ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

Earlier this year, in the summer, I posted a series of night time and day time photos of our local Sea side resort. I thought it would be worth while to post what the place looks like after everything is closed for the season. The weather was totally clear, so I knew that the sky would be a non event. I would, however, have nice morning light right after sunrise. With a few exceptions, I kept the processing to a minimum and tried to present most of these shots as I saw them. Most were taken with my Nikon D7000. The ones that I shot with the Bronica medium format film camera will be noted as such. Any comments are welcome; but I'm posting this more as a complete set rather than individual shots. I was hoping to capture the flavor of this place after it is shut tight. While the tourist are not usually abundant early in the morning, there would be plenty of people buzzing around getting ready for the day. This time of year, there are only a few joggers out. It is like a ghost town.

no. 1 Buried Stairs: Bronica

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no. 2 Terrace Bar shut tight: Bronica

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No. 3 Sawmill Bar and Boardwalk: Bronica

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no. 4 Desert Palms Motel

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no. 5 Pool Is Empty

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no. 6 Empty Chair

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no. 7 See you next Year

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no. 8 Water Slide

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Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

Erich,

The shore at off-season...my first reaction to your image series...could swear I was hearing the sea breeze..and the odd gull...but nothing more!

Been there..an excellent essay!

Dave

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

In many ways the off season is my favorite time at the shore. Surf fishing for striped Bass is one of the best things about the off season. Glad you enjoyed the set.
Erich

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I'm interested to hear why you decided to present two in color, Erich. I admit to being disappointed upon reaching the first color shot. The reason is I was deeply captivated by the first four: the compositions are highly engaging and the feeling of emptiness is complete. Very, very effective!

The mood was momentarily broken by the bright blue of #5, then re-established with the stark loneliness of the next two.

Really a fantastic job overall with mood and creativity.

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

I really liked the blue in the pool, and I think that the pastel colored motel, because it is so typical of the Jersey Shore, needed to be in color. As for the water slide? Well, again, the colors grabbed me more than the black and white for that photo. In retrospect, I think I should have arranged the photos differently. Perhaps start with the two color photos and then put all the black and white in a sequence. Or vice versa. Originally I thought that I would do all the photos in color; but I've become such a black and white junkie lately that I ended up converting most of the photos. Of course the film shots are going to be in black and white. I'm thinking of getting into color film developing; but have not pulled the trigger yet. Thanks for taking a look, Linda. I'm glad that you enjoyed the set. From your comments, I think that your perceptions are pretty close to what my intent was. Thanks.
Erich

pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

well done, such a surprise when the weather is not yet bitter.

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

I'm glad that I went this morning. This evening the temps dropped about 20 degrees. Going to be a bit different tomorrow. Might just have to stay in bed. lol. Even if it is not real cold, the shops and restaurants are mostly closed by this time. Some of the bars open in the evening; but everything is in doors. The motels still get some fishermen on weekends; but mostly they are closed. Thanks for taking a look. Glad you enjoyed them.
Erich

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

This is an interesting photo story, Erich, and conveys the Ghost Town message quite well. The photos themselves are very good. My favorites are #3 and #6, and the latter strikes me as something a bit special. I like the processing on the last one, too. I do think a series like this holds together best if the processing is fairly uniform. The styles of the last two are so attention holding for me, I think either style would give you a solid series that would glue itself together into a more cohesive whole.

Billyspad Loc: The Philippines

Looks like a place to erase from my bucket list Erich. I'm assuming the local tourist board has not seen these cos if they do your chances of getting the job as chief snapper for the summer brochure just evaporated. Love the motel which you have managed to make look live a real dive where ther is no extra charge for the bed bugs. All that's missing is is a board showing the room rate for a three hour hire!
Nice set but would be stronger if all either mono or color and all were given the same pp tratment

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

You hit the nail on the head. I think the weakest link here is that the photos, while conveying the same message, are very disparate. I should have been more consistent with the processing to achieve the cohesiveness you are talking about. Lesson learned.
Erich

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

The intent was not to show the town as a dive; but I can see how you would arrive at that conclusion. I don't think the town is going to hire me any time soon. Lucky for me I don't earn a living as a snapper. I agree with the pp tip. They should all be the same if I'm going to call it a photo essay. Thank you for commenting.
Erich