An Evening on the Edge II + REPOST

Sorry I will fill this in with some decent description later as I am off to teach the kids to rock, does this work for you?

Marko, I took onboard a comment you wrote about more gritty contrast so I thought I would add a little extra, what do you think specifically?

Wow....
That's about all i can say...
This is stunning!

Greetings,

Jeroen Stel

I know nothing about landscape work but this one really made me sit up. Looks great

Classic, punchy B&W landscape. Would/will look great blown up big in a contemporary setting.



Mark

I like this very much and not just the gritty effect - and not just the great light - the composition is excellent and really well considered. The 'balance' between the roiling light area in the sky and the large round rock feature is very well placed. A really fine image.

Hi David,

I too know very little about landscape photography but I like this , the sky has real drama to it , very nice.

Regards

Andy...

A striking Image David.............nicely balanced/ composed, to my eye, and plenty of ooomph and definition of detail

Looks like one of those rare UK days where intricate detail can be maintained right through to the distant horizon



Alan

Ummm, I'm sitting here waiting for hair on my neck to calm down. Tonal range of this photo is plain phenomenal!!! We could discuss about left part of distant land, as it IMO is adding nothing to impact of this photo (or rather diluting raw nature of this image by adding softer forms), but foreground and sky are spectacular.

Cheers,
Marko

Great low key work David - that extra kick in the contrast works a treat - stunner of an image

Wow I really like this shot, I wish I could do something like this. Great shot.



Danny

An image that makes me want to try harder with my Landscape work

My only slight nit is the left hand side - there's something, for me, not quite right. Maybe it's the few very small white areas (which I presume are reflected water) which distract my eye ever so slightly.

Apart from that superb!!

Adrian

Great image Dave, you've certainly captured a lot of mood here. I love the detail in the sky and the soft and hard textures of the hills and rocks work really well together. Not sure about cropping any off the left - I think the balance here is great. Tristan

Really like the dramatic mood of this image, I must get that blending images thing sussed though...

Regards Chris.

Yeah it's alright Be interested to read your description when you have time David and any processing pointers woul dbe really helpful. Comp looks fantastic to me

This is the Peak District, one of the 'edges' that I cant remember. The main processing pointer was to blend two exposures and retain the lighting charateristics in both when assembling. The biggest decisions were to increase the contrast of the clouds and the land but not to over do them both which I feel I have a little in the first shot.

Someone on NSN said it looked like a placid scene, either the sky should be less stormy (it certainly wasnt going to be a storm) or the rocks should be more aggressive to compliment, but it felt a little unbalanced. I took this on board and reworked this version, to add more midtone lift to the clouds which I feel balances it out better. OR DOES IT? You tell me... I have also removed the white reflections and lights Andy pointed out.

Some quick B&W pointers are certainly to use the channel mixer to convert a colour image in CS2 rather than to convert in RAW. Lightroom does a fabulous job of converting too and I feel more inclined to do this next time as I have head super results with it.

You have to work the contrast of the image using adjustment layers (make an S curve adjustment layer and turn it into a layer mask, reveal the layer with the a soft edged brush tool) Take breaks and be sociable for ten minutes, then on returning to the PC all becomes clear as often you can change the light too drastically by fiddling too much. With adjustment layers this is immediately reversable.

Many thanks for all the helpful comments and appreciation.

Great shot David, for my taste its a bit over done - a little Lord of the Rings perhaps :-). If it were my shot I would tone down the sky a little. Anyway as I say great shot, well done, and its really nice to see all the great landscape work on the forum these days>

Paul

Sorry, tone down the sky of which, or both?

Thanks for description David. Prefer the tones in the repost. Superb stuff.

Fabulous picture David - especially the repost. Bet is looks great printed nice and big.

David

This is an inspiring image, beautifully converted to b&w to show off the textures in the rocks. I love the way the edge leads you round and through the image to the point of interest in the sky. Looking at this on a laptop screen it is difficult to comment on the contrast as it looks like a back projection on it. However this image really pops on this screen and looks b&w as opposed to a lot of converted images that look grey and white. (then i always did prefer technical pan printed on gallerie matt paper). looking at the two images I like the lower section of the first image (seems to have slightly more contrast showing more texture in the rocks and woodland) and the sky from the second image (more detail in the darker areas). However it is a lovely image as presented.
Thanks for the heads up on the Autumn colours, did manage a couple of trips out to Spitchwick, and Hembury Woods (which still had good colours today). When I get 10 minutes free I will try to get a couple processed.

John Lee

Cheers John I will add more foreground crontrast to the second one and give that a go! Hembury Woods, now why didnt I think of that!

Dave, something on your original post is singing clearly to me than your repost. When I think of it, it's probably what John described: new sky with original foreground (with bright spots cloned out - that's a big improvement in repost).

Cheers,
Marko

David,

The cloning out of the bright spots has, in my opinion, improved it but I'd go with Markos suggestion. For me the original rocks seem better somehow but that sky is singing

Adrian

Sorry for my unclear comment earlier, but I think I am very much alone in my views so its probably best you ignore them . I meant that the sky is a little too harsh, less so in the repost than the original. I think its a great shot though, if it were mine I would reduce the contrast and try and get a more subtle tonality, and a more natural feeling about it. Anyway I think I am in the minority on this one

Well done again, I love B&W landscapes and its great to see some here.

Paul

sorry for my unclear comment earlier, but I think I am very much alone in my views so its probably best you ignore them . I meant that the sky is a little to harsh, less so in the repost than the original. I think its a great shot though, if it were mine I would reduce the contrast and try and get a more subtle tonality, to try and get a more natural feeling about it. Anyway I think I am in the minority on this one

Well done again, I love B&W landscapes and its great to see some here.

Paul

David, this is a fantastic shot. The fluidity of the cloudy sky is a great counter to the solidity of the rocks.