Erik Rosengren, FPSA, PPSA  

American Stilt House - Florida by Erik Rosengren, FPSA, PPSA

October 2018 - American Stilt House - Florida

About the Image(s)


How I did it—Last April, four friends and I ventured to Port Richey, Fl., about an hour North of Tampa, to a fishing village then rented a pontoon boat so we could photograph 9 old stilt houses out in the bay. These builds are part of old Florida and I understand it, can’t be re-built by law. My entry was the newest of the 9. Unfortunately it was leveled three months ago during our last storm. Several years ago, during my Club Presidency I gathered several volunteers to shoot many parts of the state. Then put together a PowerPoint presentation “A retrospective of old Florida” that I presented at the 2006 PSA Convention. Since that time a group of us continue to add more images to the pile so the CD can be updated in the near future. “ American Stilt House-Florida” was shot with my tools of the day, Canon 24-105 IS lens with polarizer, mounted on my Canon 5D Mark 111 body, shot off-hand. ISO 400 to compensate for boat movement, f11 for good depth of field and shutter speed of 1250th of a second to insure sharpness. The original has been retained, however I wanted to do something special with this image. Next stop, click the mouse key on P.S. then Camera Raw Filter, click on auto exposure that created a perfect exposure with no further work. On to Topaz Suite and several creative images looked at. Unfortunately I don’t remember the selection picked. Looking forward to your critiques.

This round’s discussion is now closed!
11 comments posted

Dr Isaac Vaisman   Dr Isaac Vaisman
Erik, this image has a very HDR like effect, but you do not mention it. I wonder as how the ski ended up grey. The colors in the stilt house seem like a color negative effect. All together is very artistic. It is sharp.   Posted: 10/03/2018 21:15:09
Erik Rosengren   Erik Rosengren
The image does have an HDR look doesn't it, but it was a single shot. Shooting from a boat I doubt that I could squeeze off 3 perfect shots dealing with the waves.   Posted: 10/17/2018 15:38:30
Dr Isaac Vaisman   Dr Isaac Vaisman
Erik, sorry that I missed the FPSA detail. Congratulations indeed !!!!   Posted: 10/17/2018 19:45:17
 
I think this is a very intriguing photo. I would like to know how stilt houses stay up in the water :) and how do they get WI-FI out that far. It is a unique post-processing technique on the image. I'm really wondering what the original image looked like when the post looks like this. I really like the colors of the house very much! In my opinion, that gray sky in the background really needs some depth to it though.

I ended up taking your image into Topaz and did a little work on it and then did some work on the skies using the Camera Raw filter in Photoshop to give it some gradiation to see what I could do with the skies.

Interesting image nad I love hearing the story behind the photo! I still wonder how they get WI-FI :)   Posted: 10/09/2018 12:14:51
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Erik Rosengren   Erik Rosengren
I found the orig. of American stilt house. The one I submitted went into Topaz Studio-impression then Red Rock Artsy. Most of the Stilt houses are built on pilons that are hammered in place in usually less than 8 feet of water at high tide. These structures are mostly built for having fun with family and friends, swimming, boating, fishing picnics. Most have johns and are at most half a mile from the shore near a hot spot that allows them to stay in touch with the outside world with cell phones.   Posted: 10/17/2018 13:27:23
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Congratulations on your FPSA!! To be honest, I have no idea how you got those fascinating colors, but it is certainly interesting.   Posted: 10/09/2018 12:41:45
Bill Buchanan   Bill Buchanan
Try playing around with a Curves layer. Grab a point and pull it up or down. You can also invert the curve to create a negative effect.
  Posted: 10/09/2018 15:04:55
Bill Buchanan   Bill Buchanan
Erik, I've seen this image and several others from this adventure while assisting with your Photoshop issues.

In my humble opinion the image, while being somewhat unusual, lacks some punch. The colors appear muddy and need some contrast. The gray sky just sits there and does nothing. I might add a moon above the boater.

I'm sorry if I seem brutal but it lacks some artistic punch.

Congratulations on your honor of Fellow. It was my honor and privilege as a friend to propose you for that honor.   Posted: 10/09/2018 15:11:20
Stephen Levitas   Stephen Levitas
(Group 32)
See Group 20, Nellie Bretherick's image his month for a similar effect, derived from a monochrome image. I think she mapped each tone into a different color. Is that what you did here?   Posted: 10/09/2018 16:08:35
Guy Davies   Guy Davies
Erik, congratulations on your FPSA. I'm sure it is well deserved.

It is strange how both you and David have chosen to produce images this month with similar blank skies. However, I feel I must agree to some extent with Bill that the image needs a bit more punch. A good boost to contrast using Curves would do all that is needed and make the colours really jump out. I like the composition with the boat adding some interest.   Posted: 10/17/2018 11:08:41
Ian Chantler   Ian Chantler
Hi Erik
Firstly warmest congratulations on your well deserved FPSA .
Erik I am so sorry but this effect really does not work for me as already stated a boost in contrast may well make it pop,on the other hand I do so like the original and may I commend you on photographing Florida for posterity this is a valuable archive and important record of social history as you have already said this building is no more but at least there is a record of it.
  Posted: 10/17/2018 15:31:51