Neglected by bluemoon

Neglected

We went for a drive out in the middle of nowhere late this afternoon and came across maybe a couple dozen tombstones in total standing neglected in a field with only a handful of trees to keep them company. There was no entrance, no gates or signs to mark the site as proper cementary and most of the tombstones were either tilted, leaning precariously or had completely fallen to the ground. I couldn't help but wonder who they were and how they'd been resting here! I had a little fun with this one in PS!

oops! I goofed when uploaded this picture....I dated it the 27th but it was actually taken and supposed to posted on the 26th.

A sincere thank you for all your views and comments on my photo...the only thing more inspiring than reading your comments is viewing YOUR photos! :)
Wow. My favorite image of the week! This has an HDR quality, but very sharp and not cartoon-like. What were your PS actions? I would like to try to balance exposure in this manner too. Very nice.
March 27th, 2011  
Awesome capture.
March 27th, 2011  
Great photo!!! I really like this one! :)
March 27th, 2011  
It's a shame they cannot preserve that area, fence it in.
March 27th, 2011  
Oh, this is just gorgeous. The muted colors are perfect for this sad scene. Very moving.
March 27th, 2011  
Lovely photo. Sad scene. There is a nearby family cemetery that used to be in disrepair. The new property owner fixed up the cemetery and fenced it and placed flowers by each stone. I feel like hugging this unknown person.
March 27th, 2011  
Gorgeous shot and processing!
March 27th, 2011  
Stunning shot. Love the pink sky and the crooked tombstones.
March 27th, 2011  
Great find and love the processing!
March 27th, 2011  
love the mood and tone paula , nice shot ....
March 27th, 2011  
Very surreal--fab edits. Love this!!
March 27th, 2011  
Such a wonderfully poignant image. Well done!
March 27th, 2011  
Wow, amazing mood! Cool edit!
March 27th, 2011  
This is a gorgeous shot, I agree with Chris. Must be an old family plot.
March 27th, 2011  
An eerie shot--well done!
March 27th, 2011  
Lovely shot!
March 27th, 2011  
Beautiful!
March 27th, 2011  
great shot
March 27th, 2011  
awesome processing Paula, lovely scene.
March 27th, 2011  
Wow! This is perfect....!
March 28th, 2011  
This has so more atmosphere...love the colors and the mood here
March 28th, 2011  
this is incredible, paula!
March 28th, 2011  
Love the colors but sad about the poor tombstones.
March 28th, 2011  
i just read your profile cause i was showing my husband how talented you are and it says you are a beginner...i am stunned and blown away. you are one of the most talented on here. it is so hard to see what you see and are able to capture with your camera. i try and try to do what you do and they end up in the trash can. i so admire you...
March 28th, 2011  
Beautiful!
March 28th, 2011  
This is fabulous,love your processing!
March 28th, 2011  
Those colors are lovely!
March 28th, 2011  
the tones are lovely.
March 28th, 2011  
Peaceful photo. Great processing!
March 28th, 2011  
Nod
Amazingly beautiful, and yes a fav.
March 28th, 2011  
So beautiful!! Fav'd!!!
March 28th, 2011  
Lovely find, beautiful shot!
March 28th, 2011  
Really like that sky how did you go about processing it?
March 28th, 2011  
I love this shot. Wonderful capture.
March 28th, 2011  
beautiful!
March 28th, 2011  
stunning
March 28th, 2011  
This sky is amazing!!! I love this shot...
March 29th, 2011  
Amazing photo
March 29th, 2011  
@moncooga Thanks so much Chris for the kind words and fav...it's greatly appreciated. Sorry I'm so slow to respond....crazy weekend! I wish I could tell you exactly how I arrived at this finished image but since I'm brand new to PS so I'm basically editing by trial and error. I can waste an hour on one picture adding this and undoing that until I get it the way I like it. I can tell you I started in Lightroom 3 and did the usual exposure tweaking....I also used PhotoSuite 5.5 from OnOne software that has some presets that I think basically add an HDR effect without all the exposures (similar to picnik). THEN I took it to PS and used Topaz to adjust the hue and sharpened it...they also have some hdr presets available. I hope that helps some....I really should write down what I'm doing so if I ever want to recreate the process I can remember how I did it! :)
March 29th, 2011  
@robinwarner Thank you Robin! Wow,I about fell off my chair when I read your comment, I thought you must have me confused with someone else!! lol

I just recently I took out my wide angle lens and fell in love with it.....I swear to god that is the secret to landscapes...not me! I've had that lens for at least a year, tried it a couple times when I got it and didn't care that much for it. Just drug it out again a couple weeks ago and experimented with it and bingo....instant landscape! Plus I've been playing with editing more and more since I started here so I have been known to tweak my pics to make them look better than they actually do...shhhh, don't tell anyone I said that though! :) I adore your street portraits so I'm truly flattered by your comment! Now fess up, inquiring minds want to know...what's your secret for capturing the very soul of all those people you photograph!! :)
March 29th, 2011  
@cccoupland Thank you Chris! For the sky all I did was adjust the hue setting...started out as a pale blue sky with some areas of wispy white clouds and gradually adjusted it until I got the color I wanted. So actually the existing clouds are probably the reason for the sky effect, nothing I did other than tweak the color! :)
March 29th, 2011  
Oh wow I love the sky. And how cool to come across random tombstones in the middle of nowhere?
March 30th, 2011  
Stunning hues!
March 30th, 2011  
Nice!!
March 31st, 2011  
Wow!!!! This is so powerful and has a mystique, and also a sad beauty. I LOVE IT!
March 31st, 2011  
Beautiful shot!
March 31st, 2011  
This is so dreamy! Love the pinks in this
March 31st, 2011  
What a sky. I am imagining wonderful stories behind those tombstones.
April 5th, 2011  
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