What did you compose at Waters Edge?

[Peter Lewin]

Holdenrichards, I really like the lighting in your image, reminded me that photography is really about light.

[Peter De Smidt]

Excellent photograph...

Thank you, Holden. That's kind of you to say. You have some lovely work on your Flickr site!

[Holdenrichards]

Holdenrichards, I really like the lighting in your image, reminded me that photography is really about light.

Thanks much!

[Holdenrichards]

Thank you, Holden. That's kind of you to say. You have some lovely work on your Flickr site!

Cheers Peter

[Havoc]

Grimbergen (Belgium) Verbrande Brug
Wista 45, Fujinon CM-W 250mm, Fomapan 100 in ID11 (yellow filter)

[Peter Lewin]

Old Trolley Bridge supports, Passaic River on the Shepard-Kollock Park Trail, Chatham NJ.
Still trying out my stripped down "travel kit" of Canham DLC^2, FLM Traveller tripod, Congo 180/6.3 lens.
Tech: Above camera and lens, HP5+ rated 200ASA, Pyrocat, negative scan with contrast adjustments.

ChathamTrail-1 by Peter Lewin, on Flickr

As always, C&C welcome.

[marcookie]

Old Trolley Bridge supports, Passaic River on the Shepard-Kollock Park Trail, Chatham NJ.
Still trying out my stripped down "travel kit" of Canham DLC^2, FLM Traveller tripod, Congo 180/6.3 lens.
Tech: Above camera and lens, HP5+ rated 200ASA, Pyrocat, negative scan with contrast adjustments.

ChathamTrail-1 by Peter Lewin, on Flickr

As always, C&C welcome.

Is this pennsylvania? It has to be east US anyway... I like that there is something drawn on the support but I can't really tell, is it a face?

[Ulophot]

Hi, marcookie. The two eyes are clearly suggestive of a face; not sure if they relate to the circular sections at the left.

One can tell that the location is visually engaging; woods with light filtering through and a stream meandering its way through can be very restful while visually stimulating. It seems to me that you are attempting to maintain the soft quality of light by avoiding too high a contrast, and that, in my view, is commendable in itself. In this case, however, I feel that you have gone too far, thereby stealing some of the natural depth from the scene and ending up with a somewhat flat and visually busy image. My eye has trouble finding an ordered path to lead it through. I also find the space further compressed by the alignment of elements of the bridge bases with trees on the far bank: The second base back has four dark vertical "stripes," the rightmost of which aligns with the longer of the two vertical stripes on the near base as well as with a tree trunk on the far bank. Perhpas you meant this as an element in unifying the composition. In any case, my sense is that further attention to printing, making a richer print tonally -- at least one grade higher -- and considering burning and dodging possibilities to separate the important elements a bit more and, if you will, to give the space more form, would help to realize the potential of the image more fully.

[Peter Lewin]

Ulophot: thank you for the clear and practical critique. It gives me something to think about in the darkroom for the "real" prints, as well as some experiments to try in Photoshop to get a sense of how the adjustments might work. I was taught printing by several printers who always said to avoid using more contrast than you need, but of course that "than you need" allows for a large range of expression; I tend to err on the flat side, although I don't know how much is due to the simple negative scans and minimum PS adjustments I use for posting to the net (I would love to think that my darkroom prints are better ).

Marcookie: as I stated in the comments, this is New Jersey on the Passaic River. I will have to go back and see if I can tell what was drawn on the bridge support, there is clearly some graphic. I have to try some different times on a sunny day to see if I can get any different lighting effects.

[Ulophot]

Hi again. You might take a look at Tuco's cemetary photo, http://www.largeformatphotography.in...haring/page447 as an indication of the sort of depth possible without an overly contrasty look.

This link may work better than the one above.
http://www.largeformatphotography.in...=1#post1465072