Split Ends

Very nicely composed beautiful work, Alf!

nicely composed and executed long exposure Alf.....i really like these kind of shots, especially in B&W.....

the depth, the tones, the movement, the solitude... i'm speechless with this one, Alf. so beautiful ;-} dp

Many Thanks for your interest and thughtful comments, much appreciated! I'm glad you mentioned the rock textures, it was one of the things I liked about it, and the wet surfaces that reflected the light.  I sometimes think that B & W can be a bit too drab in a landscape photo and small influence of colour can set a certain mood.

Cheers Tony! & Best Regards

Alf

TONY A

Many Thanks for looking in and sharing your thoughts, much appreciated!

Best Regards

Alf

PANAYOTIS

It becomes increasingly difficult to create something different when shooting landscapes, and I suppose the cool tones where aimed at that as much creating or enhancing a serene mood. 

Sincere Thanks & Best Regards

Alf

PAT

Many Thanks for your interest and encouraging comments, much appreciated!

Best Regards

Alf

GAIL

The posts you see are part of old sea defence "groynes" (that word again)  or barriers designed to prevent coastal erosion. The large rocks you can see are not a natural occurence but thousands of tons of them have been placed there to form another element of the sea defences. The beauty of these rocks and wooden posts is the effect of the ersoion on them themselves, wearing the posts into odd shapes and making some of the rocks smooth.  There are also posts belonging to old piers along this same part of the coast, (I think they are featured in the image "Council of the dwarfes") but they tend to be even more weathered and worn than the sea defence variety. 

 I quite like the idea of a "Coffee Table Book" featuring a series of these images, maybe another project for me to undergoe when I complete my first book.....yes the one I haven't started yet : - )  I quite like the idea of a Goddess too, ermerging from the sea bearing a brand new D800 as a gift (in waterproof gift wrapping of course) .......Imagination is a wonderful thing Gail, always give it free reign. 

 Sincere Thanks for your continued interest and thoughtful comments !

Best Regards

Alf

RUUD

Many Thanks for your interest and kind comments, much appreciated!

Best Regards

Alf

THOM

I have to admit that I hadn't previously considered rendering these type of shots before in B & W, but I do like the effect and will make it a future consideration. 

Many Thanks & Best Regards

Alf

DONNA

"Solitude" ..........I even like the word, it conjures up countless moments I have spent alone in locations like this, where just standing motionless one seems to absorb every element of the suroundings, like someone has cast a spell and I am frozen in time.........for minutes.....that seem so much longer, but never quite  long enough.  Its so very gratifying to read that this image conveyed these kind of emotions.

Sincere Thanks & Best Regards

Alf

This shot is exquisitly calm and artistic. Long shot is the best choice in flat conditions, and bw is an additional positive option in such conditions; your result with both options is exceptional minimalistic shot. Concerning bw conversion, one thing that is well accepted is sharp demarcation and contrast of land and sky in most landscape shots, but this one seems to be an exception. despite low contrast, its still very pleasing and different. Very well done, Bravo.

Hamid. 

Hi Alf, I too like the long exposure which results in a very tranquil scene. The composition as always is spot on. A very nice B&W conversion on a very appropriate subject. Just a thought and it's so subjective, but did you consider this for a vertical comp. I think it would probably work because most of the the "stuff" is on the left side and a crop of the right might be interesting. Just some rambling thoughts. Take care my friend. 

BR,

Holger

Many Thanks for your interest and thoughtful comments, much appreciated!  The effect of a long exposure as you know can be quite misleading, the high tide was sending waves right over the foreground rocks and the sea state was quite rough. But the intended effect was realised with 30 sec exposure.  Its an interesting point you raised about the usual sharp demarcation between sky and sea at the horizon not being present, and I think in its colour format this would have been far more apparent, but as you also pointed out, it does seem to work as it is.

Cheers Hamid!

Alf

HOLGER

Thank you so much for your thoughts and suggestions, very much appreciated. I think you have a good point about the portrait orientation alternative, and I did take several shots in portrait, its just that I wasn't as keen on them when I processed them as this one.  Tony Hadley passed on some good advice a long time ago and it has always stayed with me. He said "You should always ensure you take a portrait shot of every landscape shot, as sometimes magazines like to fill a page and portrait is a better format to accomodate this"  I think there several other reasons included in his reasoning, but that was the gist of the information he passed on to me.

Thanks again Holger and you take care too!

Best Regards

Alf

Hi Alf. I hope you have some exhibitions in the pipeline!! My word this has such atmosphere - a black and white masterpiece with wonderful light and tones!  For me I really like this in Landscape format. Another one for my favourites. Saw Countryfile last week and there was a photo that looked very much like your Last Breath of Winter photo. Hope your going to enter this year in the competition. All the best. Sarah.

Many Thanks for your interest and positive feedback, much appreciated.

Best Regards

Alf

SARAH

Well...........no exhibitions as such, but I did manage to get one of photo's in this weeks Amateur Photographer Magazine,  it was 21st in the competition for the category "Dawn & Dusk" . Actually a few people have mentioned the Countryfile Image you referred to, but alas that one wasn't mine. I haven't entered it yet, but I did the year before. Maybe I will again.  I'm really pleased you liked this one Sarah and very honoured you consider it a favourite.

Many Thanks & Best Regards

Alf

Alf,  Wonderful image - quite dramatic.  I like the softness of everything in the image except the posts.  What are the split ends.  Another terrific image, my photo friend.  Larry

This is one of my favourites of recent weeks, and as such it has survived as my current "wallpaper" on my PC screen. I should have left a note to view large, something that keeps slipping  my mind, but if you view it large the "Split Ends" becomes apparent as the last post has a pronounced split in its end : - ) Now you are going to admonish me for my appalling use of the word "Ends" as a plural rather than the singular "End" , however as the line of posts "Ends" right there........I think I might have got away with the play on words : - )

Cheers Larry! & Best Regards

Alf

Alf,  I see those split ends as well as the post in the background - nice! And, split ends works for me; like in hair.  Ends has more poetic punch than its singular counterpart.  By the way, I am interested in your response to the Lightroom question I just posted after your response.  I always shoot RAW.  My question is whether the adjustments in Lightroom are better than ACR and whether I should be using both Lightroom and CS5 or whatever version?  Thanks.   Larry

Ahhh yes I forgot to mention the more obvious double barrel phraseology of the term "Split Ends" in conjunction with hair, but yes that was the first consideration. 

I can't make a 100% accurate statement relating to ACR v Lightroom, as I have only used Lightroom (and Nikon RAW convertors which I found difficult to master)

I find that using Lightroom and PS3, 5, 6 and even older versions such as Photoshop 7 are more than adequate for my needs. And in simplistic terms without too much detail I use Lightroom for most of the basic adjustments, adding blacks, colour, straightening, vibrancy, contrast and slight sharpening and some things that you are not present pn PS3 etc like "Fill Light" and "Vignetting", etc

I then use PS3 as the tool for fine tuning, blending, cropping, unsharp mask, saturation and hues, as well as for any B & W conversions as I did for this image.

My advice is to upload the trial version of lightroom and make a direct comparison yourself, I think you get something like 30 days to try it before it runs out and after that you can either purchase or delete.  It works for me, and I know the combination of both programmes that I use are popular, but inadvertantly it comes down to personal taste and perception of it being "user friendly", personally I find that it is.

Cheers Larry

Alf

Magnificent!

Bw, Volker

Thank you very much! 

Alf