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Blagsta said:
The Strand

018.jpg



Charing Cross Rd

025.jpg

Details of urban streets... hmm, to be honest they don't do much for me. Maybe need more in a series to show you're capturing all around the West End. On their own they don't really offer anything unusual (unless you've never looked in a London phonebooth before!).
 
alef said:
Details of urban streets... hmm, to be honest they don't do much for me. Maybe need more in a series to show you're capturing all around the West End. On their own they don't really offer anything unusual (unless you've never looked in a London phonebooth before!).

They are part of a series of photos of stickers, signs, sigils etc that people use to put their mark on the big city
http://www.avgp39.dsl.pipex.com/signs/index.htm

I liked The Strand one 'cos someones stuck a butterfly hairclip high up on a signpost with a bit of chewing gum - a deliberate act that creates a silly bit of art. The Charing Cross Rd one I liked 'cos the prostitutes flyers were near the gutter and dirty, which is how a lot of people view prostitution.
 
Bernie Gunther said:

I like the colours, very autumnal/wintery. I prefer the 2 & 3, the first one is a tad bland IMO. The third one is especially good.
 
Blagsta said:
Cool. :cool:


I also particularly liked this one of mine

signs-021.jpg


because of the juxtaposition of the "go veggie" sticker and the connotations of the sex trade and meat.
There's something strangely fascinating about those phonebooth cards, although they've gotten sort of tackier over the years. Back when I used to live in London, say in the early-mid 90's, you used to get people like Vince Ray doing the artwork, at least for his numerous dominatrix friends, which was much more stylish.

You've certainly captured the tacky sleaze aspect though.
 
Bernie Gunther said:

The first two have really nice colouring. Landscape isn't my usual cup of tea, but your shots certainly catch my eye.
 
alef said:
The first two have really nice colouring. Landscape isn't my usual cup of tea, but your shots certainly catch my eye.
Thanks :)

As you probably guessed, they're from the same location as those other ones I posted a while back, but with different light.

Same windswept thorn tree though.
 
Bernie Gunther said:
Here's a few from the festive season. Do I need one of those ND grad thingies to make this sort of stuff work better?

...


Depends what you mean by better? I very rarely work without a very subtle garduated neutral density filter for day time landscapes. Barely discernible - very subtle. But, it does help to control the exposure a little.

There isn't really a 'better' way of shooting into the light. Post production in PS or, dodging and burning in the darkroom can help even out the exposure and bring detail out of the lowlight and highlight areas. Or, you could try a composite of two or, three exposures.

Personally, I prefer the 'natural' contrasty look in the examples here. Shots 1 and 2 may have looked very different with a polarising filter.
 
Interesting. Thanks Stanley. How many stops is 'barely discernable' in your view? I was thinking of +3 but I'm now wondering if I shouldn't look at +1 or something?
 
Bernie Gunther said:
Interesting. Thanks Stanley. How many stops is 'barely discernable' in your view? I was thinking of +3 but I'm now wondering if I shouldn't look at +1 or something?


I use a graduated ND that starts from about 1 stop and fades out within a third of the filter surface. It is so subtle that I need to rely on the filter markings to be sure it's horizontal.
 
chriswill said:
Taken along the Leeds Liverpool Canal near where I live

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9073/canalreur5.jpg
Wonderful colours but a bit empty/lacking. Play with it. See that concrete on the right bank - try cutting off anything right of that to push the canal out of the centre. Lose a bit of sky too. Not the perfect solution by any means, just one possibility. Play with cropping and ignore trying to preserve the aspect ratio too.
 
baffled said:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/133/359776540_6737da7867.jpg

Yes I know selective colouring is cliched but being new to all this I couldn't resist, go on then tear me a new one :D

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/147/359601145_1dc72e8e0e.jpg
I think these are mint :cool:

Tiny little bit more contrast via curves for punch on the first one? Little more brightness via curves on the second (and maybe contrast to boot) - plus maybe a little more off the bottom for a slightly more letterbox shot? Otherwise great.
 
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