My shot at the horse's eye

Here is my "vision". I was going to leave the colour in but I found the pinkness off-putting. I was then going to create a strong black and white contrast but that didn't fit with the softness that the original image had. That is, the pinkness, to me, implies more delicate tones rather than harsh tones (comes from the pinkness in albinos). Anyway, I used black and white and attempted to create a soft and pure image.

Enough with the la-di-da arty-farty stuff. Here it is:

What the horse saw

Yup, another horse eye! And what did she see?

Black and white landscapes

Recently I have been playing around with black and white images of landscapes. Here are two that I am quite happy with...





Damian

Gone

My entry for this week is this photo showing hoof prints over the top of a dune on Sable Island. Shot on 14 January 2006 at close to 5pm. 1/60th at f4.0, ISO 200, focal=17mm I tried in both colour and BW and much prefer the latter.  All editing was done in Camera RAW (basic stuff like temperarture, levels, contrast) and the image was converted to BW in PS. Damian

original, RAW image

after editing

Freestylers Revisited

With the new posting pace (which I approve of), here is a shot from April this year when we had the three Freestylers in town.



Taken on a slate grey afternoon, taken unsupported and at a little bit of distance, tight crop. Small blurring, however I quite like the motion freeze and crowd blur. B&W worked better than colour.

Comments? Suggestions?

As a small background to this shot - the footballer doing this trick is Jeremy Lynch who after being in Dubai went on to the semi-finals of the TV show "Britain's Got Talent" with his freestyling skills. (Youtube clip)

A new post: revisiting the puppy

OK, here's my initial effort to contribute more. It's the puppy again, but taking into account some of the suggestions from the previous time I posted this image. I tweaked the levels a bit, and tightened the crop with the dog on the right (sorry Dam, I prefer this side...) but still wonder if I should try get rid of that back leg. Same for the b&w. Your thoughts?

Freestyling

I have been following some football freestylers this week as part of a movie release. They have some amazing skills with the ball... Some more shots to follow...

Anyway - I'd like to post more here so, here's one to start...

f 5.6 1/2000 60mm and ISO 200

Small adjustments to exposure and contrast in lightroom and converted to b&w.

Would welcome any comments on this candid shot...

Cheers.

Eskimo - Part 1

A picture of our little one, Abby, taken just last week. She was in her car seat, me in the front passenger seat. I've not optimised the black and white treatment - will do so and re-post, but just wanted some initial feedback, primarily on the image and composition. Advance input to help me get the b+w right would be good also.

Ivan

Beachwalkers; The Ann Miles/Gareth Marlow crop

This is the result of the Ann Miles crop (lose the sea) and Gareth's crop (lose the LHS to off-centre the figures).

I do think it's better all round, and a great way (as D says) to use the blog.

Regarding D's comments, this scene didn't exist, so it's an artistic interpretation of what I WANTED it to be. Myself - or anyone else - can enjoy it just the same, for it's appeal is purely visual and emotional. Artist's change stuff all the time when they paint, and it's not as if the scene is so fantastical that it COULDN'T exist; it could have, had the weather conditions been more conducive. The sky is from the same place, a little later in the day, so I've combined two elements from the same place to improve the image.

As for D's other point, some consideration before you take the picture is good, but sometimes time and the light mean you have to be quick; but then it's down to planning, knowing the area, anticipating the light, getting into position and being there, ready, when you need to click, so I see what he's getting at. Great landscape photographers put in the preparation to make sure they can have the time to plan and think, and be ready when the light gets great. Sometimes, snapshots work too, if you're lucky...

Comments welcomed as ever.

Ivan

Norfolk Coast; Beach Walkers revisited

After some mixed comments on the Beach Walkers series of pictures, I tried to beef up one of the images, but using a sky from the same photoshoot, to add drama. The result is below. I think it works very well, esp in black and white.



The sky is very dramatic, so I wanted it to dominate 2/3 of the image. I feel that this creates greater sense of scale with the small people against the sky and the sea is also in there too. The shapes and textures of the water, beach and sky all have ones interest, but the sky is the main focus after resting on the figures.

I listened to critique, and removed the distant people over the right shoulder of the main pair (per Gareth).

Comments welcomed as ever.

Ivan

Alternative Crop

You'll all have seen this image below before....



I wanted to try a new crop on it, to see if it could be improved or to just create a different effect. My crop is below...



I wanted to focus on layers; the river, the punt, the distant bridge, and bring out the shades and textures therein. Did I succeed? What do you think versus the original? Has seeing the original changed your view of the crop i.e. would you have liked the crop if you'd not seen the original for example?

Please, let me know what you think, or suggest (and post) your preffered crop.

Ivan

Let's Rock!!

A picture I took for a friend's band (this is not them, though) who were playing at Cambridge Junction in April 05. I was allowed access to "The Pit" in front of the band, so had good access, although all from below.. I took loads of images, of all the bands, and got some good ones. This was one of my first uses of my then new 350D, and I had never shot in such low and variable lighting conditions. This one is one of the best, I feel. The guitarist is backlit to some extent, and this defines the shape but hides his face and body detail. The lighting is pretty simple at that moment, and the colour palette mainly green and black which greatly simplifies things and, to me, adds spooky moody interest. It looks like a calm moment, but I think things were actually quite Rocked Up at this point... Only adjustments were some minor levels and cropping. Nothing else. High ISO and in the days before my IS lens, so handheld at speeds as low as 1/15s with the kit lens. Not bad results, considering.

Comments/views welcomed.

Ivan

Machu Picchu in BW

OK, so this is the same photo in BW. I am in Brighton at the moment with my brother and family, after visiting Ireland for a Christening. I leave in a few hours so I haven't done as good a job as I would like. Also, I need more practice with Black and White...please tell me what you think.

And perhaps we should have a 'lesson' in shooting black and white. That would be worthwhile for me.

Damian

Peak District Trees and Walls

A picture - one of the few - from our recent family trip to Tideswell in the heart of the Peak District.

No huge photoday outings were possible with a little baby, so I had to try and be creative with what was not the most stunning immediate area around the very nice village of Tideswell.

Up on a hill just above our cottage were some trees and the distinctive dry stone walls. I tried to isolate these and decided that a black and white treatment would work best. I framed it 1/3 land, 2/3 sky, as there was nothing else of interest in the land, and the large sky created a sense of space, and was just a bit more interesting than more grass. Central placement of the quite symmetrical clump of trees enhanced the simple feel. It was blowing a gale up there, but this feels somewhat peaceful to me. Quite harsh lighting, but I think I controlled the exposure OK, and the early slanting sunlight picks out the textures well enough. Not competition quality shot, but pleasing to me and one of the better ones I took.

Comments/views welcomed.

Ivan

What are you thinking...?

Picture taken near the London Eye. I used my super-wide (17mm) lens to get the lady and the Eye in shot. I like her as foreground interest, and the lines of tiles leading to the Eye.

Comments welcome.

Ivan