Cornwall

Some recent photos from Cornwall. These looked OK on my machine but terrible on the machine I am using to upload them so I hope mine is the better of the two! C&C as always...

Kris




The next one makes me smile.




This one looks horribly garish on this computer but fine on mine so I hope the colours are OK over the web.







Last but not least, can anyone identify this wild flower? It is very small (c. 5mm across) and was growing on the rocks in a valley near the sea.

love picture 4 Kris.

The mono sky and the muted colours of the church with great foreground colours on the head stones and grass.Very nice

Thanks for the kind comments. Gets a bit disheartening when one gets no comments at all. No 4 is a HDR composite using Photomatix Pro. I liked the way it really added interest to the sky.

Cheers, Kris.

Was going to ask if it was HDR, as it has that sort of 'glow' about it, yet the upper part of the steeple is slightly darkened, suggesting an ND grad.

I'd be interested to know where the waterfall pic was taken. I like the shot although perhaps a little dodge and burn might give it more impact... and maybe crop in a little tighter too.

Hi Kris, about the church interior shot. I like it a lot, but there is something I can't put my finger on. You mentioned the garish feel on your computer. It's the blue around the window what's bothering me. (I use a calibrated screen btw.) The colour blue seems out of place, unreal to me.
To Mediterranean compared to the soft pastels found on the walls.
The greenish tint on the main window compared to the other window gives me the impression
maybe something has been done to that area during PP ?
It just doesn't feel right.......but maybe it's just my eyes, who are deceiving me

The other shots are great but the first one needs some extra work. Blown out highlights on the waterfall and the rock wall on the far left and right side. The ones forming a half circle should be darkened a bit to act as a natural vignette so the eye gets lead in to the waterfall a bit stronger. Hope it makes still sense, to you.

Martin.

Good photos.
Sheep really make smile
nr 4 is very fine. but others too.

I am holidaying at my sisters and although my laptop screen is pretty good, the monitor on the computer I am using to connect to the internet is way off!

The blue wall in the church actually is that colour. Very unusual I know but I just checked the original files, and the glass in that stained window is primarily a light bottle green rather than clear. As odd as those colours are, the HDR is not at fault. If anything, the colour of the pews looks a little off to me, and when I get back to a colour-calibrated monitor I'll try that one again.

Thanks for the comments. The waterfall will repay some more work I think.

Today's efforts will be posted later.

Best wishes, Kris.

All look fine to me Kris,

Love the sheep shot lol.

Also like the church exterior quite dramatic. Allthough i think the church interior is a nice shot is does look like horible decor lol

Kris, I like the sheep shot, made me smile too, but I found what looks like dust spots in front of the lower sheep's head a little distracting.

The exterior church shot has some strange artifacts in the sky above and to the left of the steeple, presumably done by the HDR software.

Not sure what the flower is, some sort of saxifrage I suspect.

Dan

Nice photos. I like the sheep especially

Very nice set of images, Kris. Love the church yard gravestone shot and the sheep shot.

Critique: 1. Good composition with strong definition, but not enough tonal range in the blacks for a strong Black and White
2. Amusing shot, but looks overexposed. 3. Excellent composition with superb tonal range, really like it. 4. Good composition and would make a first class B & W. 5. Definitely one of the Spurry family and from your description/location its a 'Sand Spurry' (Spergularia rubra) found in open sandy or gravelly places, especially where the soil is lime-free. Excellent composition with strong definition and vibrant colour. My favorite of your five is the interior of the church, but would like to see a Black & White of the church grounds.

Kris, my comments as a viewer not in anyway an expert in photography.

1/ Sorry to say this incorporates my too photographic hates, mono for no good reason (there may have been but it is not obvious) and water that looks like milk. OK that is very subjective and I do like the composition and may have preferred it in colour either natural or muted colour.

2/ This made me laugh too, unfortunately the balance between the well lit and the sheep in shadow does not seem right to me, think perhaps in order to get the shadow sheep you had to overexpose the rest of the shot.

3/Like this one, the roof is beautifully constructed and captured, love the warm colour of the benches and the composition. Agree the blue is very Moroccan looking but this may be a problem for the parish council and not yours, you could perhaps tone the blue down a little, in my opinion it would be worth it as otherwise the shot has a lot going for it.

4/Probably the light condition but the image is a bit flat and there is nothing that takes the eye, also think the composition distorts the relative dimensions too much.
5/Don't know what the flower is but it is neat and well taken.

Looking at what I have written it seems I did not enjoy your set of shots, that is not true, I did, but if asked for an opinion you start to analyse your response to the image and I am not sure I do not prefer to just look although that is not of any help to the photographer who is asking for an opinion.

Dear All, thanks for your various comments, very helpful.

The dust spots with the sheep and the strange HDR artefact with the church external view can/will be corrected, thanks for noticing them and pointing them out.

As to the sheep shot exposure, it was "shot to the right" using RAW format so there is plenty of latitude for playing with this one a little more and improving the the balance of the shadows and highlights. I didn't work on it very much as it was more for fun, but it seems popular so I'll spend some more time on that one.

The waterfall was converted to mono because (a) I like mono and (b) it is all but mono anyway in the colour version. I'll work on it a bit more following Malo's advice and see if I can give it a little more punch.

Many thanks all for the constructive comments, and it gives me some ideas for working on these shots a little more.

Best wishes, Kris.