Black Rock Dusk

This is the scene the evening before "Black Rock Dawn" as you can

see the light was more evenly spread and the clouds darker and more

menacing. About 30 minutes later we experienced the only rain of the

trip. Your thoughts, preferences and observations are most welcome.

Thank You.

I like the moment captured here: dramatic sky, blue mountains, and ground ready for a white blanket... Nice, crisp picture, holds my eyes...

Best regards, Tamara

Everything here is by my taste! But it is not only a matter of taste, there is a lovely mood which everybody could feel! Great technical quality, well chosen weather, lighting and subject, lovely rather white house in the middle of nowhere! Fantastic colors and mood! Seven all the way Alf!

Best regards!

PDE

Beautiful work with very nice lighting and colours, Alf!

With best regards,

Ruud.

 

A lovely shot of this gorgeous place! Love the mood set by that dramatic, threatening, sky! Excellent, fall colors, and details!

All the best,
Neil

Like the mood, the lighting and the technique. Well done.

Best regards
Eystein

Hi Alf,

Very scenic, indeed.

I am not certain what role the ND1.4 filter plays, and the use of F/11 is nearly removing the value that the fine Nikkor 28-70mm lens has to offer.

If I had to rate this image, the scene as a art form would be much higher than the technical merits based upon the use of the lens.

ND filters serve little use in normal photography and often lessen the fine characteristics of the lens itself due to their poor optical characetristics.

Best Regards,  Mike

 

Alf,

  Wow....beautiful image with wonderful color's, lighting & powerful darken sky.  Thanks for sharing.  Take care, Patsy

Splendid!!

Alf, a closer view in different light gives a different atmosphere, but perhaps that's also partly the weather. I really like the stormy clouds blowing over the mountaintop, and the white of the clouds against the darker tones of the mountains. The doors of the cottage become more clearly red in this light. I like the clearer details in the foreground, though personally I think I prefer the atmosphere of the other one. Both are wonderful. 

Very scenic overall, with that fairly menacing mood present in the photo.... I like the crispness and the overall color tones. Wonder though what this would like if the photo were to be cropped slightly, so that the big boulder would almost touch the frame (= from the LHS, and possibly slightly from the bottom as well, to keep ratio coherent). I think that it would place the cottage even slightly more off-center, and make the foreground a tad less obtrusive... Anyway, Im just thinking out loud here, Alf & like it already as is :-)   Best, Marjolein

Great image Alf, and it comes out even more spectacular when viewed larger.  I like the light and the mood bordering on dramatic but not quite...  Nice details in the foreground.  Nicely done. Regards - michel

Nice composition in the natural mood. Beautiful. Best Regards,

Hi Alf,

Great Image. The whit wall of the house/structure stands out well, which made me feel the photo is interesting. The mood is perfect. 

Thanks,

Harsha.

but I do like it.  It has the flipped-over character now, with the bright bit on top.  I do realise it's a different picture, but it's such a similar perspective.  best, jamie

Alf, I tend to prefer this version for a couple of reasons.  I like the contrast of the white building against the gray sky and the dark gold-green of the surroundings.  I also like being able to see the foreground more clearly without so much shadow.  The building is closer to the viewer here (or at least appears so), and as a main element that is a good thing.  In general, the entire scene seems to be more cohesive or tied together, an integrated whole rather than somewhat separate parts.

I wonder about the amount of light on the foreground given the thickness of the clouds overhead, but I don't wonder for very long.  The vignetting in the upper corners (particularly on the left where detail might be seen) may be a bit heavy, but on the other hand it does put the viewer's focus down where you want it.  All in all it's a very nice landscape scene, and I can get a strong feeling of what it might be like to live there from your photograph.

 

beautiful tones and mood. a pleasant image.

TAMARA

I'm really pleased you liked it. The snow is usually here by now, and sometimes the roads are closed in this area,  but this year has seen a very mild autumn whichg allowed me the opportunity to get these images. I would love to see it in the snow though.

Sincere Thanks Tamara.

Warm Regards

Alf

PIERRE

Sincere thanks for your enthusiastic repsonse, I'm really pleased you liked it. I have to admit these cottages in remote area's always capture my imagination, the more remote and wild the more I like them. There are at least three of these along a 10 mile stretch of road that I photographed, hope to post more when I get round to processing them.

Cheers Pierre!

Alf

RUUD

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

Best Regards

Alf

NEIL

I liked that sky myself, it was ever changing, moving and covering different mountains in turn, just fascinating to watch. The colours of the grasses here are unlike anything I've seen in the rest of the UK, they can be so vibrant. Many Thanks for your views and observations Neil, very much appreciated.

Best Regards

Alf

EYSTEIN

Thank you for your interest and positive feedback I'm really pleased you liked it.

Kind Regards

Alf

MIKE

I take on board what you mean reference the f11 aperture, I could have got away with f8 for this shot and possibly wider, but it was important to retain a good dof, and I wanted to be certain. As for the ND Grad, it provides a means of leveling the light and making a more dramatic impact to the clouds. They are widely used by many respected professional landscape photographers. Thats not to say you are wrong, I'm certain your comments are factual and thank you for your always informative imput.

