This was taken recently on my first ever visit to the PNW and the Olympic Peninsula. I was grateful to wake up to the marine fog after clear skies for several days. I hurried to the beach and was able to get this shot before the fog began to lift.
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Single exposure, 100iso, f11, 1/5sec, 105mm
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Alan, the color is pretty but the B&W steals the show for me. I love the tonality you have achieved with the B&W, the subject is perfect and appropriate for this treatment. I do want a little more at the bottom as it would ground the image a little more for me. I would also burn or clone out the stump near the lower right corner. I really like the look on the far cliff on the right side. I think having the fog at the lower 3/4 just adds so much to the atmosphere of the area.
Alan, Glad you were able to get these conditions after a few days. I really do like b&w images but for me the color version is more enjoyable to view in this case. I like the way the foggy conditions come through in the color where the b&w seems to go a bit flat for me. I agree with Adhika that a little more room at the bottom would be nice if that was possible without adding in things you didnāt want. Very nice b&w or color!
Thanks @Adhika_Lie and @Nick_Bristol for your comments. I also need to thank @Ed_McGuirk for previewing several images from my trip and helping me select a few from my favorites.
I did crop the bottom because the stream of water near the LLC widens to a rounded little pond right in the corner of the frame and I thought it was distracting. I would also like more room on the bottom. I agree the stump on the lower right needs to go and I should have done so, thanks for the catch.
@Alan_Kreyger I think that the black and white looks great. Iād probably try to push the mids and highlights up a bit more to give it a bit more light, careful to not clip the highlights and maintaining the dark feel with the contrasting trees. That tree in the right corner gives the scene a lot of depth. Compositionally speaking, I think that it would be a bit stronger if you would have panned to the left a bit. It seems a bit right side heavy.
That color version is pretty as well but Iād consider dodging the brighter parts of the green to make them stand out a bit more.
All in all, I sure wish that I could have been standing right next to you during this great moment in time. Beautiful work.
Alan, I love the mood that the fog creates in both of these images, I think this scene works pretty well in both color and B&W. I like the way you re-processed the sky in the B&W, you were able to get added detail and texture, relative to the first pass you showed me earlier. The composition has some complexity, but you kept it well organized, and all the elements give the viewer a lot of interesting things to appreciate. The trees in the fog, the little stream, the smaller seastack, they are all nice details in the overall scene.
I agree with @Gary_Randall that using LMās to dodge the midtones and highlights in the foreground would enhance the feeling of the fog, but as he said you have to do it carefully with a light touch. I do not feel like the image is too right side heavy, to me it has the most interesting compositional elements and details. I think showing more of the large seastack would diminish the interesting trees in the fog on the right. In fact, I could see a second alternate image that is comprised of just the right half of your images as presented.
Looking at this again, I can see why @Adhika_Lie and @Nick_Bristol would like a little more space at the bottom, it does feel a little tight to the tree on the right. I have the advantage over the others of knowing what is below this to the left, the distracting pool that pulls your eye out of the image. I think you could add a little more at the bottom without introducing too much of that pool.
This is a wonderful image to come away with from your first trip to the Pacific Northwest !!
Thanks @Gary_Randall and @Ed_McGuirk for the your help and comments, they are always appreciated. I am going to revisit the images and work on the suggestions you have offered.
@Gary_Randall, I wanted to say, had you been at the beach this morning you would have been very welcome and we would have been the only two there. I had the place literally to myself! That was surprising to me since the afternoon before it was crawling with people and even near sunset in pouring rain there were a few of us photographers out shooting. Not sure why the fog did not attract more attention but I was very thankful for both it and the beautiful solitude.
While I like both versions I am partial to the B&W scene, Alan. The fog coupled with more detail and texture in the clouds just adds so much more mood and drama to this scene IMO. You also captured a wide range of tones and had the added bonus of having the place to yourself which is always a nice thing. I had the pleasure of meeting @Ed_McGuirk for a couple of days during a NENP meetup in June and he was always willing to share his knowledge and his love of nature photography with us. Looks like you had a great time on your trip.
Ed, thanks for the kind words. I had the pleasure of attending a few workshops with Ed McGuirk and he has been very helpful to me as I try to improve my skills. I think like many of us I picked up nature photography to better experience and appreciate the places we love. For me it has been a very unexpected side benefit to meet many nice and interesting people during the journey.
Iāll cast a vote for the color version. For my eye it helps the fog āstand outā from the interesting sky, while the impact of the fog is somehow reduced in the BW. It might be countered with even more processing in the sky. Iām talking about a subtle difference, but for my eye the color and more distinct fog push the color version ahead.
Color version for me Alan. My reasoning is similar to my response to Igorās recent post āWhereās Wyatt.ā For me, the color is important in giving the viewer a feeling of the place. The cool (color)ness of the sea mist and fog (and hint of blue in the upper sky.) The greens most notably in the PNW and even down to the browns of the piled up driftwood and sandy beach. The color version just gives me a real good sense of the place - and tells a better story.
What I like about the b&w is the contrast and how the two little pines really stand out. But like Igorās, the b&w presentation does just two things. One, turns the image in to just shapes and contrast, and two, just makes me think of an old 19th century photograph.
Just my .02. The only suggestion for either would be to clone out the small bare trunk along the LR edge.
Oh, and if I didnāt comment, the color version is beautiful; great mood and atmosphere.
Thanks @Eva_McDermott and @Lon_Overacker for your thoughts. It appears to be nearly an even split on the two versions. When I shot this scene I was thinking B&W for the mood that I felt on site. I found the B&W version more difficult to process. The marine fog seemed muddier in color than fog I have worked with in other not coastal scenes. I do not know if makes sense or not just my observation. As I with worked both versions the color version grew on me for reasons than @Lon_Overacker described more eloquently than I might have. I am glad I posted both and have both versions as memories of a very productive trip.
