I asked you to photograph some doors. And you gave us a peek into the intricate, gorgeous, and sometimes flat-out depressing possibilities that await us all from across the globe.
Tobacco Lunch
This is an old door to what was a lunch counter in the American Tobacco Campus in Durham, NC. The door is less than six feet tall and is tucked away in the corner under one of the stairwells. The entire campus has been remodeled, but some of the tucked away areas like this were left in their deteriorated state.
Ryan Hutchinson
A Touch of Patriotism
Traipsing through historic downtown in search of doors with the most unique qualities didn’t get me very far with this challenge. I chose this basic door shot with a splash of patriotism and lots of bold texture - simple, but representative of the suburban Northeast. Nikon D3000, f9, 1/125
Hannah Nofsinger
Hardware
Attached is my Door Photography Contest entry. It was taken with my HTC One M7 in manual mode, with an ISO of 100, a shutter speed of 1/253, and a live black and white filter.
In this photo is the door of an old, abandoned hardware store located in Mokelumne Hill, Northern California. This photo was taken just a little earlier this morning, on our way back from our friend’s yurt. We decided to stop at a little sandwich shop to pick up some food for our trip back home to the bay area, and I saw this photo opportunity right next door.
Armando Epifani
To Narnia!
We were waiting at the Johnstown, PA Amtrak station to pick up a friend and his train was delayed by an hour, so we started wandering and shooting pictures. The train track is elevated 20 feet off the ground on a cement structure, about 3 feet wider than the tracks, and there was this completely random, indoor-styled door in the concrete. It seemed likely to go to a magical realm, Narnian or Vernian perhaps.
Jonathan Moldofsky
Afterwards
This menacing photo was documented at an abandoned slaughter house in a small, isolated town in South Dakota. The rim-lit shadowy figure walking toward the light appears to be seeking something. Redemption? Perhaps another victim? No one talks about what goes on there so we don’t really know.
We had a LOT of fun shooting this set! The lighting was perfect and the drab muted colors suggested a sort of former vitality. There is so much you can do with a wireless flash and a tripod (or handheld, as in this case). I like exploring and shooting these kinds of thought provoking dark scenes. Canon 5D Mark III, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Lens, Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT Flash
Matthew Palmeri
French Quarter
Taken with my iPhone 5 in the French Quarter, New Orleans, LA
Byron Kennedy
Old Cockeyed Door
I was down by the Highline in NYC on Thursday walking around taking pictures when I spotted this old cockeyed door on a building at 9th Avenue and Gansevoort Street. It looks to be the original door from sometime in the middle of the 20th Century. The shot was taken with my Canon 5D Mark III with the 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens. The shot was made in RAW format using Aperture priority, 4.0 aperture, 1/3 exposure compensation at 1/1000 shutter speed. Picture style is Landscape with Auto white balance. ISO speed of 200 with manual AF area select mode focusing. I processed the film in Lightroom 6 CC to even out the look, crop away some distracting areas and add a little sharpening.
John McNamara
Technically a Gate
I know, I know, its technically a gate, but I was driving to work Thursday morning and couldn’t resist getting a shot of the loading gates at the St. Louis Zoo. Shot on an iPhone 6+ with a bit of editing done in Lightroom.
Jeff Allen
Chelsea
In Chelsea’s gallery district, there are also a few event spaces that host pop-up events. This is one such spot, either closed down or waiting to open up for an event from AOL. It seems pretty apt too, as in the general publicy’s eye AOL is a closed-down company that people forget still exists, which is depicted here.
I took this with with my Fuji XE-1. It’s not the newest camera but I bought it used as a camera I can carry with me to and from work everyday and not have to worry about losing it or breaking it. Carrying the DSLR just isn’t ideal to carry with me every day. Plus, the small XE-1 and it’s live view help me look like an idiot tourist, so people generally leave me alone when I’m doing some street shots. FujiXE1, iso 800, 18mm, 1/140, f4
Kevin Schultz
Behind Door Number One
Enjoying the view on a walk
Ramin Rafie
Lonely Door
Just a lonely door down a long open hallway, with the lights on, in the day time. It’s one of the doors I see at work from time to time. I was a little more fascinated with the long walkway leading to that “lonely” door but... t’was a door challenge. Used my Sony RX-100_ISO 125_1/60sec_F 1.8. Messed around with contrast and brightness just for that “lomo” look. Kinda shrunk down the pixel count too much.
Morgan Cuz
The Dom
This is a shot from one of the front doors at the Dom in Cologne. My wife and I had some family and town, so we decided to make a quick run to Cologne with them to enjoy some tasty Kolsch beer. Fortunately, I had my camera with me, and I remembered this contest. I unfortunately broke every rule that you published in the contest page.
1. Shot in the middle of the day, around high noon
2. Maybe 6 inches from the door
3. Door is neither centered or at thirds since there was about a million people (high tourist season)
Shot with a Canon 70D and Sigma 10-20 3.5. ISO 125, F3.5, 16mm, 1/40
Aaron Oaks
Long Island City
On Friday I took a short trip to Long Island City to get some beautiful shots of the city. It had just finished raining and there was a thick soupy fog hanging over the city. On my way back to my car I noticed this door drenched in graffiti and I just had to take a picture of it. There wasn’t that much sun that day, but I think it helped to bring out the colors. This was taken on my iPhone 6 Plus at an exposure time of 1/670 sec, F2.2 and ISO 32.
