Donkeys at the seaside

donkeys, originally uploaded by foto-art.

I love the emptiness and slight bleakness of this shot, which sums up the coastal resort of Blackpool in Lancashire on a cold, windy autumn day. This was taken while out for a walk on the beach and little has been done to it afterwards: It was rotated slightly to get the horizon level; It was slightly cropped to remove a group of people in the background on the extreme left; Colour saturation was also increased slightly. Notice again the rule of thirds and the formality of the composition.

Civil war art effect

Civil war art effect, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Civil war re-enactment by Sealed Knot Society. The Sealed Knot is a group that stages re-enactments of English Civil War battles, like this one at Nantwich in Cheshire, held every year on a weekend at about mid January. One technique for these kinds of images is getting rid of modern objects in the background such as cars, pylons or modern buildings, so choosing your vantage point and framing is very important. This image was slightly cropped to get rid of a spectator barrier in the foreground. It was then further cropped for artistic balance, to create a sense of momentum and movement again using the rule of thirds. I felt that this image was further enhanced by using the art effects described elsewhere on this blog.

Sand dune fence

Sand dune fence, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Sand dune fence at Formby Point. This is an into the light or contre-jour shot and I do not think that I used any filters for this. This is about strong composition using strong shapes to create the effect. Notice also again the use of the rule of thirds, wuth the horizon about one third up and the main vertical posts being positioned also approximately at one third divisions.

Post 2

Post 2, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Fence post in the moorlands. I think that this was taken using a red filter, but I am not sure. The post is positioned one third in from the right and the horizon one third up from the bottom. The key thing here was a low viewpoint. I was either lying on the grass or squatting down and holding the camera low to get this shot. The low viewpoint means that the fence post is not lost against the background of grass, but rather, stands boldly against the sky.

Stonewall 1

Stonewall 1, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Stone wall and fence post in the Peak District. A fairly typical black and white texture study. A red filter was used to increase contrast.

Stile

Stile, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Stile and fence in the Peak District National Park. Contre-Jour or into-the-light shots like this demand strong elements and good composition. The focal element here is the stile, which I have positioned just in front of the sun to help cut down too much flare and, using the rule of thirds, at about one third into the picture from the left. The remaining fence leads the eye down the picture to the gate, which stops the eye from moving out of the frame. The use of strong elements and composition like this is essential in good photography, whether contre-jour or not. It is where most amateurs fail. It is a good exercise to do some contre-jour work to learn to see such bold elements and learn how to frame them and compose them in the picture, because similar rules apply to othe types of image too.

Windswept tree 2

Windswept tree 2, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Windswept tree near Mow Cop, South Cheshire. A contre-Jour or into-the-light shot. Once again use of the rule of thirds is made. If I were to do anything more to this shot it would be to remove the branches on the expreme left of the picture by cropping or pixel cloning. If I chose cropping, I would be careful not to spoil the balance and arrangements of the elements, say by leaving the sun too far to the left. Cropping may demand some removal of the image all around to maintain this balance. The reflection of the sun on the lens at the right of the tree I am not sure about...I might try and remove it by pixel cloning and see if the picture looked better.

MOORLAND POSTS Black and white tutorial

POSTS, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Posts on Peak District moorland, near the Cat and Fiddle Inn, near Buxton, Derbyshire.

Well we had our first fine weather here in England last week: sharp crisp, frosty days with clear blue skies and bright sunshine, so it was my first real chance to get out this year and do a little photography. My first trip out was to the Peak District National Park near to the spa town of Buxton, walking near the Cat and Fiddle Inn which I understand is the highest pub in England. Of course, at this time of the year, there are no leaves on the trees: it will be a couple of months before spring arrives here, so the landscapes are still a little bare and bleak. last year I took a few sand dune photos and decided that I should really have taken some in black and white. Of course, you can convert colour images into black and white ones on photoshop, and that is explained in another post under the label 'colour to black and white'. However, you don't get quite the same result as taking the image in black and white on your camera. So for this image, I set the camera mode to black and white instead of colour. The advantage of this was that I could use contrast filters to make the image more dramatic. For this image I used a primary red filter (Wratten 25). This tends to darken the sky, making it more dramatic, and creates more contrast in the vegetation leading to a more dramatic picture. My new Ricoh camera has a 28mm equivalent wide angle lens, and this too gives a sense of space and drama, enabling me to get close to the fence posts and a low down vantage point, so that the posts stand out more dramatically against the sky, giving a stronger composition. notice again the rule of thirds, with the posts and horizon situated at approximately one third divisions in the frame.

Little Moreton Hall

Little Moreton Hall, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Art effect treatment of the Elizabethan Little Moreton hall, in South Cheshire, England. I like the formal composition of this photograph - looking square on to the building. Notice the rule of thirds with the path and tower/chimney of the building being about one third in from the right. I also like the colour saturation of this image, acheived by taking the photo on a sunny day and making sure that the sun was largely behind me and shining onto the subject.