Rusted and abandoned
Posted on 25 October 2006
An old oil drum stands on the quay at Ballycotton rusting away as the exposed metal is beaten down by the elements.
Technique: I increased the saturation of the reds to bring out the rust of the drum. I desaturated other colours so the drum would stand out.
I then duplicated the layer and darkened the top one to bring out the clouds and sky before using a layer mask to expose the ground on the bottom layer. After that a simple gradient at the top of the image provided a nice dark effect and finally, I dodge and burned the rust until I was happy. Was that useful?
I used CocoViewX to view my work directory from my Linux box on my Macbook. I was surprised that Finder didn’t display thumbnails and I didn’t want the iPhoto heavyweight when all I wanted was to know which image was which.
16 responses to Rusted and abandoned






Great shot.i love the angle.and the forbodeing sky is a great backdrop.
niiiiiiiiice
Hi Donncha, its a brilliant photo. Amazing colours. Where was it taken??
Mary – it’s taken in Ballycotton. For the life of me I could not remember the name of the place. I had to ask Jess later and she figured it out as soon as I said “it’s the place with the lighthouse on the island”
I think the post process steps are good but then I usually do the same thing when I post photos, at least ones where I did something neat in Photoshop.
Excellent!
Keen eye and great perspective!http://www.flickr.com/groups/1-2-3/
Excellent shot. Great angle and depth.3-2-1
Score 7/10 (from the Score Me! group)
Great shot!Score _7,5_/10 (from the Score Me! group)
I like the wide angle, I think that it gives great perspective. Not to mention you really capture the texture of the rust very well. Score 9/10 (from the Score Me! group)
nice rust!123
I like the difference in saturation between the foreground and background. Also very nice composition, not only artistically but every element supports the others – the drum and netting in the foreground go with the fishing boats, bay, and coastal town in the background. Nice! Score 10/10 (from the Score Me! group)
This would be good for the RUSTY & CRUSTY pool!
Thanks Daniel for the suggestion, added it!
Hi, I’m an admin for a group called Oil Drums, and we’d love to have this added to the group!