which is a good day to shoot or late in the day but I think it does not work with this photo. In this situation I could not have done the shot any better.

Thank you for your frank appraisal. We ate lunch right after I took this and a couple more, so I'm guessing it was taken about midday. And, yes it was overcast.