B&W Saunton Sands

ancient_mariner

ancient_mariner

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Toni
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I'm working through the photos I took last weekend in North Devon, and while I've already popped a couple up here (including one of these - now re-edited) these seemed to make something of a set.

The terrain was really rugged, and I've gone for 'strong' B&W processing, rather than softer mid-tones to try to bring out the hard grittiness of the rocks.

Sauntonsands-7333-2 by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

Sauntonsands-7352 by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

Sauntonsands-7436 by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

Sauntonsands-7512 by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

Sauntonsands-7439 by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

Sauntonsands-7519 by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

C&C welcome as always.
 
I am not usually a fan of gritty black and white type processing...but I really like the effect on all of these. The most successful for me personally is the third, with lovely lines and great contrast. I also really like the surfer one too but wonder if the surfer slightly gets lost overall? Love the last one too. Great set.
 
like number 2
but the rest is like marmite not to my taste
a lot of the detail in the rock is to dark the way you have proccesed the pics
 
plloydie said:
Nice set, for me 1st shot is the stand out one. I really like the processing too, quite dramatic.
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Thanks Paul.

Nguss said:
I am not usually a fan of gritty black and white type processing...but I really like the effect on all of these. The most successful for me personally is the third, with lovely lines and great contrast. I also really like the surfer one too but wonder if the surfer slightly gets lost overall? Love the last one too. Great set.
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Thanks. The grittiness is a bit different from what I normally do. The surfer is a bit small, I'd agree, but I wanted to set him in context to show what a large area the rocks occupied.

holty said:
like number 2
but the rest is like marmite not to my taste
a lot of the detail in the rock is to dark the way you have proccesed the pics
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Thanks Holty. There were 3 shades of rock on this section of beach, which were either effectively black like the majority of rocks in the first, yellow sandstone like the large blocks in the second or a pale grey-blue like those in the third. I've tried to be reasonably tonally true to life with the processing, despite the grittiness, but I'd agree some of the rock is very dark, and in some the tones are a little 'soot & whitewash'.
 
Hi Tony, Theres def some nice shots here but the processing on some isn't really to my tastes. I like the last shot best, the processing suits this one and I like the comp with the lone surfer.
 
For me, the last image stands out from the rest. The processing is much better than the others and the figure adds real scale to the scene. It's not that I dislike all the others (although number 3 is quite unbalanced tonally) but the last one is out on its own.
 
Neil Burnell said:
Hi Tony, Theres def some nice shots here but the processing on some isn't really to my tastes. I like the last shot best, the processing suits this one and I like the comp with the lone surfer.
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Thanks for taking the time to comment Neil. I appreciate this is very different from your style, and would be fascinated to know how you would have processed these IF you chose to use them.

Dale. said:
For me, the last image stands out from the rest. The processing is much better than the others and the figure adds real scale to the scene. It's not that I dislike all the others (although number 3 is quite unbalanced tonally) but the last one is out on its own.
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Thanks Dale. Regarding number 3, is it the darkness of the sky compared to the land that that makes you say it's unbalanced?
 
ancient_mariner said:
Thanks Dale. Regarding number 3, is it the darkness of the sky compared to the land that that makes you say it's unbalanced?
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Yes, I think the sky looks too heavy if that's a way of putting it. I think it would look better with a darker foreground and a lighter sky. Just my tatste, doesn't mean I'm right. :)
 
Wayne Els said:
I like contrasty shots but I'm not a huge fan of these. I do like no 2 though, the carving in the cliff and the sky work for me.
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Out of interest, would you have preferred more mid-tones? I'd deliberately pushed these to be a little soot&whitewash, but have left some mid-tones in there. The originals were quite flat, and the light soft through a misty, hazy air.

Tannachy said:
I'm kind of going with the general consensus with the processing, maybe it would be okay printed, but on my screen the whites just burn my eyes. I really like the last one though, the pose of the figure in the distance reminds me of someone lost in the an unexplored world.
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I'm interested in your comment about the whites being too bright: they're all held back from exceeding the normal tonal gamut - close to the upper limit, within it. May well end up printing a couple, so I'll get to see how that works out. The first & last are my favourites, and I agree about that sense on aloneness in the last image.

Dale. said:
Yes, I think the sky looks too heavy if that's a way of putting it. I think it would look better with a darker foreground and a lighter sky. Just my tatste, doesn't mean I'm right. :)
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Thanks Dale, I may well give it a rework to reduce the sky a bit, and appreciate you coming back to comment again.
 
Nicely balanced set. The last one gets my vote, nice sense of scale, there is something about the persons stance that makes it look menacing. Nice ethereal look.
 
Wayne Els said:
Doesn't need more mid tones. Looking at them again I think the issue for me is over egging the structure/sharpening. The last two are probably the best in this respect, they don't seem to be as harsh.
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I did push the structure quite hard to try to up the grittiness and definition in the rocks, but I really appreciate the comment and may well revision/reprocess these soon to see if something with a wider appeal can be drawn out.

MRMRM said:
Nicely balanced set. The last one gets my vote, nice sense of scale, there is something about the persons stance that makes it look menacing. Nice ethereal look.
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Thanks Mike, this is probably my favourite from the set.
 
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