Amsterdam by night

Thank you for your comments and critiques!

I love it! by removing color you have created fantastic mood. cheers, Tomasz

beautiful conversion. wonderful tonal ranges and a 7/7 anon...RAY

Hi Gunnar, wow!!! this is an original photo of the Bloemenmarkt. Composition, B&W night shot, tones, lights, etc.. everything fits in well together. Congratulations,

This style of photography has long been my favorite. The B&W contributes to the class of this shot.

--Scott

Fabulous night shot! Great control. Chapeau!

Great silvery look, very nicely processed

Hi Gunnar. All fits perfect, great work. 7/7 ano and best regards, El

Awesome! Best regards.

Great picture. It's a different view of Amsterdam. Great light and perfect exposure. Regards.

Best one in your portfolio. Congrats !!!

Beautiful use of black and white! Well done!

Thank you so much for your comments!

Please note the following:

 

This image has been selected for discussion. It is not necessarily the "best"

picture the Elves have seen this week, nor is it a contest.

 

Discussion of photo.net policy, including the choice of Photograph of the Week should not take place here, but in

the Help & Questions Forum.

 

The About Photograph of the Week page tells you more about this

feature of photo.net.

 

Before writing a contribution to this thread, please consider our reason for having this forum: to help people learn

about photography. Visitors have browsed the gallery, found a few striking images and want to know things like why is it

a good picture, why does it work? Or, indeed, why doesn't it work, or how could it be improved? Try to answer such

questions with your contribution.

 

Gunnar:

 

Let me add to the lengthy list of kudos! This shot is magnificent. Fantastic contrast and clarity.You have captured the splendor of a city.

 

michael

I see from looking at your portfolio that you suffer from insomnia. You do marvelous night photography. I cannot imagine any way to improve this beautiful image. The clarity and sharpness is stunning and although you may get a comment on over sharpening, don't listen to them. This sharpness makes the work look like a fine engraving. Even the sky is just right. Nice work. This one is among your best in my view.

 

Willie the Cropper.

Funny, the "fine engraving" was something I was thinking of as well, probably because of the very sharp edges (and high

local contrast). This shot is absolutely beautiful, a good portraiture of Amsterdam. I would really like to see a larger, less

compressed version!

BTW, I believe this is the "Bloemenmarkt" (flower market, those boats sell flowers), is it not?

"[Y]ou may get a comment on over sharpening, don't listen to them." --Bill Tate

 

Well, Gunnar, Bill has raised the issue while yet saying that it is not a problem. If not slightly over-sharpened, it certainly is right up against the limits. Sharpening for web display is always a problematic choice for me and for many others precisely because the reality that we see with our eyes is quite sharp, but not because of Photoshop. Artificial sharpening always tends to look precisely that: artificial. My reaction to the photo when I first saw it was indeed that it was perhaps over-sharpened a tiny bit, and I have the same response to your other photos--not to mention many other photos on the site and elsewhere. My preference might indeed have been to back off just a wee bit on the use of unsharp mask, which I presume was the sharpening mode employed--but I would not have backed off much.

 

That issue aside, it is a striking photo. Overall it is a bit bright, and this likewise contributes to the air of artificiality, but again the question is precisely what degree of brightness would be ideal. (Similar kinds of questions can be raised with regard to the degree of contrast used.) It can hardly be called a purely documentary photo with such aggressive post-processing, but it does jump off the page and cry out for attention. It is thus almost certainly not precisely the way the city would appear at night, but that is not to say that that makes it a failed photo to any degree. Nor am I saying that it should be interpreted primarily as a documentary photo, although that leaves open the question as to how one should approach many architectural studies. How much creativity on the part of the photographer is optimal? Obviously, there is no right or wrong answer to that question, and tastes will vary.

 

All of these issues are related to post-processing, and I suspect that post-processing will indeed be a valid concern for many viewers. The usual maxim is that, unless one is going for a deliberately Photoshopped effect, the use of Photoshop should be such that one will not really notice it. I cannot help but notice it here, but I have no idea how one is to do it without drawing attention to the methods used--especially with night photography. I have no real idea what the precise mix of contrast, brightness, and sharpening should be on this kind of photo. It seems just slightly--ever so slightly--over-cooked to me, but not so much that I cannot enjoy it. One might also anticipate questions about tonal range.

 

The composition is excellent, and the view of the city is quite striking. Overall, I think that it is a fine choice for Photo of the Week, but I can tell already that there are going to be some comments this week related to technical questions rather than to the usual comments about aesthetics and originality. To me that is a plus for the photo and its selection. All that I can say is that, at some point, technical issues are going to be related to aesthetic judgments, and so we can expect a rather lively discussion as to just how pleasing to the eye it really is. I expect that we shall have a lot more expressions of emotion than rational analysis before the week is out, with many professing to see no problem, that it is a great shot, etc, etc. All of that will be true, of course, but, once the technical questions are raised, they tend to feed on themselves, and from there they tend to morph into philosophical questions that are even less likely to be resolved to anyone's complete satisfaction.

 

--Lannie

A very good job converting this from color. Kudos to the idea in the first place, Many would have left it color. Good perspective, tones & reflections

Here is the color version. I have to agree with Ken.

 

--Lannie

Really a good shot, but i like the original in colour too...

Very nice also the shots you took in Florence...

compliments

I like the B&W slightly better than the color. It's really hard to properly comment on a small image posted on the Web. I would imagine the printed B&W looks superb. NICE WORK Gunnar. Any comment from you on your technique in capturing this night view?

The B&W variation is more pleasant than the colored one, regarding my view. I like a lot how windows are enlighten and sharp. The symmetry of architectural elements, the precision, details that are in the dark, are all awesome and done really with a lot of commitment and virtue.

 

Is it done with HDR?

i think in B/W work very good this shot, very good compotition, the grain in the sky is a litle bit hard, but that give you and special effect, congratulations