Five in a Row - tyronet2000

First of my five in a row images. I'm pleased this is not a competition as the bar has already been set very high. There is no real theme to these images except they will have water in them.

1. Boulders at Bamburgh K5IIs 18-135mm @ 68mm f/22 1/3 sec ISO 100

Off to a good start Stan! I love my colour mostly, so its a hard job to persuade me on anything mono, but you've done it here. I think the textures and tones suit the style very well, and the rock placement, although unconventional, works rather nicely, with spaces all around them to explore. Good idea to have a watery theme as well ....

Thank you for the encouraging comment Nigel. I'll get a colour image posted tomorrow

Sorry i'm late Stan, a great start to your 5 in a row, like the foreground rock and and atmosphere of the B/W

I love the north-east coast - and this serves as a reminder that it's far too many years since I went for a ramble around Bamburgh. Lots of people write favourably about the 18-135 and this is further testimony to its worth. I often muck about with mono conversions and the results fluctuate between acceptable and appalling, but you've done a very good job here and I agree with Nigel about the suitability of textures and tones.

A fine start.

Thank you Maria and Simon for the kind words. The NE coast is a great place for photographs as evidenced by some of the images found on this Forum

My next image was taken more inland at Bellingham a small village in Northumberland.

2. Hareshaw Linn K5IIs 18-135mm @ 18mm f/8 2.5sec ISO 80

Thats an exciting dramatic waterfall capture Stan! Very sharp and the shutter speed looks OK to me.

A couple of ideas .... I'd be tempted to trim off the top a bit - the open sky area doesn't add anything, so I'd crop in near to the waterfall top, and perhaps you could lose a bit at the bottom also?

I'm not sure if you've cranked things up on the computer, but the highlight levels on the rock faces look a bit OTT, kind of artificially lit. I think you could pull down highlights on these areas (but NOT on the water!) selectively to give a more natural muted result. Be careful not to let the shadow levels drop as well though.

Another great watery photo!

Two very good pictures Stan. Of the two I prefer Hareshaw Linn which packs in more fine detail. The foreground in the mono view of Bamburgh beach seems a little dense on my monitor. Hareshaw Linn on the other hand has captured fine detail, particularly the beautiful texture on the right side of the waterfall. If you followed Nigel's suggestion of cropping the top to get rid of the bright area of sky you would be in danger of bringing the top of the waterfall too close to the edge of the frame.
David

PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout

I'm with David two very good images but I prefer the second. On my monitor they both look a touch dark. Maybe it's intentional to bring out the drama?

The second shot rather confirms that you can eke out a happy photographic existence armed only with a K-5 IIs, an 18-135 and a north-eastern pad. I love its atmosphere and detail.

If I were to crop, I'd perhaps take half a centimetre from the bottom. I think that fragment of sky adds useful context.

Stan

I like both, but with a slight preference for the 2nd. Like Barrie and David, I find the first a little dark on both my desktop and laptop, but I like the composition and the space around the big rock.

In the second - I'm with Simon, just a tad off the bottom to remove the light rock just left of centre (is it under the surface of the water?). I also agree that you need the bit of light at the top for context.

Phil

Love No2 Stan, i have a soft spot for long exposure, it's a beautiful picture of a lovely waterfall, nice light on the left side rocks too

Hi Stan, sorry I didn't comment yesterday, must have missed this post. I'm not so sure about the first one, it's just a little too dark for me, but the second is lovely. I think the sun on the rocks has helped to balance out the exposure and the result works very well.

Regards
David

Thank you all for the kind comments and helpful suggestions. I didn't think #1 would get much applause I find I have to have my laptop screen "just in the right position" to see the details on the stones and the dried seaweed is really just a nightmare. Looks much better once the sea has surrounded the rocks
#2 will look better with that bit of rock cropped off, surprised no one mentioned the whitish lumps of foam at the right. So on to #3 tomorrow.