7th Army Living Quarters Ghetto - Heidelberg's Chernobyl

[Matt K.]

The Americans are leaving Heidelberg. There are a great number of buildings that used to house the staff and soldiers which are now standing empty. After September 11, 2001 the whole community was fenced in, and no one is allowed to take pictures of the installation. There are signs everywhere prohibiting taking pictures, making notes, and drawing sketches. What got yo me the most were the weeds on the abandoned playground. Gave me an eerie feeling, one of loss, desolation, isolation and fear - not unlike images one sees from a disaster like Chernobyl. Not sure how to properly show this or bring this across.

This is the original image.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8051/8105315798_8b18649656_b.jpg

In this one I applied a texture (go Jimmy!). I left it purposely darker, though it takes away the detail. But I was going more for the feeling.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8474/8105307404_de70d85413_b.jpg

And finally I desaturated the whole thing ... so? How do I get the feeling across any other suggestions?

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8463/8105293249_f026fee0f5_b.jpg

[Randitola]

I like the mood in #2. Loose a lot of the playground detail in #3. Could try B&W with a medium grain + green filter then tweak the exposure/contrast to achieve a suitable mood while maintaining playground detail....?

[edG]

#2 and #3 really set the mood

[Matt K.]

I like the mood in #2. Loose a lot of the playground detail in #3. Could try B&W with a medium grain + green filter then tweak the exposure/contrast to achieve a suitable mood while maintaining playground detail....?

Yeah you are right, overdone in the b&w. The lesson I learned is that one should take more time, not only in composing the shot, but also in the post processing ...