Ups 'n' Downs

congratulations! Great picture! I counted - 24 comments so far :) wow! As for me, I just like to look at it - it brings some memories, fantasies, emotions... That's what I like photography for! Yes, technical part is important, but I think, that esthetical and emotional matter the most. This kind of photographs we remember. My best regards, Tamara

Wow, after such extensive comments, I can't really add anything, except that I also think this is a beautiful image with lots of detail, good focus and clarity.

Kind regards,

Engela

Nice HDR touch and nice composition.

Ben

TAMARA

Many thanks for your enthusiastic comments and positive feedback, much appreciated. It is always very gratifying to learn that an image I have produced can touch someone by stirring memories, emotions etc as you have described and I tend to agree with you, it is indeed the emotional impact that matters more than the technical specifications, though sometimes you need the latter to produce the former : - ) I am very curious now to know if you have visited Whitby?

Best Regards

Alf

ENGELA

Sincere thanks for your interest and kind comments, much appreciated! Its always good to know the thoughts and opinions of other photographers wether thay be good or bad. But I'm really pleased you liked this one.

Kind Regards

Alf

BEN

Many Thanks for stopping by, HDR can be effective, and I'm pleased you approve.

Best Regards

Alf

Nice idea for this extraordinary composition. Very good result. Smart title for the capture. It is really unique work. Congratulations, G&P.

Amazin color management. I also like parts of the composition, but I think I would not have cropped that tight on top. Furthermore, it somehow bothers me that the stairs are in the horizontal center of the picture, but I guess it was not possible to extend the picture to the right. However, cropping from the left side would be the wrong idea, so it seems there is no other way of presenting it. :-)

Kind regards, Alex

Love this image.  I'm not a great fan of HDR images but this one works for me.  And I've walked down this very street, so it has a personal interest for me too.  Well done.

Alf, this is nicely composed, with wonderful colors. I like the view up the stairs and down the road. I can't see any of the HDR treatment in this, which is good, and I wonder what the original looked like without the treatment. That's me not knowing enough about HDR, except when it's overdone and looks very surreal. This looks completely natural with wonderful detail.

I have visited Whitby, but not the one you are talking about, I think! We have Whitby in Ontario, Canada (we have Stratford, Windsor, London - you name it :)) We have even the same Queen :)) So, I promise to post some pictures taken in Whitby Ontario.... As for your picture, being taken in Europe, it reminded me a lot some towns in Belarus....Nostalgie, you know.... 

What a delightful "cityscape!"  The colors almost leap from my monitor, and the detail leaves very little to the imagination. This clearly is a study in realism.  I love how the angular building contrasts against the curved stairway and the bend in the street.

My best,

michael

as good as it gets alf

you are no dud my friend

Alf... Much has been said and in truth I haven't read all the comments, but what I like is the very intricate detail and the well presented composition that gives our imaginations three paths to consider.  The green garbage container would do well to disappear, but it's real, it's part of the scene so it can be overlooked.  I read about the yellow light, but a lot of these old lanterns were gas which can give a greenish tint... ;-) probably not the case here, but it's a story you can borrow.  All in all your usual excellent work... Mike 

Impressive! Excellent tonality and lighting. Regards.

Alf,

I ditto all of the excellent comments above.  Isn't it interesting that no one is on the street.  The emptiness of the scene is a statement in of itself.  I too like the cobblestones as they contrast with the concrete steps.  Might you want to clone out the aqua trash container or whatever it is?  It doesn't add anything to the image, IMHO.  I don't understand HDR, but find this a superb image with great technical details such as DOF.  The wide angle lens has much to offer.

The best to you, Alf.   Larry

It feels like the viewer is invited to take a trip in this area and explore it. the brown composition is lighted by some yellow/shades of green/ blue/and some red.Tthe white house at the very end is leasding  the eye and  creates a very nice DOFand  Interesting whole.Very well executed.

Wonderful image, Alf...beautifully composed...the stairs lead to the dark sky and we come back to the scene again through the green light...lovely cityscape...my best

oh do, Alf, gives us the real England! this is charming. ;-} dp

Great photo, well composed.  Learning.  Just love it.  Best Regards,

PAWEL & GRAZYNA

Many thanks for your well considered comments and positive feedback, much appreciated. There are quite a lot of photo's of this location but most of them are taken from a "top to bottom" perspective, I just thought I'd try something different.  I do have one taken from half way up, looking down that I will probably post next.

Best Regards

Alf

ALEXANDER

Sincere thanks for your interest and thoughtful comments, much appreciated.  From a composition viewpoint this was quite a challenging situation, I had a very wide angle lens, but had my back against a house and could move any further back to take the shot. The tight crop at the top resulted from a reluctance to angle the camera any further than necessary in order to avoid needless adjustments using things like lens correction and perspective control to an excessive level when processing.. The resulting central steps were as you summised, unavoidable, but I wanted this shot to be different, and the choice of routes that the eyes can take, although not condusive to leading lines in a linked sense, do offer something a bit different. 

