With its turquoise water, Moraine Lake just begs to be photographed in color. But I was pleased with how well this b&w version turned out. Ironic that with the 4x5 and D2X, one of my favorite shots from here comes off the p&s....
Olympus C-8080, converted to B&W in Picasa and PS.
Rick, I'm definitely liking the mood created with the clouds and the B&W conversion. The snow highlights look a little blown out and I'd personally like to see just a bit more contrast in the sky, but I think it's a very good shot, particularly for a P&S.
Posted by Kalin Wilson on July 9, 2007 at 11:58 PM
Nice shot! I like the sweeping silhouette of the ridge coming in from the right and the shadows on the left rock faces. If you could bring out the clouds a little more it would really add some drama. Trees on the ridge would be good but I like the silhouette.
Rick, beautiful comp under tough light! I would have liked some detail in that mass of trees but probably as well as could be expected with a p&s. I agree with Kalin on the clouds. I still use my 7 year old C-3000 and in spite of some dead pixels it still makes nice photos. Do you shoot B&W with your 4x5? What flavor?
Looks great in b&w! My first knee-jerk reaction is that I want to see the whole reflection, but then I realize that the comp is weighted very nicely and the tight framing works well.
Sorry John - I just saw your question. For b&w with the 4x5, I shoot a variety of films. Mostly, I shoot Fuji Acros 100 and mostly because it comes in quickloads. I also have Ilford Delta 100 and HP5. Of all of them, I think I like the Delta 100 the most for tone and 'texture'. If I were printing directly from negs, I might spend more time experimenting with other films, but since I process everything in PS anyway, it's not too hard to get the look that I want for any specific image regardless of the film I've chosen. I also don't hesitate to convert Provia and Astia shots to b&w; they convert well and it's basically two shots for the price of one.
Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone. Regarding the sky and trees, there's probably a dozen ways to go with this kind of shot. For my personal tastes, making the sky more contrasty doesn't work, and takes away from the real story which is (to me) the play of light and shadow on the mountains and snow. The sky holds enough interest that it compliments the mountains well, without overly competing. Some detail in the trees would be nice, but the shadows were dark in reality, and there's not much there. Shadow/highlight can bring some out, but of what was available, I didn't find that it strengthened the image at all, and in my mind weakened it a little. Of course, it's all personal tastes, but I definitely appreciate the varied preferences for presenting the image - thanks!
Jack - interesting comment about the reflection, and I agree with your take. Most of the images I made here don't include the full reflection. I have a few, but for me they just don't work as well. I may be in a very small minority, but I think reflections shots are way too hyped. Even when up at the Bells last year, I didn't see the appeal of the full reflection shot. In general, it's nice and will usually earn favorable responses, but I see a lot of reflection shots where I think too much emphasis is placed on getting the reflection in, and the stronger elements of the scene get reduced, or unfavorable elements are introduced, as a result. Probably sounds like I'm defending my choice of comps here, but there's definitely some thought behind it. Thanks for bringing it up. .
Posted by Doug Andrews on July 12, 2007 at 1:52 PM
Excellent B&W conversion Rick. Gives it a classic fine art landscape look.
Oh yeah, we have mountains like this right around Pittsburgh. The Alleghenies rise up right out of the river basin like majestic sentinels reaching for the heavens! And then there's the pristine lakes and rivers! Actually, I love the western PA landscape and even miss it. We'll probably move back there some day (maybe even someday soon!) and while I'll miss Colorado, I'll have no regrets about going home.
The title made me think of Moraine State Park (technically Lake Arthur) up by Butler. But the Canadian Rockies are cool too. After as long as you were with Darren not showering, I don't blame you for wanting to move back!!!
Yep, I did get the reference to Moraine State Park; my comment about pristine lakes was a little too ambiguous, though, I suppose. We used to go there frequently in the summer since we lived just a little south in Wexford. What a dirty little lake! At least that's my memory of the place - and the little swimming area that was defined by the buoys. Of course, compared to our other "vacation" spot - Presque Isle on Lake Erie - Lake Arthur wasn't so bad. Ahhhh...vacation in the industrial heartland of America!!
Discussion
16 repliesOlympus C-8080, converted to B&W in Picasa and PS.
Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone. Regarding the sky and trees, there's probably a dozen ways to go with this kind of shot. For my personal tastes, making the sky more contrasty doesn't work, and takes away from the real story which is (to me) the play of light and shadow on the mountains and snow. The sky holds enough interest that it compliments the mountains well, without overly competing. Some detail in the trees would be nice, but the shadows were dark in reality, and there's not much there. Shadow/highlight can bring some out, but of what was available, I didn't find that it strengthened the image at all, and in my mind weakened it a little. Of course, it's all personal tastes, but I definitely appreciate the varied preferences for presenting the image - thanks!
Jack - interesting comment about the reflection, and I agree with your take. Most of the images I made here don't include the full reflection. I have a few, but for me they just don't work as well. I may be in a very small minority, but I think reflections shots are way too hyped. Even when up at the Bells last year, I didn't see the appeal of the full reflection shot. In general, it's nice and will usually earn favorable responses, but I see a lot of reflection shots where I think too much emphasis is placed on getting the reflection in, and the stronger elements of the scene get reduced, or unfavorable elements are introduced, as a result. Probably sounds like I'm defending my choice of comps here, but there's definitely some thought behind it. Thanks for bringing it up.