Lake Disrict Buildings

Posted by Ian Bramham (Manchester, United Kingdom) on 6 July 2008 in Architecture and Portfolio.

Here's the B&W version of yesterday's photo.

If you like the photos on this blog and have got a minute to spare please vote for it at 'VFXY Photos'. The link is highlighted in green just below. It's currently ranked in their top 10.

Links to other Photoblog sites that I have found inspirational:
http://hugopoon.aminus3.com/
Hugo Poon records his home city Hong Kong in photographs so beautiful that they inspired me to start taking my own photos. Deeply humanist in his vision, Hugo claims that he is not a photographer. Why not visit his photoblog and decide for yourself.

VFXY Photos | Cool Photoblogs | Listed on Photoblogs.org

Comments (18)

gbe from kansas city, United States

i liked the other, but i like it even more in b&w

6 Jul 2008 12:10am

@gbe: Thanks...I prefer the B&W too!

Behrooz Sangani from Tehran, Iran

Very beautiful scene! Very better in my opinion when processed as B&W...

6 Jul 2008 12:27am

@Behrooz Sangani: Thanks Behrooz....I'm sure you're right!

Saeed from Tehran, Iran

nice shot

6 Jul 2008 12:53am

@Saeed: Thanks very much Saeed!

Lorraine from Gatineau, Canada

Hell, they're both excellent, still I like the royal blue door, mind you I haven't this on my laptop yet ;)

6 Jul 2008 2:41am

@Lorraine: Hi Lorraine....I know colour is your fist love but since getting photoshop CS3 it's opened up a new world of possibilities for me in B&W conversion.

Ted from South Wales, United Kingdom

Picturesque scene, nicely captured.

6 Jul 2008 2:45am

@Ted: Thanks very much Ted!

Vink from Magagnosc, France

Bucolic place ! Very nice !

6 Jul 2008 3:58am

@Vink: Thanks Vink! (Bucolic.....what an interesting word. I had to look it up in the dictionary as I thought it meant something to do with heavy coughing!....I had no no idea it meant idyllic or pastoral)

Lorraine from Gatineau, Canada

I know and they look so wonderful and moody in b&w, but you still manage to make the coloured version, fantastic, and ok this is on pretty equal term with the colour, but still, you know, that royal blue was pretty special ;)

6 Jul 2008 5:31am

Mirko Herzner from Mühlheim am Main, Germany

Back and forth, back and forth. This time the decision is easy. You did a really great b/w processing again. This one has a much stronger charisma!

6 Jul 2008 6:54am

@Mirko Herzner: Thanks Mirko!

Cheryl from Texas, United States

I'm with Lorraine on the Blue Door!! I like both but favor the color for the blue door!

6 Jul 2008 7:55am

@Cheryl: Thanks Cheryl....I haven't converted the blue of the door very well in my B&W version. It's way too dark isn't it.

ordinaryimages from KY Bluegrass, United States

a b/w painting. best...jf

6 Jul 2008 8:23am

@ordinaryimages: Thanks!

hugo poon from hong kong, Hong Kong

Ian, I'm afraid I have to repeat myself... I do enjoy both versions. The colour version is a superb capture of this beautiful place... dramatic clouds, wonderful colours and lighting, but I just love the "classic" and "timeless" feel that your b&w conversion has brought to the image!

6 Jul 2008 9:13am

@hugo poon: Thanks Hugo!

JoeB from Brampton, Canada

I used to like B&W more, mainly because i had a darkroom and control over the process, now with digital I can control colour so I have a new appreciation of it.

6 Jul 2008 9:37am

@JoeB: Thanks Joe!....I've only recently started to feel like I'm getting somewhere with photoshop (the digital darkroom) and it's a fascinating place isn't it.

kurt from Austria

how lovely - great composition, great in black and white.

6 Jul 2008 10:46am

@kurt: Thanks very much Kurt!

Marcie from United States

Love the quality of light and shadow in this image.

6 Jul 2008 11:41am

@Marcie: Thanks Marcie....a stray ray of sun on that white building was all I was hoping for!

jkjond from Grange-over-Sands, United Kingdom

It was obvious when you posted the colour one that this round would be a far closer call than Loweswater. After some deliberation I'm edging towards the colour - though I really want the black and white to win the day!

The best parts of your conversion are in the sky and foreground textures. I think some selective tweaking could make a difference - I'd put some effort into a cleaner translation of the all important blue door (should be easy), though the make or break is the handling of the topes near the far cottage. Sorry, topiary hedges. A final consideration is the peeping tree, the one over the roofs... looks like it has a useful yellow content at the conversion stage. Can't resist, see flickr!

6 Jul 2008 5:41pm

@jkjond: Thanks for posting your version of this on Flickr....your version is much better and I'm annoyed that I didn't tone down the blue in that door when I converted it to B&W.

amy from Nanaimo, BC, Canada

The atmosphere is so much better with the b/w. It has more of that old world feel which is far more suitable to the old architecture.

6 Jul 2008 8:37pm

@amy: Thanks Amy...these old farmhouse in the Lake Disrict can be really beautiful!

Paolo from Italy

in this case also I prefer the colour version. the bw conversion lets the foreground grass too dark, while in the colour version the contrast between the dark sky and the light grass is one of best features. moreover the blue door and the red bush add life to the photo. I suppose that some toning could give something to bw imagine. oh, btw, the original colur photo is really beautiful, it's a very "english" photo, at least for me.

7 Jul 2008 4:48pm

@Paolo: Thanks Paolo....I guess the quality of the light is all important in a scenic shot like this and I was very lucky that the sun came out when it did to light up the whitewashed stone. It's interesting that you see it as an 'English' photo as it's not something that had ocurred to me but this building is absolutely typical of the vernacular architecture of this part of England where the styles of construction are highly regionalised.

bluechameleon from Vancouver, Canada

How do you get your black and white tones so perfect. Such (another) strong image, high on detail and composition.

8 Jul 2008 2:19pm

@bluechameleon: The short answer is Photoshop CS3....the long answer is 'suck it and see' and that the more I get into the post processing thing the more I realise how little I really know about it.

Since getting CS3 I've been increasingly fascinated with converting my photos to mono as it has a really fantastic B&W conversion tool which has a great slider thingy for the main colours so you can adjust the degree to which each one turns through grey to black.

from

PREVIEW ONLY

Add your comment ...

next day →

NIKON D40
1/640 second
F/8.0
ISO 200
30 mm (35mm equiv.)