Thanks again Alex

Alf

MARGO

It's really very gratifying to learn that people like yourself and the very talented "Dror Baldinger" from PN who are not great fans of HDR actually like this.  I suspect the reason that people take a dislike to HDR is that it is often misunderstood and poorly applied. I wonder if you walked up all 199 of those steps? ......I did with all my camera gear twice, then realised I had a 3 mile walk back to my hotel :- )

Sincere Thanks Margo!

Alf

TONY

Many thanks for your interest and positive feedback, much appreciated! HDR can be applied in almost infinite strengths and styles, I like to take advantage of the "High Dynamic Range" it offers, in capturing the detail in every shaded area and highlighted area and accentuating the available tones. I try to apply this in a subtle way, that will give a slightly larger than life appearance to the image, but without making it too obvious, and therefore it is most gratifying to read your comments. Just as a matter of interest the "original" consisted of 5 bracketed shots taken in sequence - 1 EV - 2EV 0 EV + 1 EV + 2EV stops apart, then blended in Photomatix and processed using the Tone Mapping facility. No where near as complicated as it sounds.

Cheers Tony

Alf

TAMARA

Ahhh yes of course, I have read with interest other people talk about Whitby in Canada, but I've yet to see any images, so I'd be very interested in seeing yours when you post them. Yeah I understand the connection of your European visit, I guess there are lots of similar scenes throughout Europe that would provoke those feelings of nostalgia. Don't forget to let me know when you post the shots of Whitby, Ontario.

Cheers Tamara!

Best Wishes

Alf

MICHAEL

Many thanks for your interest and careful scrutiny, very much appreciated. I think it might be classed as a "Townscape" if there is such a thing, as Whitby is a relatively small town. The permutations for composiiton were somewhat limited due to the available space, but I'm quite pleased it turned out the way it did.

Cheers Michael.

Alf

KEVIN

Many thanks for your short but very heart warming message.

Cheers!

Alf

MIKE

Sincere thanks for taking a look and giving me some great feedback.

I agree with you about the green container........I toyed with the idea of cloning it out, but it looked far too complicated, so I errm ignored it : - ) I'll definately borrow the Gas light theory though, and add that to my ever growing list of "photographers excuses" : - )

Cheers Mate!

Alf  

EVGENI

Many thanks for your interest and kind words.

Best Regards

Alf

LARRY

Sincere thanks for stopping by and for your thorough observations and feedback, much appreciated!

I'm glad you noticed the lack of people on the street, the explanation is quite simple, it is 5.30am but I too liked the mood that the emptiness provided. Your right about the aqua bin down the street, it should be excluded. HDR (High Dynamic Range) won't offer any greater DOF, that is more a case of Hyper Focal Distance, but what HDR will do is capture every detail in terms of highlight and lowlight and the ability to blend the combined bracketed images (5 in this case) to bring out depths of texture and tone to variable degrees.  The Nikon 14 - 24mm F2.8 is a great wide angle lens, I haven't had it long but its very quickly becoming a favourite.

Cheers Larry!

Alf

PNINA

Many thanks for your interest and positive feedback!  It is really good to know you can connect with this and feel that you are invited in to explore, that exactly the effect that I'd hoped for.

Best Regards

Alf

KALLOL

Thank you so much for your interest and kind words, much appreciated.....ahh yes the green light that was supposed to be yellow : - )

Best Regards

Alf

DONNA

Ahhh yes there are some bits of our precious little island that haven't been covered in yellow lines and bloody parking meters, but they get ever more difficult to fiind : - )  Thanks  for taking a peek Donna.

Best Regards

Alf

WANGHAN

Thank you most sincerely for your visit and positive feedback. I'm really pleased you liked this one.

Best Regards

Alf

Hi Alf, I can't actually remember whether we walked up these steps as well as down ... it's been 15 years since we visited.  However, recently I carted my camera gear, including a heavy manifrotto tripod, up all 512 steps of Prospect Hill, Kangaroo Island.  The dedication of the camera-toting classes knows no bounds!  :)  Cheers, Margo

I like how you composed this and final result here,the pavement texture is really attractive,diagonal line leads the eyes so gently from right to left in this play of color and texture,compliments.

RC

Wow! Great perspective from way up there..........now that landscape would take some exploring!  I know what you mean about the "camera toting classes"  I just seem to collect ever more "essential" equipment. In an attempt to reduce the weight in my rucksack I recently emptied it, vowing to put back only the things that were essential.........I ended up putting everything back apart from a spare cleaning cloth that had seen better days, and a packet of sticky plasters that had somehjow found thier way in there....needless to say...the weight reduction was unoticeable : - )

Cheers!

Alf

RADU

Many thanks for your interest and positive feedback, the composition possibilities were somewhat restricted with the amount of space I had to work with, but I'm generally pleased with the result.

Best Regards

Alf

it's no wonder Pierre likes it.  it's practically a Pierre!  the mix of normal verticals with ungainly, stretchy horizontals and the washed look are completely up his alley.  he would add a family of itinerant penguins ascending the stairs.

Most Intersting.  Is it a new lens?  best, j

I am glad you beat the rain,we had so much of it this year.Very nice POV,the treatment you applied works so well here,it really brinks the detail out,my best regards and thanks for the visit and comment

Beautiful image with nice colours and composition.