Ian Bramham's Photoblog
Ravenglass
Posted by Ian Bramham (Manchester, United Kingdom) on 7 July 2008 in Cityscape & Urban and Portfolio.
A seaside fishing town called Ravenglass on the north west coast of England.
Although this photo was taken only last weekend it was a damp and grey morning and the weather was very dramatic with these swirling clouds hovering over the town like some kind of extra-terrestrial flying saucer - it's something that you often see on the coast where clouds line up along the interface between land and sea - not usually as dramatic as this however.
I've added some grain in post processing to this one which is a first for me but I thought it added something here - perhaps it's something I'll experiment further with over the coming weeks.
For purchasing high quality archival prints of any of these photos you can send me an email by clicking here or by going to MY NEW WEBSITE where prices are listed in the gallery sections under each individual photo.
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Links to the websites of other photographers whose work I love and who have all helped me enormously over a long period of time. I find the work of all 3 to be inspirational.
hugo poon from hong kong, Hong Kong
Ian, this is really something... and so unusually dramatic! I have to look into this wonderful image more intensely with a better monitor when I'm back home tonight... I guess I'll love it even better then.:-)
7 Jul 2008 5:30am
@hugo poon: Thanks Hugo.....the cloud formation was one of the strangest ones I've ever seen....if I'd been in the American mid-west I'd have said it was the start of a tornado!
Vincent from Montréal, Canada
No argue, this is one great sky! To me, Ian, this shot lacks a foreground subject (may a human presence, possibly someone walking away?) to give more dept. Of course that subject does not need to be that big, but rather well placed in the frame. I feel the need to give this shot a little more weight in the right portion of the frame, because the left is already quite heavy (clouds + houses). A rock in the lower right part of the frame ought to do it, I guess! Keep goin'
7 Jul 2008 5:34am
@Vincent: Thanks for the very thoughtful C&C...you may well be right. There is a figure on the right hand side but he's too far away - I should have waited for him to get nearer and more significant in the frame.
Rhys from Darlington, United Kingdom
This has a 'film' look about it (the 35mm type), its become a cliche to use the word 'gritty' but it is! But gritty is a good thing, its a great image.
7 Jul 2008 5:40am
@Rhys: Thanks Rhys...I was attempting to get a Tri-X look with this, and on the full size image on my computer monitor it looks more convincing than at this much reduced scale. It's something that I'm going to need to practice.
Shun from Mühlheim am Main, Germany
@ Vincent: Isn't there a person at the right? I guess it is too small to have the desired effect.
@ Ian: I would really want the picture changed. Vincent is right that the left side is much heavier but this is actually a very nice effect for me. I love the flatness and wideness of the right side combined with the heavy details at the left. Grain works really good here.
7 Jul 2008 7:22am
@Shun: Hi Mirko!...You're right - there is a figure on the right hand side but he's too far away really. I should have waited a little longer for him to be more recognisable.
This is another one of the photos that I took last Sunday with a photographer friend called John Leech who lives in this part of the UK and who kindly offered to take me round the Lake District for the day. You can see John's version of this photo here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leechypics/2634057523/sizes/o/
@missparis: thanks very much!
Anthony Lambert from Bielefeld, Germany
Nice work,I wish I could produce something like this now and again.
7 Jul 2008 9:08am
@Anthony Lambert: I used to say exactly the same thing until I got my Nikon D40 together with this Sigma 10-20 lens....for anyone interested in taking their first steps in landscape photography it's a really great and very cheap way in.
I hadn't realised how limiting my compact camera was until I switched....it's mainly the focal range but the 'wiggle' room in photoshop is so much greater too with DSLR files.
@António Pires: Thanks very much Antonio!
Lorraine from Gatineau, Canada
I can feel the storm, fantastic mood, can I move there? Even the name is perfect :)
7 Jul 2008 9:45am
@Lorraine: Thanks Lorraine....the weather was really great for photography last Sunday!
Michael Skorulski from Cigel, Slovakia
A stunning composition, Ian. Love the play of light and shadow. That swirling sky is phenomenal.
7 Jul 2008 9:54am
@Michael Skorulski: Thanks Michael....this was really hard to process in photoshop for some reason and I nearly gave up on this one.
