South Gare Lighthouse

[TimH]

Hi Folks - ok so this was taken on the last UKLF workshop. I've just started playing with real B&W film (this is delta 100) rather than a colour conversion. Shot was unfiltered and so low contrast. I played around quite a lot - deciding it was concrete and the hard gritty look suited. I'll be interested to see what you have to say Mr Twist as Nigel and I followed you round there


South Gare Lighthouse, Teesmouth by Tim_Hodgson, on Flickr

[Robert J Fallis]

I like
1 The strong diagonal
2 the texture and detail in the pier
3 that includes the shadow detail
4 the quality of the light in the sky.

so it looks like I'm going to get my train pass out. and have a look around

bob

[Nigels]

I like the strong lines in the shot and the way the eye is drawn the the end of the wall where the lighthouse makes a nice stopper. Not sure that the shot needs so much foreground though. The pattern on the wall adds to the shot and the notice half way along gives added interest. Overall the whole thing looks a bit dark as if the lighting conditions weren't a big help. The vignetting in the top corners seems a bit too strong to me and I'm sure the detail in the sky could be enhanced a bit. So, I like the overall arrangement but think some tweaks could improve it.

[Charles Twist]

Hello Tim,
Great to see you posting this. Clearly it's a great location
For me the strongest part has to be the blocks of paint leading in to the picture and towards the light house. I would work to emphasise that. I agree with Nigel's comment about the top left vignetting being too obvious. I would make the wall with the paint blocks brighter mainly, then see if the tone & contrast needs tweaking elsewhere to draw the eye in to the #1 feature.
HTH.
Regards,
Charles

[Joanna Carter]

I agree with Nigel's comment about the top left vignetting being too obvious

Yes, that idea is symptomatic of too much French influence; where "art" photography seems to have to be dark and brooding. Seriously though, it looks like a Photoshopped vignette rather than an artefact of the camera setup.

[TimH]

Hi Folks - thanks to those of you who critiqued the shot. I've tried to rework with your input in mind. I'm surprised how much more detail / contrast you can drag out of B&W neg compared to Velvia. Thanks Tim.


lighthouse - reworked by Tim_Hodgson, on Flickr

[Joanna Carter]

Tim, if you are happy with sending a neg through the post, I would be happy to scan it and post the result, then send you back the file with instructions on how to maximise what's there

If you don't fancy sending the neg, I can arrange an ftp drop on my server where you can send a full range scan.

[Andrew Plume]

Hi Tim

a very good piece of work (imho) and as Charles has said, ones eye is led from right to left etc - this sort of approach is often used to good effect - I feel it will work just as well if the image was cropped/split between the lighthouse and the sign on the harbour wall

regards

andrew

[TimH]

Tim, if you are happy with sending a neg through the post, I would be happy to scan it and post the result, then send you back the file with instructions on how to maximise what's there

If you don't fancy sending the neg, I can arrange an ftp drop on my server where you can send a full range scan.

Hi Joanne - I did send you a pm (or I thought I did ) regarding sending you the neg but I'm not sure it arrived in your in-tray ? Since I took this I've taken a several more b&w shots - and I think I may have a problem or just not used to neg film. Now Its probably me OR poss. its the developers (Peak) - all my photos are completely flat contrast wise. If I scan 'raw' in Vuescan (which I'm happy to do with E6 tranny and am quite pleased with the results) and set appropriate black and white points - everything is still ultra low contrast.
I've bought an orange filter that I've yet to try but is this the norm for un-filtered B&W ??
PS I can post a negative scan of the following image I quite like if that helps :-


Swanage small pier by Tim_Hodgson, on Flickr

This has quite a steep contrast enhancing curve applied in Photoshop to get to this point and some processing on the sky - I'd rather get closer in-camera if possible.

thanks in advance tim....

[Francesco Bosso]

Hi Tim, I want try to add something in this discussion.
I agree with some one and disagree with some other,
really I prefer the first post because the second is too clear and have many light areas
that are distractions from the focal point that in my opinion should be the lighthouse.
This is a powerful immage because the light and the diagonal, enhance attention on too much
things don't work well.
In my opinion the print can be improved, corners are too dark, need to reduce vignetting effect
but not totally cancel it, also need to balance right side with left they seam have different density,
finally I'd like lighthouse bit more white.
Good luck!

And sorry for my bad English
Francesco