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chromasia.com

Thanks to Roy's comment on yesterday's entry I now know (as with yesterday's shot) that this is a part of St. Anne's Pier that burnt down – reducing its overall length from 914' to 600'.

I also have another shot of this structure that I may well put up tomorrow. I'm pretty pleased with it, but on reflection I think the composition could have been a bit better so I may reshoot it tomorrow. That said, if it's as windy as it was today I probably won't bother – as I walked along the beach today the wind was so strong it felt as though it would take my legs out from under me. And interestingly, when we first moved here, I found the sea winds quite difficult to deal with for any length of time. Inland the wind seems much less constant – a gust, a lull, another gust, and so on – but when it's windy on the beach it's continuous. Having got used to it though I find it kind of reassuring – something to escape into perhaps.

Anyway, enough rambling – tell me what you think about this one. I like it.

Oh, and this one, IMO, looks better with the dark theme.

capture date
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
cropped?
2.43pm on 12/11/04
Canon 20D
EF 17-40 f/4L USM
17mm (27mm equiv.)
f/8.0
1/100
aperture priority
+0.0
evaluative
100
no
RAW
no
 
3x2 + piers [St. Annes] + fylde coast [scenic]
comment by peterv at 11:42 PM (GMT) on 12 November, 2004

A very striking image, beautifully composed, and absolutely correct that it should be monochrome. For my taste, the pier is slightly too contrasty and the sky not contrasty enough.

comment by djn1 at 11:53 PM (GMT) on 12 November, 2004

peterv: I agree, and have put up a new version with a slightly less contrasty pier. As for the sky: I've already darkened it as much as I can without resorting to using an overly complex mask (which I did try, but couldn't get right).

comment by fraxinus at 12:55 AM (GMT) on 13 November, 2004

When I first saw it I thought 'That's a bit contrasty'. Then I read peterv's comment and your reply - so I guess I'm looking at the less contrasty version, oh well. I like it, but it has a slightly 'cut-out' look, as if it's pasted on the sky, and I suppose that's partly a result of the post-processing. If you waited until the clouds were in that position, then well done - it does help the balance.

comment by miklos at 01:13 AM (GMT) on 13 November, 2004

Hrm. Sorry to be the sore thumb here, but I think you just hit my weak spot (black and white and contrast). I don't even care about the sky, the detail on the wood draws me to it, I don't know. What do I know? What I do know is that I like this... :P

comment by Mattp at 01:17 AM (GMT) on 13 November, 2004

Discovered this site today, and spent a large part of the afternoon browsing. Many wonderful photos, which have inspired me to carry on with my own efforts.

Another bonus is that it has encouraged me to learn more about the tools you can use in post processing. Once I got a rough idea of how layers worked, I've been using the technique you describe of putting an opaque layer with gaussian blur over some shots of my neices, to give a slightly filtered effect. I'm very pleased with the results, so thank you.

Finally to the photo! I love the texture of the materials, and like the composition. However, having spent the afternoon playing in photoshop, I'm much more aware now of how edges can reveal any tinkering! I found that a little too obvious on this picture, making the foreground look too 'detached' from the sky.

Keep up the very good work, I look forward to seeing more.

comment by djn1 at 01:41 AM (GMT) on 13 November, 2004

ok, this is now version three: slightly less contrasty (again), and the pier (hopefully) doesn't look quite so detached from its surroundings. On which note, I'm going to bed :-)

comment by blinks at 03:22 AM (GMT) on 13 November, 2004

haha...well the b&w conversion looks great here.

comment by blind-man at 05:40 PM (GMT) on 13 November, 2004

Ohhh... I remeber some song: "fly on the wings of change..." its Scorpions song, it fit to that song, dont you think ?

comment by Vivien at 07:28 PM (GMT) on 13 November, 2004

I love all your photographs - I never saw such a great blog. The one picture the girl is standing in the sand at the beach is my background image ;).

Are you taking pictures all day long? My sister, she has a photoblog, too. It's kinda new. Take a look at it (url).

Greetings from Germany, Vivien.

comment by djn1 at 09:05 PM (GMT) on 13 November, 2004

Thanks everyone. I think this is one that I need to re-shoot at some point. For me, this one is nearly there, but it's not quite right.

blind-man: I'm not familiar with the song.

comment by miles at 05:48 PM (GMT) on 17 November, 2004

Great tones and detail.

comment by Ryan Rahn at 05:57 PM (GMT) on 5 December, 2004

Great contrast. Makes a wonderful black and white!