Israel Beetison House with Canon 5D Mark II
The Israel Beetison House, near Ashland, Nebraska, is a fine example of the Italianate style of architecture. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The residence was constructed in 1874-75 and five generations of Beetison’s lived in the house until its sale to nearby residential development in 1999. Now, unfortunately, it is unsecured, open to the weather, and in an advanced state of deterioration.
I’ve driven past this interesting house countless times in the last 10 years. Each time I tell myself I need to photograph it before it disappears altogether. I visualized a black and white image on a gloomy winter day. Well, that type of day, and some free time, presented themselves over the holiday weekend. As it turns out, I like this scene better in color than in black and white. What initially seemed to offer little color, actually is quite colorful. Even in color, I think it conveys the feeling of a brutally cold winter day. There is something appealing about the combination of a “cool” sky color and the “warm” stone and foreground colors.
This first image of the south elevation was taken late in the day from the shoulder of nearby Nebraska Highway 66 with the Canon 5D Mark II and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II USM at 155mm, f/8.0 1/50s iso100. I normally would not place the focal point of the image centered in the frame, but the symmetry of the house seemed to beg for a center position.
The second shot was taken with the Canon 5D Mark II and the Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8 II USM at 30mm f/8.0 1/60s iso100. Again, I like the combination of cool and warm colors. I intentionally pushed the sky in post-processing with NIK Viveza 2 by decreasing the brightness while increasing the contrast and structure of the sky to darken the overall color and enhance definition of the clouds. I think it works well.
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Canon 5D Mark II w/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II USM at 155mm, f/8.0 1/50s iso100
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Canon 5D Mark II w/ Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8 II USM at 30mm f/8.0 1/60s iso100
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Date: December 27, 2010
Categories: Architecture