Broken Wall, Mission San Jose

Comments, suggestions appreciated on printing b+w infrared. I printed

this dark to emphasize clouds and light in the center of the

picture--I also liked the arch. Thanks!

...tried the Kodak HIE? I think you get more of the true halation effect. It takes some working with to get it in right. I found if I shot it between 300 and 400 and then developed it as I would for xpan 125 in D76 or HC110 I got "good" results. Check here http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=200267. Also if you do a search on Google for Infrared Photography you'll get loads of pages devoted to technique, how to, and why as well as many links to peoples infrared work.

Good Luck! Oh, picture itself is nice, but I prefer more of the "effect" that makes it sort of dreamlike.

I'm critiquing your print in the Photo Critique Requests rotation, so I don't know anything about it other than your name, and its title. I don't know what comments anyone else has offered.

 

My gut reaction to this picture is that it's pretty good. You've made the sky dark, which brings out detail in the clouds. It's not too dark, so the tree also separates. The tree, what I assume is the main subject, occupies a large portion of the image, and has many interesting features. The light, coming from the right rear, and it brings out a lot of character in the wall, and the courtyard behind the tree. It also creates some depth to the scene. From your distance, the tree by itself can almost be considered a two dimensional object, so this depth is very important.

 

Areas of weakness, in my opinion, are the overall lack of detail, but that could be a result of a small image. As a large print I'm sure there would be plenty. The little archway, to the left, is very interesting, but there's a type of competition between it, and the low part of the wall, which is just in front of the brightest part of the courtyard. The dark wall, placed in front of the bright courtyard, is where my eye goes to and wants to stay. But the doorway is competing for its attention. I'm not sure if that's a problem, or if there's any solution, but I would bet a closeup of the doorway would produce a nice photograph with lots of tonality. I'm also wondering what the scene would look like if the sun were behind a thin cloud, one where the light would maintain its directional intensity, but would also be diffused enough to compress the tonal range and thereby yield a negative with more midtones in the wall and tree. Also, a camera height another foot up would, I think, lift the wall at the back of the courtyard off of the wall in the forground. I don't know if that would be better, but it would be something to consider before making an exposure. Even with what I've been saying about the little doorway, and how it competes for my eye's attention, at least I'm kept in that region, looking at the door, then the courtyard, then the arc of the tree trunk, then the door again, so the composition holds together. Nice print. The crop at the top looks a little sloppy.

beautiful portrait of a tree. love the bright foliage seen at the center. a red filter would have given you a better sky. try burning in the sky at top right.