Here is the first of a new series taken across Northern China. I decided to move away from the usual HDR look and concentrate on natural B/W. I am also at a crossroads with my photography and don't know whether to go completely B/W. I shot all the pictures in this series, using a 5D and 17-40 F4.0L wide angle lens. All the pictures are in natural light using manual exposure only. No tripod was used.
Also I have changed the picture crop ratio to 16" x 12"
Please let me know if you feel these pictures work in B/W or work at all. If you require any specific information about the pictures location, exif etc. send me a PM.
Hopefully there is no camera shake, however some of the locations the temperature went down to -14°C
Thanks for looking and thanks for sharing your views
Hello Alan. Great to see you back. I really enjoyed your HDR images and also your more natural ones as well. Even though your style may change when it comes to PP, your eye and composition skills do not change. The composition here is excellent; abiding well to the rule of thirds as well as using the wall as a nice little pathway for my eyes to go along the trail. Only nitpick is the sky. It looks pixelated? Or a strange texture to it.....looks computer generated. Btw that man looks really cool at the end of the shadow.
And wow....that temperature seems really cold :X. Its still 80's in sunny LA haha.
My comments or suggestions below are not a criticism of you, your model, your talent or skill. I offer them in a friendly tone of voice and with the sole intent to help you with a second POV and set of eyes. Of course this may be your own "style" or your own "vision" and I suppose we can assume that the images look just like they do because that is exactly how you like them. That is OK too. It just shows that there are differences of "opinion" on what looks good. IF these are exactly what you want and like, then by all means continue making your images look like that and have fun doing it. As I always say: "Follow your own muse."
I know you are a skilled photographer and so what follows may not be "your cuppa tea." But...I can only offer you my best suggestion if you allow me to see the image possibilities with "my" eyes.
Now about your image:
I have never been there.
But I have seen images just like this one many times.
And I can imagine that everyone who DOES go there wants to get in as much of the wall as possible with every shot. It is SO big.
I think this image would greatly benefit (gain in strength as a visual) if it were cropped.
Why?
Because this image shows a place/thing in a way that has been seen many times before. It IS in BW, but that does not make much of a difference.
IF you find something about the scene that IS different, or momentary (not the same) and can focus our attention on that aspect, then the image will "gain" in visual interest, even with such a familiar subject/place/scene.
What to pick?
That is a personal choice.
What would I choose from the entire image?
My choice would be to crop the image from the bottom up. I would keep the bottom part of the image and make a "WIDE" image that has a top edge somewhere close to above the man in the middle distance who is just about to climb some stairs. I would keep the foreground. Cut off the top (mountains and all) and get rid of the "typical wall scene" and focus attention on the solitary figure. The wall "path" in the foreground leads our eye to him. Let it "stop" with him. Eliminate everything above and beyond him. Then keep this other image as the "snapshot" of the entire scene.
Good composition Alan and most of the time it matters more than some fancy effect.
You picture gives us a real sense of the enormity of this structure.
Have you done it in HDR the effect would have overwhelmed the composition
Thank you for taking the time to comment and so comprehensively. I agree it is often the case, one likes to include as much of the image as possible. As you suggest this is usually the norm and not thinking out of the box. Your suggestion is a good one, I will experiment with your idea.
This is a good record shot, Alan, nothing really creative about it. What I like about your HDR stuff is that it reflects your own very unique artistic style. So it really depends on what your photographic vision is - Fine art or Photo journalism. Based on what I've seen of your work, I think your forte is the former.
very good shot Alan. I very much like the composition with the leading line in the classic position. The PP looks very good as well. As for cropping, I might agree with Steadman's observations. Almost. I think you still need some of that bleak sky. I would suggest cropping the bottom up to where the left well begins.the shadowy people below the wall on the LR are a bit distracting. Sill, an HDR of the scene might be interesting.
Loved the image and the way you presented it. B&W has been a favorite of mine for a long long time.
I don't remember where I had seen them at, but one photographer kept his images in a panorama type size, I found myself really enjoying the images and the presentation of them.
As much as I really liked your HDR images, I think this is by far more of my liking.
Looking forward to seeing the World through your eyes, no matter how you decide to shoot.
StevenZ wrote:
This is a good record shot, Alan, nothing really creative about it. What I like about your HDR stuff is that it reflects your own very unique artistic style. So it really depends on what your photographic vision is - Fine art or Photo journalism. Based on what I've seen of your work, I think your forte is the former.
Thanks for your honesty Steven, This is the very question, which keeps me awake at night
Tim ONeill wrote:
very good shot Alan. I very much like the composition with the leading line in the classic position. The PP looks very good as well. As for cropping, I might agree with Steadman's observations. Almost. I think you still need some of that bleak sky. I would suggest cropping the bottom up to where the left well begins.the shadowy people below the wall on the LR are a bit distracting. Sill, an HDR of the scene might be interesting.
Thanks Tim,
So your view is, HDR with a crop. How difficult photography is!. The audience see everything in a different light.
Loved the image and the way you presented it. B&W has been a favorite of mine for a long long time.
I don't remember where I had seen them at, but one photographer kept his images in a panorama type size, I found myself really enjoying the images and the presentation of them.
As much as I really liked your HDR images, I think this is by far more of my liking.
Looking forward to seeing the World through your eyes, no matter how you decide to shoot.
Kindest Regards,
Craig
Hi Craig,
I am leaning towards BW, however my use of HDR has been ridiculed on many forums including this one. I understand you cannot please all the people all the time?.
The ultimate choice is made by the photographer, hopefully
Hi again Alan. I was not suggesting doing this in HDR, just musing about what such a "vista" scene such as this would look like. It would just be a larger scape. Your HDR's to the best of my recollection have been a touch more intimate. Perhaps you have done a bigger scene, and I have forgotten about it. Don't change anything, please yourself. The trouble about creating a niche, is that you also create expectations in your audience.
I vote Yes on using HDR. Also, I happen to like the current crop. It puts me there more effectively than cropping from the bottom would do. That is more important to me when viewing versus trying to capture something unique.
Hi Alan
I have to say I have really enjoyed a lot of your HDR's not all but most of them. The processing of this particular shot is very good with a full set of tones, aspect ratio fine. The only thing I don't think the sky adds anything to this shot.
A good and solid BW. I also think however that the bottom third doesn't bring much to the image, and therefore it would be interesting trying cropping it out. The top two thirds are good as they are.
and concentrate on natural B/W. I am also at a crossroads with my photography and don't know whether to go completely B/W. I shot all the pictures in this series, using a 5D and 17-40 F4.0L wide angle lens. All the pictures are in natural light using manual exposure only. No tripod was used.
