Five in a row - alfpics

Kris (womble) kindly asked me to take over from him with this thread. I will put something up later today when I get the chance! Looking forward to your comments and suggestions!

Ok - here we go with the first one. As I live in Brighton, I couldn't go without one of an iconic landmark - the West Pier! This was taken at sunrise last December. The pier suffered some severe beating from the storms soon after this was taken.

A 1-stop Nisi ND filter was used giving a 96sec exposure. A tone curve lift and touch of clarity and orange sat treatment in LR




Comments and critique welcome please!

A very good start Andy. I like the mood it generates. Ons small negative, the horizon slopes down to the left.

Simple form, open structure against a very calm background.

Best regards

A gorgeous shot of an architectural icon.

Thank you Gary and John - and well spotted Gary!
Here it is re-aligned;




And just seen the error - the filter was a 10stop - not a 1-stop!

Andy

Very nice - I like the treatment.

I was there on Saturday morning and if I have one from the same perspective, I will have to compare it
with yours to check out the "new" damage.

Phil

Hi Phil

Yes I saw yours on your pf. This angle doesn't show the damage as well; it would perhaps look a little thinner looking through the structure

That's a fabulous image, Andy. Sloping horizons are one of my bugbears, but I was so captivated by the mood, texture and colour of the original shot that I didn't notice it!

Roll on #2.

Lovely image. The long exposure has created a delightfully muted feel. K.

Can only agree with everybody else on this one Andy - a fine start indeed.

Carl

A beautiful image and a great start to the series.

Regards
David

Thank you for your comments - and I could have done all 5 based around this pier! However, I thought I would go for variety - not just in subject but also in technique and type. So here goes for today - a 'love it' or 'loathe it' subject - HDR !

3 images of Balcombe Viaduct - at sunrise with the low sun casting shadows through the arches

image 1 - I was initially just going to post this one - 3 shots bracketed;



However, I thought the next image in colour and B&W would actually be good to post as well - a 5 shot HDR
image 2;



image 3;



All exported from LR to Photomatix Pro and back to LR

Of the three I prefer the first one. The second two have too much dead ground in the front. Perhaps a 'letterbox' crop might work better?

Cheers, Kris.

I agree , the first is a better compo, although I'd still take a bit more off the bottom, and the lighting effects under the arches are nicer. It has lively contrast and colours.

I also enjoyed your first, the Pier, for its gorgeous soft tones, and like others I think the long exposure created a beautiful effect .... Personally, I'd prefer to see the pier a little more defined, sharper, as I feel that soft images need an anchor of higher clarity to lock onto. Anyway, you're off to a great start!

#1 for me as well. I like the shafts of sunlight at the top. I'm not too bothered about an additional crop as you have got the shadow patterns on the grass.

Phil