Besides not having a lot of time to shoot this summer we have had quite a lot of flat grey skies and drizzle.
This image was actually taken on an evening where we were waiting to shoot bio luminescent plankton. I shot it with the intention of it being black and white due to the light conditions and general lack of colour.
I am pretty happy with the composition side of things but would like some feedback on the processing. I have always considered myself quite heavy handed with black and white processing. This is something I am currently working on so would appreciate any input.
If there is anything on the creative side you guys/gals would like to point out, I am always happy for the input. Even though I’m happy with the composition
Eugene. This is a beautiful image. The composition looks perfect to me. The only suggestion I would offer is to tone down the hot spot in the foreground water. To me the focus in that area is the swirling water and the hot spot keeps pulling me away. I also wonder if you can lighten up the hill to the right of the lighthouse and bring out some texture so that it adds some interest to the image.
I was about to say the same as @John_Moses. There’s a lovely subtle leading line in the water but your eye gets pulled to the hot spot on the left. If you mute that right down I think it will work beautifully.
Mono can always take more processing as it’s about contrast so I don’t personally think you’ve overdone it at all. Nice capture
This looks pretty darn good. I would agree about the hot spot and I would give it a slight CCW rotation. The horizon looks just a bit off to my eye. Very well done.
Eugene, this is amazing. I agree about the hotspot and I also see what @Harley_Goldman says about the horizon. There is just a slight barrel distortion there and should be pretty easy to correct. If I can add one more thing, I would lighten up the dark section on the lower right corner by just a bit (maybe 1/3 of a stop) or reduce the contrast there slightly. I think it will balance off the water on the left hand side more.
Hi Eugene - I agree with the others about the hot spot. It is a very dramatic image and I light the composition. The only other thing I will add is to lighten the lighthouse a little as well as the island to its right.
Brilliant image, Eugene! I think you did a bang on job with the b/w processing. I don’t have anything more to add that hasn’t been said. Just wanted to congratulate you on this shot! Nicely done!
What an outstanding B&W seascape! The tonal range and contrast is excellent and I agree you have an excellent composition to top it off. I think the clouds complitment beautifully with the silky surf; and in this case I really like how the long exposure flattened out the sea.
I suppose, and would agree that you could tone down/add texture to the brighter area of white water; at least to be more in line with the rest of the tones. Otherwise, I’m thoroughly enjoying this one and no additional nits or suggestions. Great work!
Wow, thank you for all the great responses and feedback. I agree with you all about the hotspot. I think toning it down like you all suggested has worked well and put more empahsis on the leading line.
@John_Moses@vikki I think you hit the nail on the head with the island being quite dark, with no definition/texture in the darks. I pulled the shadows a bit and think it looks a better. This may have been the issue with the image i couldn’t identify (looking at it for too long).
@Harley_Goldman@Adhika_LieYep, the horizon was off my 0.17 of a unit. Fixed. Adhika I did try lifting the darks in the lower right but as it is dark seaweed it didnt look right when I brought it up by a third, or any increments to be honest. I have it printed and looks really nice on paper.
@Eva_McDermott agreed. I have upped the shadows on the building slightly. Too much more and it would have looked out of kilter with the light behind the lighthouse.
@ChrisNoronhaPhoto@Lon_Overacker thank you both for your feedback and really pleased you guys like it. @Lon_Overacker Yeah getting the balance between sea and sky was a bit tricky. A few minutes later the tide had come in a bit more and the waves that were breaking onto the rocks had reduced in size and the flow was also gone. I did take another shot about 5 mins after this and the sea looks totally different. Too smooth and no texture. Timing is key!
This is a beautiful image. I like the exposure; the water has the right texture and motion. And I agree, the composition is well done.
I’d like to second a couple of opinions here though. It does seem crooked; some CCW rotation needed and I would enjoy seeing more detail in the island and possibly in the fg rocks.
The bright feature didn’t bother me till I read the other comments, so I’m not sure what would happed if the darks are raised a bit.
Thanks Chris!! Really glad you like the shot. I have uploaded an updated version of the image at the bottom of the thread. Likke you and the others pointed out the whit was a bit overbrearing and the island a bit too dark. I have now corrected the horizon by -0.17 as it was not prefectly flat.
Hope you like the updated version. Let me know what you think?
The rework nails it, @Eugene_Theron. No nits here. It may seem subtle, but the light-toned ocean on the horizon does a perfect job of separating the shaded foreground water from the sky. To me, it’s a very important element of this image.
-P
cheers Preston. I’m really quite pleased with it now. Yeah I quite like that spearation too. There was just a hint of a brighter sliver there that, like you say, really adds something to the shot. Thanks for your feedback!!
This is beautiful, Eugene. The way you have re-worked it makes it just perfect. The composition is outstanding and there is so much to look at in the foreground. The B and W processing looks just great to my eye.
Ha the strange ways of photography, when we go out intent on a subject and end up with a totally unexpected gift of a completely different kind than what we had imagined! It’s a beautiful image. Really like your B&W processing and the rework brings it up another notch, particularly the added detail in the island for me.
Oh my, do I recognize that “blindness” from working on an image for too long! Learning to post-process with the slightest amount of confidence and satisfaction is an incredibly tricky task that takes years, well decades more like. And really the most massive and difficult part of the art, in my opinion. I can see how much thought and care you put in your images, and really appreciate that.
I would also like to add, here, that I really enjoyed discovering your work on your website. Beautiful, deeply felt and finely executed work!
I am particularly taken by your series “Unstable”. The emotional impact of each image is very clear to me, the series’ progression from pain to healing is extremely strong and the series is perfect as it is - nothing to be added or taken away, imo. I also recognize the process when you went out “not really knowing what you were doing” and ended up with the communication of your deepest emotions through the visual medium. I could write up my response to each image from 1 to 8, each image eliciting a very clear response and recognition, but time and energy being scarce I’ll just mention two here. “Scramble” is very disturbing and literally makes me want to flee the moment whilst “Freedom” is a shower of light whose joyful gushing I can actually feel within myself. Very moving. By far, the best ICM work I’ve seen in the longest time. A true pleasure.
