Ye Olde Alsatian Towne Photo

Photographer’s Note

"Ye Olde Alsatian Towne" you see on this photo is Eguisheim, a city first mentioned after the building of a castle in the VIII th century. Fortified in 1257, Eguisheim is still surrounded by its remparts, meaning the ancient center is quite compact to visit. Around the village you'll find numerous vineyards that gave the place its wealth and allowed the many winemakers to build very nice houses in traditional architectural style.
This photo shows the central square with its fountain topped by a statue of pope Leon IX, a native of Eguisheim. I aged the view using the technique described in the photo magazine "Chasseur d'images", just refrained on using too many damaging artifacts and added the white legend to help it look more like an ancient french postcard. I'm glad the shop to the right is a traditional one and not a "All Digital Geekz bazaar" ;-)
Because this is my first try at doing this I'm very much interested in your feedback.

Paolo, Gregtom, ChrisJ, supereira, eco, capthaddock, jrj, bibiweb, nwoehnl, Emile, Xalkida, cessy has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Paolo (40703) 2005-11-02 3:59

Salut Jean, you used the Time Machine!
excellent shot, with a wonderful sepia mood, a good light, with that amazing diagonl on the street. beautiful POV on that fountain and on that beautiful facade.
thanks, ciao

Cos (1562) 2005-11-02 4:08

Hi Jean-Yves
But how did you do it?? :o)
I like the overall impression of the shot, but I'm not sure about the two black blobs as I think the impression of age is already conveyed very well with the sepia and grain. A sucessful first attempt I think!
Well done.
Sarah

vbourrut (30579) 2005-11-02 4:11

Sympa ce traitement vieillot, on dirait vraiment une vieille carte postale ! belle vue, bien composée

Amitiés,

Vincent

Gregtom (7119) 2005-11-02 5:24

Hello, Jean-Yves!
I like this old-rendered image, which really looks like an old postcard. It suits the spirit of this interesting building very well. I'm not sure if these two gray dots are really needed, but if this photo has to look old, they may suit quite well. Very nice experiment!
regards,
Greg

ChrisJ (70283) 2005-11-02 5:33

Salut Jean Yves

I like the sepia tone in this superb n&b. Excellent 1st attemp, although I'm not sure about the 2 blue spots, & the 'string' in the sky. But sharpness & lighting are impeccable. Bon travail!

supereira (9576) 2005-11-02 5:53

Great shot.I like the sepia choice.Good framing and details.Good contrasts,light and sharpness.I like the detail of the persons.Good job!

jrj (34779) 2005-11-02 9:51

Interesting effect to present the fine 'old' city 'landscape'.
I do not the effect described, but in general very much like a bw conversion with some red/yellow and added grain. The strip or whatever in the upper part is maybe a little too much of it.
I did something similar (but without grains)
here:
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Norway/photo175746.htm

Anyway interesting experiment and result.

capthaddock (28640) 2005-11-02 9:53

Hello JY - an interesting experiment indeed, I think the grain and sepia do a good job of creating the antique postcard effect without the blobs and strings, also the absence of cars and other modern age devices (except the camera the woman is using to photograph the fountain) perhaps I should try this method, I have so many "naturally damaged" negatives.

frozenjazz (303) 2005-11-02 10:31

Hello,
nice attempt I must say, in which CI issue did you see this technique ?
The thing which is not credible is the baby stroller.
And also, it is a very wide angle (I am now used to them) and for some reason this looks too "modern" to me :)

Cormac (26449) 2005-11-02 11:21

Great work! At first glance it appears to be quite old, and it's only because it was posted on TE that I thought it must be a new shot that had been processed. The grain I think looks very effective and realistic. The sepia is good also, maybe it should be a little more yellow and less red as old paper tends to look yellow. The line you added is the real killer though, very nice touch to age the photo. The wide angle is a more subtle difference - it's true that they were not used much many years ago, but only another photographer is likely to catch that. Great work!

