Saturday, September 10, 2016

HERMAN'S Automotive, plus

Torrington, Connecticut

Simple buildings in strong light always get my attention. An old faded sign is good too. I shot this one last month, and of course it's a color digital capture. I've been doing this for a long time, as the next two pictures will show.


This was made in the southeastern part of West Virginia in 2004. The building seems to have gone through several incarnations as gas station, grocery store, maybe other things as well. Shot on 8x10 film.


Another abandoned gas station, also in West Virginia, but way over on the western side of the state. Shot in 2005 on 7x17-inch film.


2 comments:

lyle said...

...well, at least at Herman's they keep the grass cut (although, maybe not out of biz as there is a truck in the driveway). Question: I was noticing the shadow detail along the left side of Herman's and comparing it to the shadow detail of the inside of the "office" in the "Groceries / W. VA". Would digital capture be able to record that office detail as well? thanks....lyle

Carl Weese said...

The detail inside the gas station was a piece of cake for 8x10 HP5-Plus developed in PMK pyro, with full detail and tone in the sunlit white values. How close to that digital can come depends on the digital equipment. A medium format back or a D810 can probably get pretty close. My aging GX7 sensor could certainly give some sense of detail inside while keeping full definition in the bright values, but it would take delicate work in ACR and end up with a pleasing indication of the interior instead of the fully detailed description easily obtained with film.