Ryan Leone
Raw Suburbia
One of the many abandoned houses my friend and I have encountered. Nice size single floor house that was probably built in the ‘40s. I really dig wood panelling so I think that’s one reason I like this shot. It’s looking into the den area from what was probably a dining room. Gritty raw photography is what I love and ends up what I shoot mostly. Shot on a Canon ae-1 35mm with 400 film
Jordan Vance
Incheon International Airport
The Incheon International airport in South Korea is known for its modern design and futuristic tech, but as I passed by this door it becomes evident that Korea hasn’t forgotten the beauty of its past. Shot freehand with a 10mm wide angle lens on a CanonT3i.
Levi Basist
Phetchaburi
Walking around the old town of Phetchaburi in South Central Thailand I found just the door that I wanted. Unfortunately I had camera separation issues. I went back later in the afternoon to find a man repairing his motorcycle just where I wanted to shoot. He was not likely to move for some time. So this is my second best option. Phetchaburi is a nice day trip from Bangkok and is famous as the preferred summer home of a former King of Thailand and the source of a sweet that comes in a small square tin similar in taste and texture to baked custard. It also has a cave with an altar at the bottom and a hole in the roof that lets in the sunshine that recently made one of the many “top 10 places” lists.
A little bit of cropping to remove an ugly tap and pipe running down the wall. Shot on a SONY Alpha5000 with a 16-50mm short zoom. f/5.6, 1/80 second, ISO-400, No post production other than the cropping.
Nick Smith
Schnormeier Gardens
This shot was taken at a private residence known as Schnormeier Gardens outside of Gambier, Ohio. One weekend a year the Schnormeiers open the grounds to the public. They have 9 different gardens on the property; one includes this Japanese inspired garden house. Since the grounds are only open for a few days a year, they were crowded with people wandering and photographing. I set up this shot and waited. And waited. Then I waited a little more. Finally, a break in the crowd came and I was able to snap this shot. The inspiration for this tea house came from one in Takamatsu, Japan. Who know you’d find such a thing nestled in the countryside in Ohio! Canon EOS Rebel Series T3i, 50mmf5.6, ISO 400, ss 1/500
Summeranne Appleman
Washington State Capitol
I work across the street from the Washington state capitol building, which I figured would have the some of the fanciest doors in town. This is one of the front (North facing) doors. The Washington State Virtual Campus Tour describes the doors as “massive bronze doors with bas-relief representations of early Washington state history, including a sailing vessel, logging activity, natural landscapes and the Territorial Capitol.”
Canon PowerShot S90. Photo taken hand held. HDR processed (tone-mapped) into black & white from a single picture using PhotoMatix Pro 5. Perspective correction done is DxO Optics Pro 8. Resizing done in Paint.NET 5.
Brian C Hall
Almost Spain
I wish I could say that I took this while strolling through Spain on a photography sabbatical, snapping away between sips of Rioja...... but this door just happens to be at the faraway and exotic edge of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. It was spotted while walking the dog and seeing it in the early morning light made me grab the camera I have with me most often: an iPhone 5.
Steve Sabellico
Montsalvat
I was looking for an excuse to get outside this weekend and came across this competition. Montsalvat is Australia’s oldest artist’s community, built in 1934. There was no shortage of fantastic doors here. I was spoiled for choice and honestly had a lot of trouble deciding which shot to submit. I took shots of 21 doors, and pretty much rolled the dice to settle on this one. I took around 20 shots from different angles, and this one is significantly cropped. I used Snapseed for all edits, including the handy transform tool, which warps the photo and can cover up perspective problems.
Ben Nicol
Cross Boutique
At home in west hollywood there’s this ivy covered boutique around the corner from my morning coffee shop. The side door on the building offered some nice contrast for this photo with a bright green ivy wall against a cold metal door. The setting sun light hit against the metal creating a bit of glare at the top of a graffiti cross that marks the building. I’m shooting with a Fuji X-Pro1 and Zeiss Touit 32mm lens, f/8.0, 1/160 sec, 400 ISO.
Evan Wilson
Izola
Going back to my hometown (Izola, Slovenia) I was very happy about the subject matter of this week’s shooting challenge. Since this is a quaint town on the Slovenian coast, I was expecting to get many chances for shooting doors. Indeed I got them, after about 3 hours walking around (on 2 days) I ended up with about 15 candidates, the biggest issue being lighting. The afternoon is not a good time to shoot around town, since all the streets are really tiny and do not let much light in, you invariably end up with a shadow. Found this pearl in a side street. Sadly the car in front of it prevented me from getting a better shot. Shot on a Canon D70 with an EF-S 18-135mm IS STM f/5.6 1/400s at 100 ISO with a focal length of 24 mm.
Matjaž Pečan
Maysville
This door is on the side of a building in the historic part of downtown Maysville. The building is condemned, so I don’t know how long it will be standing. There are two buildings across the street that are in the process of demolition. Pentax K-5 II s; 16 - 50 mm lens.
Chris Sears
Druid Door
While the engravings are somewhat whimsical, one has to wonder about how/why this doorway was created and impractical the overgrowth is. Must be maintained by druids ;-)
Tried the rule of thirds approach, but portrait angle establishes the mystery and catches the detail better IMHO. Fuji T-1, Zeiss Touit 12mm, F 7.1, ISO 3200, 1/250 shutter, Post in Lightroom 6
Daniel Jones
Barn Ruins
Early Saturday, the morning fog lifted revealing a blue sky after days of rain. I walked by the ruins of an old dairy farm barn near my house and took a few photos. I got very wet from the dew in the tall grass. Canon G7x, f/5.6, 1/320 sec. exposure, ISO-125. Cropped and touched up using GIMP.
S Wootten
Amazing photos all around. But I have to ask, am I the only one tempted to open each and every one of these doors?