Best Regards

Alf

PATSY

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

Kind Regards

Alf

ALBERTO

Thank you so much!

Regards

Alf

TONY

I agree with your observations Tony, the weather, cloud and consequent light changed rapidly and with it the mood and atmosphere. I like the more balanced light in this one. There was a lighter atmosphere in the other shot, but I think I prefer the more menacing forboding backdrop of this one.

Sincere Thanks  for your observations and feedback, very much appreciated.

Best Regards

Alf

MARJOLEIN

Sincere thanks for your well considered observations and suggestions. The suggested crop works well for the two margins you mentioned ( bottom and left) and does indeed place the image a tad more left which is preferable, the only drawback being that it also places the cottage on a more central line from top to bottom, after some contemplation I think the only realy solution is to return to the cottage with a large excavator and move that boulder : - ) But seriously it is a good alternative crop. I'm glad you liked it Marjolein.

Best Regards

Alf

MICHEL

Many thanks for your interest and positive feedback. I know what you mean about "bordering on the dramatic"  it seems to have a more subdued broody mood than a dramatic one, the clouds provided the raw materials for the atmosphere of the image I think.

Best Regards

Alf

WANGHAN

I'm very pleased you liked it, Many Thanks for your interest.

Best Regards

Alf

HARSHA

The white shades of the house proved to be a problem the next day when the sun was shining. But in this cloudy atmosphere I was able to capture the details of the house whilst the rest of the image was illuminated enough also. Many thanks for your valuable feedback, much appreciated!

Best Regards

Alf

JAMIE

You can be so fickle! : - )

I tried to find two with similar perspectives in order that comparative observations could be recorded relating to the very different weather and light from this evening shot to the next morning, but typical of me I posted them in the wrong order. Glad you liked it Jamie

Sincere Thanks

Alf

STEPHEN

When I viewed the RAW files I was drawn to the other version and so processed that one first. But after a short time of processing this version I arrived at the same conclusions you have in terms of reasons for preference. I think you touched on a good point when you mentioned the closeness of the cottage, I like the proportions of this image within the context of the landscape much better. But I still retain a desire to show the remoteness of the area in relation to the cottage, where perhaps the other image is more successful in doing so.

I think the vignetting is a possible result of the ND grad, but it could be reduced in processing to some extent. On the left however it was in shadow, I could reclaim more detail from the RAW file, but I'm hesitant to go too far.

Sincere Thanks for your well considered feedback, I'm pleased you could connect with this one.

Best Regards

Alf

ZSOLT

Many Thanks for your interest and kind words, much appreciated.

Best Regards

Alf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful shot,more dramatic than the previous,looking at the larger version there is an excellent clarity and detail down to the stones of the whitewashed cottage,outstanding work,my regards

nice scene. the rocks in the foreground leading us to the home the contrast of the white house. a photo with much layers and depth and great perspective.. all the best Mister Bailey.... take care sam

Hola Alf.

Una imagen excelente, el color y la composicion es muy buena.

Un cordial saludo, Joaquín.

Alf, if a dark corner is largely due to a shadow, I too would be hesitant to use computing power to reclaim it, especially to the extent that it might look as if the shadow had never been there.  

Very impressive shot with heavy mood, atmosphere and drama at the sky and land! Although i prefer this shot over the the other one, i see some minor points, bothering me comparing your usual style and considering artistic visual capabilities i've seen in other shots of you, firstly composition is badly balanced, as 50/50 placement of horizon line in this scene with nice dramatic sky and rather ordinary f/g elements, as well as boring central position of the building ( which is the main anchoring focal point here ), though the more details and quality are a powerful aspects of it. I strongly suggest crop from below and more part for this dramatic sky.

My best regards,

Hamid. 

HARRY

This version gives a more concentrated view of the cottage, and the bright sunshine was not present and allowed a more balanced light, the sky in this one adding the touch of drama as you mentioned.

Sincere Thanks for your positive feedback and observations Harry.

Best Regards

Alf.

SAM

Many thanks for your interest and kind words Sam, very much appreciated. The large rock in the foreground is the "BlackRock" from where the cottage takes its name.

Cheers Sam!

Alf

Hola JOAQUIN

Sincero agradecimiento por su interes y los comentarios positivos, muy apreciada!

Saludos cordiales

Alf

STEPHEN

Thank you for that clarification, I think we are singing from the same song sheet on that point.

Regards

Alf

HAMID

Many thanks for your thoughts and observations, very much appreciated.

I am usually quite merticulous from a composition viewpoint, and so you are quite right, there isnt the usual strict attention to the thirds rule. There is however a reason for that, wether it is a good enough reason is another issue. But the reason for the "boring" foreground elements, is that the cottage (Black Rock Cottage) takes its name from the large rock, therefore I thought it relevant to include it, and to me I thought it added to the depth of the image. I take on board your comments relating to the position of the cottage on a central horizontal plane, although it is slightly offset on vertical plane, and I think that your cropping suggestions along with those of Marjolein have good merit.

Best Regards

Alf

I am the last in a long line of Alf Bailey fans.  This is another remarkable photograph in an expansive portfolio of similar work.  I love the cool-warm tonal contrasts, and the foreground detail is spot on.

My best always,

michael