A Photo Gallery of Intrigue and Mystery: The World of the Window..

I find windows intriguing to photograph. There is something about an old, worn window pane in an abandoned house that makes my creative urge sing. This gallery is a tribute to some of the windows I have captured. Using the Adobe Photoshop program, "Topaz Labs," I have increased color contrasts, added depth and shadow, and even erased images in the windows themselves. By manipulating the photo filter setting you can turn a daytime shot into the depths of blue midnight with the click of a button. Adding to this, other features such as "posterization" and "ghostly," the composition can truly become evocative and compelling if done correctly.

In Haunted Window, my cat stares grimly out into a world of freedom it cannot possess. To make the shot more dramatic, I switched it to black and white, and outlined the details with poster edges, making the contrast more ghastly. To create the "spirits" in the window, I used a device called "spot healing" that removes images. Once space was removed from the dark window, these white images appeared to take shape and form.

The composition, Keeping Secrets, has an interesting history. My neighbor's house is a two-story, solid home, built in the 1920's. It was once a brothel. Despite the wholesome, clean image of the house, the windows always seem, (to me anyway) to remember the days when things inside the home were quite different indeed. I waited until one of the frail lace curtains blew uneasily in the wind, and my shot was on its way.

In the composition, "Neglect," pine needles have all but obscured the window itself. The shadows of the trees and the interesting curve of the window frame seemed to suggest a sense of dreamy sadness. This aura runs into the next picture, "Abandonment." I used a blue photo filter to increase the dull navy tones of the house. The house, once a lodge and tourist center in Wrightwood, California, is now all but a hovel of memories. A torn and soiled old curtain flapped uselessly into view and I was off on another expedition to capture an old window.

"Tainted" has perhaps the most intriguing history of all. This structure is called the Dolly Vardin Lodge and was a hang-out for the Hollywood Elite in the 1930's.It has been the scene for some paranormal investigation and speculation. It was once a gambling house and place for"soiled doves" of ill repute. Now situated in the center of a Christian Camp called Loch Leven, its eerie angles and elaborate glass windows caught my fancy immediately. I enhanced the golden tones of the wood to suggest its past glories, as in its day it was a very impressive mansion in the center of a fish hatchery and national forest. "Let Me In," is also a window associated with this area. In Wuthering Heights the Ghost of Cathy claws at the windows during a storm, trying to come back to her lover, Heathcliff. I thought of this when I saw the twisted arms of the tree, practically breaking through the glass to get inside.

"They Watch and Wait," was processed with a blue-violet filter to suggest a cool, twilight kind of arrogance to the windows. "Skull in a Green House," was manipulated to perhaps appear more ghastly than it was in reality. The real window was in a drab grey house, and the skull was that of a coyote. Through the magic of Photo Lab, even the color values of structures such as houses can be dramatically altered. "Stage Stop House," is an intriguing old house in Calaveras County, where in the 1800's stages stopped en route to the Gold Rush Towns. Instead of playing with color, I accented the blank, worn whiteness of the house and the long, drooping windows. This was done with a setting called "Venetian" where noise is removed from the photo and lines can be drastically smoothed.

"Shattered" was manipulated to look like broken glass. The window was fine, but I wanted more drama to the photo, and again, used the spot healing brush to remove and insert images. The eerie blue color was chosen to suggest a coldness and a trauma from which the house could not recover. Returning to the Dolly Vardin Lodge (From "tainted"} you see the immense, brooding scope of the lodge and its watching windows. I shot this from an angle to demonstrate the height and arrogance of the house itself. I called it "Footsteps in an Empty Mansion," as this has been reported here (take that with two grains of salt!). I do know for certain that at least one large owl is now roosting in the former house of scandal. Possibly a family of possums or raccoons could now be enjoying its hospitality also.

The "Old Stone Schoolhouse," is an historic site in Oak Glen, California, heart of apple growing country. I liked the cool tones of the stones against the restored glass. Using the poster edges setting I was able to greatly define the outlines. In "waiting," I used the healing brush tool to remove parts of a perfectly sound window, to create some drama.  "Remember to Forget Me," is the sad ghost town image of boarded up doors and windows. I used the color saturation tool to make the colors somewhat unpleasantly vulgar and uneven. "Dying Vines" shows an antique shop near my home, so unused to having business its windows have been hopelessly ensnared with old, dried up vines. Again, using poster edges and different color tones, I attempted to create a vintage effect.

Windows, like old houses, are wonderful subjects for study and photography.  There is no lack of them.  Whenever you see an old, run-down, abandoned house think of the windows and the things that have happened inside..