Clevedon Pier, Somerset

[Carl Hall]

My second outing with the Nagaoka, this time to Clevedon Pier.

Nagaoka 4x5 with 90mm f/8 Super Angulon.
Expired Delta 100 developed in HC-110 dilution B.
1/8 sec at f/45 with just a smidgen of front tilt.


Clevedon Pier by Carl Hall, on Flickr

 

[Alan9940]

Nice use of leading lines, Carl. And, you probably didn't plan this, but the weather vane (or whatever that is) on top of the structure at the end of the pier couldn't be in a more perfect position in relation to the clouds in the far distance. Nice job!

 

[Carl Hall]

Thank you Alan I hadn't actually noticed the weather vane in the distance! I've been wanting to get a wide angle pier photo for quite some time, showing the wooden planks leading up to the end. I think I'd like to go back again soon though (it's only an hour and a bit away) and try and get it when the shadows aren't quite as strong.

 

[martin henson]

I agree Carl the shadows are a little strong however a great feeling of depth and nice textural quality

Martin

 

[Carl Hall]

I agree Carl the shadows are a little strong however a great feeling of depth and nice textural quality

Martin

Thanks Martin

 

[Carl Hall]

Here's another from my outing to Clevedon. I need to spend more time and effort thinking about how a scene will convert to black and white. The foreground rocks looked fantastic at the time because of the different colours and textures of the seaweed on the rocks, but in black and white they've all kind of merged together as similar shades of grey. Need to develop my black and white eye I think!


Clevedon Pier by Carl Hall, on Flickr

 

[Alan9940]

Carl, if you're not familiar with a B&W Viewing Filter (basically, a Wratten #90) you may want to look into one of these to help with your pre-visualization of tonal mergers.

Have fun!

 

[Keith Haithwaite]

I carry a compact camera set for Monochrome in my bag just for reference shots when I'm out and although it only has a 3" LCD screen I have found it useful at times to give my B&W vision a helping hand when I'm struggling. It was probably cheaper and certainly more effective than a filter imho.

 

[Stephen Batey]

If you want to maintain colour variation as tonal variation, you should consider using contrast filters.

 

[Diz]

I think the shadow in the first shot is spot on. (Its one of those personal preference jobs) I would of been tempted to put a yellow or orange filter on to enhance the sky and define the clouds though.
Cheers
Diz

 

[Carl Hall]

I think the shadow in the first shot is spot on. (Its one of those personal preference jobs) I would of been tempted to put a yellow or orange filter on to enhance the sky and define the clouds though.
Cheers
Diz

Cheers Diz, I've been meaning to get a black and white filter set for some time now, but I haven't got round to it yet. I use Lee ND grad filters so I think I'll get the Lee B&W filter kit so that I can use them with the same holder.

 

[Carl Hall]

I took a few B&W images at the weekend, and for the few where I wasn't sure how it would convert to black and white, I used the camera on my phone set to b&w mode. Interestingly the ones that I checked out all turned out to be unsuitable for b&w.

Although that means I missed out on some photos, I was happy that I was at least able to sense that they wouldn't look great, even if I had to "cheat" to find out for sure!

 

[Stephen Batey]

I hate to say it, but that might be because the phone simply desaturates the scene. Using filters lets you change the tonal values and differentiate vastly different colours that convert to the same shade of grey.

Here's my brief take on the subject.