The high contrast goes well with the subject; it adds to that decaying feeling.

Nice picture, love the sepia tone (adds to the civil war era). And yes it kinda looks like Tara.

absolutetly stunning.

Really nice colours for this one - defintetly the preferred shot of my day.

I love this building but looks like somethings finally happening to it, there's some signs up, are they actually going to knock it down?

Excellent photo as always. And you manage to find the most attractive subjects in such a tacky town as ours.

something very sinister looking about this subject -- even in the light of day. you've captured the mood here quite nicely.

Hi David, Do you know the history of this building? I have heard one history but don't know how true it is..

Like the photo as always, especially the floaty clouds up top right. How do you get such contrast in a black and white sky? Mine never look that defined.Theres a great flatness to the building front, the way it spreadws across the whole picture yet is still second to the vastness of that sky..

I like! I would like to see the rest of the house, although the grasses in front add a nice effect to it. The toning is good as well. Nice contrast (I love contrast...).

Great pic.

Your work is just breathtaking...

Great shot, I like the the dark and moody conversion and tint.

Incidentally, I've just written about land art on my art blog, and this picture made me think about extending the category of land art. I mean, if land art is usually only known through pictures, than a photography like this one creates a work of art by pointing to it (beyond the picture as such)... I'm not sure if I'm making myself clear here, it might be a little hazy, a little out of focus...

Ross: the rectangular sign in the arch says "danger, keep out, private property" so I'm not sure whether anything is imminent. That said, the building does seem to have suffered a bit this winter so they may decide to do something about it soon.

roy: no, I don't. We bumped into a woman walking her dog who told us that it used to be a nursing home, but beyond that I know nothing about it.

Fellow Eskimo: now the weather's improving I'll probably take a few more shots.

For me, what would have lifted this picture to a different level would have been to wait until the cloud formations where different, or differently placed. It may be that they never would have settled into an interesting pattern, or that spending time waiting was not possible, but I find the sky a bit ragged - and there appear to be some odd horizontal lines (clouds?) that further confuse an already busy area. That said, the mood introduced by the toning and the overal tonality of the scene is nicely executed.

i pass this building everyday on the bus and noticed that there were new signs on the building but never been curious enough to get off and have a look :)

Stop it. :-)

fraxinus: I agree, the sky could have been better, but the light didn't last – the very few clouds that there were gradually dissipated. As for the horizontal lines, they're vapour trails from passing aircraft, which are not entirely congruent with the feel of this image. I'll re-shoot this one at some point.

I thought of the Wizard of Oz before I read your comments on this shot. You certainly were able to capture that rustic old feel.

This is a really great shot. I can't wait to see the 2nd version once you decide to shoot it. I also found the sky to be distracting... not so much the lack of clouds as the streaks in the sky.

Hi, I love the tone in this pic. Do you mind sharing your workflow? Thanks.

wistful.

I LOVE THIS PIC@!~ im a beginner...visit mine at http://www.discreteshutter.psychobloggers.com/ i will be delighted to hear from you@!~

really nice capture!! seems like the image of an old movie. I liked it much... What is this place?

Wow. I am absolutely in love with this photograph. It looks like a lithograph print from the 1800s or something....just ancient. well done!

Love the framing!

Very good Dave.

Superb coloring, David! WOW. Really lovely.

This photograph is indeed interesting displayed with the white background, but it becomes positively EERIE displayed with the black one (which most wouldn't think to use with such an already dark shot). Amazing how much more of whatever a photo is doing it can do with the "right" matting. ;-)

Thanks everyone.

Yogi: a channel mixer adjustment layer (to extract the red channel) and a Curves adjustment to a) increase the contrast, and b) tone the image.

ellehm: it's probably an abandoned nursing home, but read on ...

peter: I agree.

And finally, I heard back from Roy regarding the history of this building and when he was a kid he was told that it was an orphanage. I'll see if I can find out.

Lovely! Like the mood...

this is so gorgeous! The tones are incredible; especially love that brown sky. love it!

Captivating! Lost for words.