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Northumberland

janet Smith

pro member
A few more from our weekend in Bamburgh that I think work in b&w, what do you think?

IMG_5390cleanA1.jpg

Holy island

IMG_5402SS.jpg

The causeway to Holy Island

IMG_5363SS.jpg

Bamburgh

IMG_5353clean.jpg



The couple in the last two shots fascinated me, both apparently enjoying their day of quiet contentment
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Janet,

Being that it's 2:18 am I just want to salute your new B&W work and come back to it tomorrow. Right now, I'm just enjoying the work and hearing the early winter rain smashing against our roof and the metal overhand I built over the dining room door to stop the rain coming in. It works but is very noisy!

Northumberland beaches seem absolutely idyllic from where I am right now!

They say it never rains in California!

Asher
 

janet Smith

pro member
Being that it's 2:18 am I just want to salute your new B&W work and come back to it tomorrow.

Hi Asher

I hope you've woken to better weather and that you managed to get some sleep!

I'm happy(ish) with the first two......but keep looking at the first one - I burned in the area around the curve in the sand to emphasise the S shape, now I wonder if I've overworked it. What do you think?
 
Greetings Janet,


Holy Island- Any info as to the nature of those poles? I love how they make the depth of field real and thus draw you in.


I think the jewel here is the castle shot. What I like is the anachronistic presence seems to be reversible. It could belong to either the people or the castle.


The last beach shot deserves an honorable mention.
 

janet Smith

pro member
Holy Island- Any info as to the nature of those poles? I love how they make the depth of field real and thus draw you in.

Hi William

The poles are just off the causeway, which is a road of about 3 miles long where one can cross to the island at low tide, my guess is that the poles are depth markers, but I could easily be wrong. It's a fascinating place and a great habitat for birds.

think the jewel here is the castle shot. What I like is the anachronistic presence seems to be reversible. It could belong to either the people or the castle

Interesting way of putting it..... yes they do vie for attention, but the man with his fishing rod seems to attract my eye more than the castle. Thanks for commenting.
 

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Hi Janet
You know my love for colours (I didn't write colors though ,-).
I think at least the 2 first shots do desserve colours, I can guess (but only guess) that light was marvelous (US would say gorgous?) in that second shot:

IMG_5402SS.jpg

I would imagine a beautifull blue sky and warm light on the pier and the little house at its end. But what was the colour of the sea? what was the colour of the sand?
How could I imagine all these subtle tones of colour gradients, their harmony!

Look at that!
IMG_5353clean.jpg
All these greys and shades needs colours!

These are beautifull shots of beautifull places, one can not tell me that you did have to get rid of awfull colours like Coca-Cola ads or neon lights…

Thanks for sharing :D)
 

StuartRae

New member
Hi Jan,

I have to agree with Nicolas. I've never seen a digital landscape photo that benefited from a B&W conversion. Portraits and abstract 'arty' shots are OK, but a landscape loses so much if it's condemned to 256 shades of grey.

The most famous photographers of the Lake District were the Abraham brothers (1890 to 1920), but I bet they'd have used colour if it'd been available!

Lovely shots, but any chance of seeing the colour versions?

Regards,

Stuart
 

Mike Shimwell

New member
Hi Jan,

I have to agree with Nicolas. I've never seen a digital landscape photo that benefited from a B&W conversion. Portraits and abstract 'arty' shots are OK, but a landscape loses so much if it's condemned to 256 shades of grey.

The most famous photographers of the Lake District were the Abraham brothers (1890 to 1920), but I bet they'd have used colour if it'd been available!

Lovely shots, but any chance of seeing the colour versions?

Regards,

Stuart

Oh go on then, I'll wade in.

I'm not sure that colour is always best in landscapes - there is a problem with (too much) green (though Fahim has commented that he likes it). Look at paintings and see how many avoid green as the dominant field.

However, I agree that a lot of monchrome conversions from digital sources look flat and uninteresting. I did one a month or two back that ws almost, but not quite, there. In part I think it has to do with a lack of texture that film gives (or you can simulate in a range of ways from the cheap to the expensive) and the way film compresses highlights effectively.

Janet, to be honest, these aren't working as well for me as a lot of your other work. I'm in a hotel on a laptop with an ugly screen, so please take this with a pinch of salt, but they do look a bit flat to me. The skies and overall pictures are darker than I think works for these and the local contrast could be enhanced a bit. You might try something as simple as increasing the blue slider in the B&W mix, adding an S-curve with a bigger top loop to brighten and increase mide tone contrast and a low opacity duplicate overlay mask or USM local contrast enhancement. You might also try toning them slightly.

I can't try any of this here so it's just a thought.

My favourite by the way is Bamburgh Beach with Castle and Fisherman, and I do understand why you are working on these in monochrome and not including the full technicolour.

