mikestacey

Thanks for your comment Scott. Yes, the dark skies are certainly popular with most PN viewers at present but I'm concentrating on light and space hence the bright expanse of sky and large portion of the frame devoted to it.

An interesting wander for the eyes Bill. The colour and mood is soothing and you've transformed an 'everyday' scene into something more, which is a good thing.

Comments welcomed.

A beautiful piece Paolo. The tree is the crowning glory. - Mike

Comments welcomed.

A fine fine palette Jeff. Sunset? I find myself wanting to see a more expansive view with this.

Thanks all. Been busy of late hence the delayed response.

 

Jeff, yes it was an enjoyable time in 25 - 30 degree temperatures, which is like the other end of the world when it's a daily range of 3 - 7 locally. This was the only good shot from the week but was also the only shot where I was on my own and had the time to think. Went and scoped the spot a few days earlier with my brother, who was twitching and mumbling something about mud gudgeons (salt water crocs), which have been seen around this area. The wade back through the mangrove estuary in a fast rising tide was pretty tense.

 

Ian, thanks again for your comments. You're right about the timing thing, this was taken within a 5 minute window of the best possible light and conditions on that evening. This, for me, seems a bit too much of a pretty picture to be enduring, but many seem to like it.

 

BTW, I can't see the dust spots! Better go and get my glasses.

 

Mike

A fine and striking composition. Has got that 'digital' look to it but otherwise a great shot.

Comments welcome.

Drama plus Jeff. I don't think the colour is too much. I know what you mean though, I always twitch when I see an image with heavy colour but the fact that this has a distinctly magical light to it seems to justify the colour - the light and colour goes together if you know what I mean.

Many places for the eye to explore in this one Jeff. A nice sense of balance too, with that central angular foothill.

Comments welcome.

Comments welcome.

Yeah the sea was pretty big Jeff. I deliberately place the sea in the lower third of the frame in many recent shots to focus the view upward to the skies. This could have done with more exposure to make the gradation a bit longer. I do have some that are 50/50 splits and they have their own appeal too but the problem is getting the sea nice and consistent as there's always some shore wash that disturbs the flow a bit.

Thanks all for your much appreciated thoughts. This and a set of 6 other B&W images finally approach a level of representation I've been working away at for some time. The B&W helps with abstraction and pushes the image into an area which is very difficult with colour.

 

Sergey, the presence of something tangible would alter the image in a large way and take it into an area which I was trying hard to move away from. Having said that, I do have one image in this set with a piece of tumbleweed in it and it has a very different feel.

 

Thanks.

 

the rest of the set at: http://www.mikestacey.com

Would just love to see it without the camera.

A classic shot Clayton. It all sits quite perfectly there.

Graphic and original Ian, well seen and executed.

Hi Jeff, this was the Mamiya which as you know has peerless optics but it was shot out the car window on the way to work. I thought the indistinct and soft foreground might go well with the distant trees.

Comments welcomed.

It's a direction worth pursuing Jeff, although it seems a popular thing at the moment. I think this one would work better with less sea and I prefer your version to Peter's.

 

Nice to see some classy B&W amidst the myriad of tastless colour that seems to have infested this site. Classic square composition where the symmetry works well to create an almost isolated feeling.

An intriguing image that looks almost inverted in terms of the brightness. Original and beautiful work.

Thanks all. The horizon is definitely straight despite appearances. Carsten, yes always, Singh Rays; 2 and 3 stops versions although nearly always the 3 stop.

Jana, thanks. This is on the coast actually, a place called Mungo Brush on the coast of NSW.