Jon from Basingstoke, United Kingdom
Lovely landscape shot, works really well done in Black & White.
7 Jul 2008 11:37am
@Jon: Thanks very much Jon!
IanSmith from London, United Kingdom
Hi Ian, I really like this one!
Though it does appear a bit off balance (optically), I like the small details that make you want to spend time looking at the image. Like the Union Jack in the far left blowing inland - allowing us to know that those big black clouds are actually heading away (which comes as great relief to the sorry chap over on the right).
The composition is spot on - but I think the foreground should have been lightened a little - as the subject here is what we find on or near the horizon.
7 Jul 2008 12:54pm
@IanSmith: Hi Ian!...the two of us were photographing together in the lakes last Sunday when I took this photo...the sorry looking chap on the right's name is John Leech :-) Here's a link to one of his images from this spot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leechypics/2634057523/sizes/o/
I find an increasing number of houses on the coast are flying national flags these days and I've been trying for a while to get one of them in a photo like this although this particular example is a bit small in the frame to be of any real significance.
jkjond from Grange-over-Sands, United Kingdom
Something I meant to add somewhere (I seem to be scattering comments all over the place today) is in response to your comment on grain working at the large size.
I find that if you are adding a grain effect it needs to be done at the final size, otherwise it is meaningless. The problem then comes when working to print sizes - I've done post card size images which look great, but completely lose the feel at a larger size. I would expect to have to do test prints and fine tune the effect on output.
Most of my more recent pics don't have any added grain, they are a 'natural' byproduct of forcing the processing in the cs3 conversion, then amplifying it with curves - though the one taken from near here does have added noise.
7 Jul 2008 1:26pm
@jkjond: Thanks for that explanation about grain John...it explains why this looked better on the full size version on my monitor before I resized it for AM3.
Klaus from Augsburg, Germany
Hi Ian, i'm back - nice one - fantastic mood. I know your domain is b&w - but i also like your colored one. As always great work on your blog!!
7 Jul 2008 2:16pm
@Klaus: Welcome back Klaus!...I see your photoblog has been moving up the listings at VFXY - congratulations.
Mine has come to a grinding halt where it is but I'm very happy to have got into the top 10.
don from spokane, United States
I like the composition of this shot very much. The swirling clouds are very dramatic over the coastline.
The addition of grain works for me. It reminds me of some film I've developed that turned out to be
grainy. A very appealing image!
7 Jul 2008 2:33pm
@don: Thanks very much Don....the grain issue is something I'm going to need to work on.
Laurie from New Jersey, United States
Wow those are some wild skies! It looks like the tides are pretty drastic there too. Great shot, very dramatic.
7 Jul 2008 3:09pm
@Laurie: Thanks Laurie...we were very lucky with the weather last week and I got an unusually high proprtion of my photos that were worth keeping!
@amy: Thanks very much Amy!
MadScientist from Düsseldorf, Germany
Grain definitely makes sense here; it's a rough place to live and you've interpreted this very well again!
7 Jul 2008 6:47pm
@MadScientist: Thanks...yes it is a gritty place and one of the most remote towns in the north of England.
@Stefan: Thanks very much Stefan!
Ted from South Wales, United Kingdom
Nice shot Ian. Does the figure/ the flag appear more pronounced in colour?
Every time I plan a holiday abroad, you go and post a North West shot that makes me throw the world map away and pick up NW tourist guides!!!
8 Jul 2008 2:58pm
@Ted: Thanks Ted...that's very flattering - thanks!
At some point in the near future I fear I'm going to come to a crunching halt with this idea of posting a new photo every day - after all there's only one Lake District and one Morecambe Bay :-)
bluechameleon from Vancouver, Canada
This photo is sublime! It's amazing the way the clouds show their perfect reflecion off the wet sand. Brilliant image!
8 Jul 2008 7:18pm
@bluechameleon: Thanks Sharon...I selectively applied a curves layer to the sand to get this level of contrast and shine. One of the things I'm growing to love about B&W is the opportunity (more so than colour) to put my own interpretation and point of view into the image at the post processing stage although up to now I haven't progressed beyond the bare basics of contrast enhancement, levels etc.
Nikon D40
1/250 second
F/8.0
ISO 200
30 mm (35mm equiv.)