Mike.
 

janet Smith

pro member
Hi Janet
You know my love for colours (I didn't write colors though ,-).
I think at least the 2 first shots do desserve colours, I can guess (but only guess) that light was marvelous (US would say gorgous?) in that second shot:

Hi Nic

Yes I know you love colour;) so do I, but I thought the b&w rendering of these shots isolated the shapes without the distraction of colour, it was just an experiment, in the first two shots, your judgement of the colours of the sky is spot on, and the warm light on the bridge and the refuge box.

In the last two shots, the sky was absolutely grey, the sea was grey, the wet sand reflecting the grey sky, it was very dull and drab in colour, no doubt they do also look drab in b&W LOL!;)

To satisfy your urge for colour, I'll post the colour versions later today. Thank you for your comments Nic, it's always interesting to me to hear how other people react to shots I'm unsure of.
 

janet Smith

pro member
Portraits and abstract 'arty' shots are OK, but a landscape loses so much if it's condemned to 256 shades of grey.

The most famous photographers of the Lake District were the Abraham brothers (1890 to 1920), but I bet they'd have used colour if it'd been available!

Lovely shots, but any chance of seeing the colour versions?

Hi Stuart

When I was at college studying photography my lecturer was absolutely addicted to b&w, I had no interest in b&w at all, loving vibrant colours, at that time I couldn't understand his fascination, until I had to shoot b&w and process and print it myself as part of the course, then I developed an understanding and a love for it.

Now, generally I prefer colour, but sometimes I see an amazing shot in b&w, that with the removal of distracting colours works so well. I took a shot of the causeway at Malham recently which worked better in b&w than colour. The thing I still struggle with is trying to identify which shots work better in colour than b&W, generally for landscapes I agree with you that colour is better. Just sometimes, the shapes or patterns work better in b&W, this is where you guys come in, helping me to see what works. Thank you for your comments Stuart.

I'll post the colour versions later:)
 

janet Smith

pro member
Oh go on then, I'll wade in.

Janet, to be honest, these aren't working as well for me as a lot of your other work. I'm in a hotel on a laptop with an ugly screen, so please take this with a pinch of salt, but they do look a bit flat to me. The skies and overall pictures are darker than I think works for these and the local contrast could be enhanced a bit. You might try something as simple as increasing the blue slider in the B&W mix, adding an S-curve with a bigger top loop to brighten and increase mide tone contrast and a low opacity duplicate overlay mask or USM local contrast enhancement. You might also try toning them slightly.

My favourite by the way is Bamburgh Beach with Castle and Fisherman, and I do understand why you are working on these in monochrome and not including the full technicolour.

Hi Mike

Thank you for "wading in" I appreciate your thoughts on this.

I tried the things you suggested above and these were the best conversions I came up with. The last two shots were taken in very flat grey conditions, and all of them were grabbed rather hurriedly.

I think I might try toning the last two - thanks for the suggestion Mike.
 

janet Smith

pro member
Here are the colour versions you asked for, all just done very quickly, but you'll get the impression.....

IMG_5390A.jpg


IMG_5402B.jpg


IMG_5363A.jpg


IMG_5353A.jpg

What do you think, b&W or colour?
 

StuartRae

New member
Hi Jan,

What do you think, b&W or colour?

Definitely colour! Just my personal taste of course, but in the last image the reflections of the sky on the wet sand and the contrast in colours are just beautiful. (And for Mike, not a green in sight).

Regards,

Stuart
 

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Hi Janet
just a short note as I bite into my sanswich ;-)
1st thanks for your open minded and posting colour versions :-D
2nd I think your colour version are too saturated, these are good and nice shots and desserve more attention than postal cards if you see what I mean…
Honestly I'm not fan of the 1st one…
The 2nd needs to be dessaturated, I think I would have shot it oriented more to the right and put the left start of the pier in the lower corner…
The castle is more subtle and would require that you spend more time on it, maybe some midtone contrasts…
The 4th one has a lot of potential, I would first try to give moe silver aspect to the grey palette and try to make it shine…
my 0,02 cents of French euro :)

Back to sandwich now !
 

janet Smith

pro member
Hi Stuart & Nic

Thank you both for your opinions.

I did these very quickly, if I intend to use them for anything I'll re-process them.

I think I prefer the b&W's!!!! Particularly of 1 & 2. Must dash now.....
 
I like the 1st and 3rd.. The 2nd and 4th do nothing for me in either bw or color.
The 1st best for me in monochrome. I like the way the diagonal gap in the clouds (more obvious in the bw) follows the line of poles.
The castle one just looks good. I like the bw version best, but I think it needs a little more contrast and some general fiddling.. ie: dodge/burn. And as you said the color version was quickly done.
I have always loved bw photo's.. I need to work on my conversion technique though.. I have trouble getting the right real bw feeling. I know it can be done, just not by me... :)
 

janet Smith

pro member
The 1st best for me in monochrome. I like the way the diagonal gap in the clouds (more obvious in the bw) follows the line of poles.

Hi Duke

Thank you for your comments, I agree with you, the first one keeps attracting me back to it in b&W, but it does need more work.... I'm going to leave it for a few days and live with the print that I have and decide upon the changes I want to make, then rework it for a final version. I don't think I'll use any of them in colour LOL!
 
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