HOBO (5244) 2005-11-02 12:21

Bonsoir Jean-Yves,
as-tu fait une 'Daguerrotypie'? :-)
J'aime bien la transformation quand le sujet a assez qualification pour ca!
Knut

bibiweb (8) 2005-11-02 12:24

Salut Jean-Yves,
Eh ben... sacré changement par rapport à ton style habituel! Je constate d'ailleurs que les francophones ne se sont pas bouculés au portillon pour laisser un commentaire!
Le premier effet du surprise passé et après avoir lu la note, je dois reconnaître que pour un premier essai, c'est pas mal! Comme les autres je ne suis pas trop fan des points noirs et de la ligne en haut de la photo (bien que ceux-ci soient bien réalisés tehniquement parlant).
Le résultat obtenu est vraiment celui d'une vieille carte postale si ce n'était pour la présence d'un appareil photo numérique! :o)
C'est bien d'avoir osé!
Bonne soirée.
Brigitte

nwoehnl (120) 2005-11-02 15:08

What have you done to your photo, Jean-Yves, you terrorized it :-P The framing is, of course, well made. The sepia and the noise, I like them. The line at the top - well, okay. The two black dots (what are those - cigarette imprints?) - nah. I do like a lot the font you found though, it looks very much like a 1910s or 1920s postcard inscription to me. Not bad at all in total.

gilou530 (35254) 2005-11-02 15:14

salut jean yves
2em francophone
l'image aux couleurs sépia fait bien ressortir une ambiance de vieux village de carte postale 1900
le trait dans le ciel c'est quoi?
gilbert

Emile (19999) 2005-11-02 15:37

Hola Jean Yves.
Very interesting picture, you really got the aged picture touch with this excellent work.
Love the line and grain in the sky , the dark spots, and the sepia colour.
Congratulation. Very well done.

Xalkida (11740) 2005-11-02 18:25

Hi JY

As a postcard collector the last 2 years, I must say that your work is very nice but it wasn't necessary so much noise for this! :) Anyway, very nice sepia tones. You must know that the most of the very old postcards are B&W! :) I think I just give you a new idea for something different! :)

fayeulle (26543) 2005-11-03 2:39

Salut Jean-Yves
Et 3eme francophone...
Bravo pour la technique, tu as atteint ton but. A première vue on se fait prendre. Avec un regard appronfondi, les personnages sont peu à la limite de l'anachronisme dans la tenue vestimentaire. Le format 4/3 ne correspond pas au format des cartes de l'époque. Le smilley vert vif pour l'effort de terrorisation.
Quand au bruit, j'ai scanné une photo de 1903 pour préparer mon 100° post, tu verras ça !
Amicalement
JP

feather (49862) 2005-11-03 2:57

I think I'm with the majority here. I like the grain and toning but not the line and ink blots.
Excellent composition with the statue appearing between the roofs and I really like the downward strip of light in the foreground.
Kath

eco (84) 2005-11-03 3:25

Hi Jean

I like this old photo, topping realization. super elaboration and stylization on old photo. Excellently. best regards, rafal

jinju (14265) 2005-11-03 4:29

Brave man JY.

I like the noise alsthough Id prefer a noise b/w instead of a noisy color. The distortion is strange. I dont really like the use of the text though. Its a brave experiment although its not one of your best.

Luan (15935) 2005-11-03 5:11

Hello Jean Yves,
je sais ce qui trompe ici, c'est la poussette 4x4 du future ;o) haha, sinon je confirme l'effet est bluffant, sauf les effets de magie ou vielles mouches ecrasees sont un peu strange. Sinon le paysage se prette bien au jeu de la photo d'epoque.
Bien fait
Amities
Luan

cessy (13647) 2005-11-04 3:32

very nice capture of the town
it does look like something from 100 years ago, nice technique, Jean Yves
I should find this magazine :)