Reading mode: Light Dark

Ghost town gallery--*ist Ds, Ltd lens set

Go to last post
M

Mark Erickson

Well-known member
Messages
154
Reaction score
0
Location
US
My *ist Ds still has some life left in it, I think. I shot these with my Ds, 31mm and 43mm Limited lenses, and applied a "digital lith" process that I use in Photoshop CS2 to get a high-key desaturated look.

The subject is Bodie, California, a ghost town preserved by the state park system in a state of "arrested decay". We were there during an early snowstorm in October of this year.

http://www.westerickson.net/bodiefall2006/

--
--Mark
 
I like the whole bunch. Great feel to all of them. The house with the almost intact windows and the torn curtains is my favorite.

How do they keep vandals from tearing the place up? It looks like everyone just got up and left...about 60 years ago. Really enjoyed these.
Thanks for posting
Frank
 
They leave me feeling cold and depressed though, like the winter will never end. Can you elaborate on the "digital lith" process? It looks great!
--
Cheers,
Leah
 
I really like this series Mark, The PP work suits them perfectly, and I enjoyed viewing them. Thanks for posting.
Cheers.
--
Scott



Never judge a photo by the person who has taken it.
Never judge a person by the photo they have taken.
 
I just looked at these again, what a cool organ in the church.
Thanks again for posting
Frank
 
Awesome collection! You ought to have those printed in large
lithograph versions, framed, and sold as a series.

I also would like to know more about the processing.

Tracy
 
shooter3 said:
I like the whole bunch. Great feel to all of them. The house with
the almost intact windows and the torn curtains is my favorite.
How do they keep vandals from tearing the place up? It looks like
everyone just got up and left...about 60 years ago. Really enjoyed
these.
Thanks for posting
Frank
Click to expand...
It's a California State Park with full-time staff on site. Even though it is at the end of a dirt road in a relatively remote part of California, it is a very popular tourist attraction and receives many visitors.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509

It has been photographed a lot over the years. Most of the photographs that I have seen have either been very colorful (warm wood against blue-blue sky) or rich black and white images. I tried to so something different with this set....

--
--Mark
 
Mark: Great PP...I can see a room full of prints. Wonderful stuff. Clear, sharp, and cold...and in Califorinia not the Yukon. Cheers. Don
--



'Nothing could-be-finah-than-to-be-in-Carolina-in-the-morninnnnnn...'
 
The process I use is derived from this one:

http://www.pauck.de/marco/photo/lith/digital_lith/digital_lith.html

It essentially relies on two layers--a "shadows" layer on top of a "highlights" layer. I create the "shadows" layer by duplicating the original image, converting it to monochrome, then processing it as described in the link above. This layer adds the high contrast "crunchiness" to the image. Sometimes I even add a little noise before I oversharpen it. I create the "highlights" layer basically by brightening the original image a lot. At this point I depart from the lith method in the link above by leaving the "highlights" layer in color rather than converting it to monochrome and toning it.

The result creates a high-contrast, sharp-edged image that is infused with a pale version of the original colors underneath. Depending on the image and the bright-dark balance between the layers, it can look like a high-contrast black and white image that was hand colored.

Getting good results is dependent on a lot of experimentation.

Hope this helps (and thanks for all the positive comments),

--
--Mark
 
Don Allison said:
Mark: Great PP...I can see a room full of prints. Wonderful stuff.
Clear, sharp, and cold...and in Califorinia not the Yukon. Cheers.
Don
--



'Nothing could-be-finah-than-to-be-in-Carolina-in-the-morninnnnnn...'
Click to expand...
It might as well be the yukon. Bodie is located at an elevation of over 8000 feet in a range of high desert hills just east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. There are no trees and the hills provide little protection from the wind, so it gets really cold in the winter....

--
--Mark
 
Great Photos, especially the first one.

My first an only session in Bodie was in June 2002 with MZ5N and Tamron 28-300.

Thanks for posting

networker
 
So what do you think? Personally I don't think they look as good as yours, but the subject isn't the same either, and you've had more experience with the technique.

Did you lower the Hues on the highlights layer? Whenever I do that, it just turns everything brown so it looks more like sepia. So I did it without the Hue changes, to keep the colors in.





 
This one I did the "Hue" adjustment in the 2nd layer.

 
I love it!

As far as the *ist DS having some life left...I bought mine in April 2005, and I'm coming up on 23,000 shutter cycles...afraid its not going to be long for this world!
--
http://blog.amgphoto.net/
 
It's fun to experiment, isn't it? I have found that if I want a less saturated look, I need to make the top layer darker and bring up the brightness of the layer underneath.

The images that I have used are mostly architectural. I like the last of the images you posted the best. It has a nice "pastel" feel.

Have fun!

--
--Mark
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top