alexr
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Post by alexr on Jun 9, 2019 16:34:51 GMT
I've said before that what I always think of when considering which of my own images might suit a mono treatment, is the amount and variation of texture. So I was thinking, what surface varies significantly in terms of texture? And of course one of those is water. So that is this month's theme: Water. So please show us your images where the water is one of the dominant subjects. It could be the only subject: 
Ship's wake mono by AlexR!, on Flickr It could be a secondary subject (the sea and clouds behind the tanker): 
North Sea tanker mono by AlexR!, on Flickr Or it could be simply dominant in the image but not the main subject at all: 
St Paul's and Millennium Bridge 1 by AlexR!, on Flickr Please interpret the theme as widely as you like; the aim is to encourage us all to experiment with mono and not to constrain us. My images all processed in Silver Efex 2 using standard pre-sets; I find the one I go to most of the time is 'Full Dynamic (smooth)'. |
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Post by hmca on Jun 9, 2019 17:17:52 GMT
Terrific idea, Alex! I like your three very different examples.
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pontiac1940
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jun 9, 2019 20:13:28 GMT
Water, some of it frozen. Oldman River flowing through "The Gap" in SW Alberta. February, 2006.  |
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Post by Bailey on Jun 10, 2019 11:09:51 GMT
I took this photo on Australia Day earlier this year. We were lucky enough to spend the afternoon on a boat on Port Phillip Bay. (I politely declined an invitation to take a ride on one of the jet skis  )
Converted to B&W in Elements+.
Played with the various colour sliders until I got the look I was after.
(enlargement is clearer)
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Post by Peterj on Jun 10, 2019 17:59:13 GMT
Reflected spring colors - Walney Pond in Fairfax County, VA.
I used Ambrotype - an On1 preset
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bobharron
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Post by bobharron on Jun 10, 2019 18:52:08 GMT
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alexr
Established Forum Member
Posts: 555
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by alexr on Jun 10, 2019 22:24:33 GMT
Pontiac, thanks for getting us off to a great start with exactly what I was thinking of where the mono treatment means that you concentrate solely on the variety of textures as your eye weaves through the image.
Bailey, a similar zig zag construction also makes full use of the entire frame, as well as all the tones from full black to white, but with the addition of a foreground of droplets hanging in the air. Lovely example.
Peter, really lovely processing to achieve a subtle aged effect by using ambrotype with a slight tint. Really suits the style of the image with the sharp reflection taking the focus over the surrounding trees.
Bob, I love the difference between the smooth foreground, the rougher background and the choppy wake. I always really appreciate an image that benefits from consciously breaking the 'composition rules', in this case because I would expect the swan to have been given more room to swim into, it focuses my attention onto the wake, which might otherwise be missed.
Thanks all.
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Post by hmca on Jun 10, 2019 22:36:59 GMT
alexr, your thoughtful reviews always give me something to think about. Thank you!
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Post by Bailey on Jun 10, 2019 23:19:07 GMT
Thank you Alex.
Similar to my previous photo, this one also has several different water "textures":
- water in the foreground
- water in the background
- foamy water
- water spray from the jet ski.
On the day I set aperture priority at f4.5, to get get a reasonably deep DOF and bumped up the ISO to 400 to ensure a shutter speed of at least 1/3000s, from my test shots, to freeze the action and water as much as possible. All shots were in burst mode as the jet skis were going past pretty quickly.
Converted to B&W in Elements+ and then used a Levels Adjustment Layer and a 50% filled grey Dodge & Burn Layer to fine tune the tones and maximise the tonal range.
(enlargements are clearer)
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Post by Peterj on Jun 11, 2019 2:32:41 GMT
Thank you for the kind words, and the challenge!
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Post by Peterj on Jun 11, 2019 15:56:08 GMT
Another spring colors as base... 100% On1 processing: over saturate colors prior to applying B&W filter and then flipped vertically and applied a border.  |
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billz
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Posts: 827
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Post by billz on Jun 11, 2019 21:28:58 GMT
Thanks for the challenge Alex. I went to one of our fountains this morning to try some different exposures times for this months theme. In sort of Goldilocks fashion, I found the a multi-second exposure did a beautiful job of smoothing the water but even with a 10-stop filter the highlights blew out. A 1/4000 exposure did its job and froze the water in place, but I wanted to show some movement. This shot is at 1/100 does a bit of both, allowing the drops to show a bit of motion while retaining some of their individuality. It's not a photo I'm especially fond of, but the process was educational.  B&W conversion in Camera Raw. |
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Post by PeteB on Jun 11, 2019 22:24:31 GMT
When I took this photo in early Spring, the colors of the foliage, the blossoms and the church steeple caught my eye. By removing the color for this challenge, the reflection in the water now jumps out to me. 2812blog.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/canal_3923.jpg |
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Post by hmca on Jun 12, 2019 1:44:35 GMT
Black and white conversion in Silver Efex......F14 1/5 sec. ISO 100  |
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Post by fotofrank on Jun 12, 2019 4:16:15 GMT
Cormorant feeding - conversion in Lightroom  |
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