Rob Trek Forum

Just to get things under way on this page here is a recent image taken with my Pen F. It was on the same day as the one I have on Rob's 'Picture of the Day' thread.
The SOOC jpeg settings were
12mm F2 prime, ISO 200, f5.6 (no ev adjustment), 1/400 sec. graduated filter
highlights +2, shadows -4, mid tones +1
Comments welcome as, although I have been taking pictures for around 50 Years, I am trying to improve my monochrome images with the Pen F.

Great photo where in UK was this taken

I would try two different approaches.

Since the sky is mostly blown out, I'd dial in like a -3ev to silhouette the bridge and people against it.
Maybe try a dramatic tone II art filter. It's difficult to get the full effect without the raw, but below is the direction I'm going.

I also feel like you're capturing too much. The beautiful architecture of the bridge and the person on the left. I'd narrow it down to just one element of each, the most interesting part of the bridge and one person for scale.

In this part, I kinda like the way the person's posture is arched like the trees and bridge struts.

Rob - thanks for the constructive feedback. I did think afterwards that it would have possibly been better to use the 17mm 1.8 but these opportunities come quickly - I had spotted the walkers coming from both directions and just held on to capture the moment. One thing I will do from now on is to set the camera for LSF + RAW to improve my options at the editing stage. I would then be in much better position to follow your suggestions.
Thanks again.

Info for Mike and others:
The photograph is of an old railway bridge near Wylam, Northumberland UK. It was constructed 1874 -76 and it has been suggested the design inspired that of the Tyne Bridge, Newcastle and the Sydney Harbour Bridge - this is debatable. The rails were lifted in 1972 - since then it has become a rural walkway.

Hi Derek,
Rick Bear here, also in the UK.

That's a great setting for monochrome photography. Industrial Landscape or Industrial Architecture, as well as your Rural Street Photography interpretation.

I'm also doing a lot of monochrome work this year. Although I shoot in jpeg, using the camera's digital monochrome settings, this is only so that the electronic viewfinder (evf) will give me a visual approximation of what I'll later do with the RAW file in post processing.

I think the biggest challenge with digital monochrome is getting the "look" you're after, in terms of granularity and tonal values. In the days of emulsion film, we only had to choose between a few film manufacturers -- say Ilford's FP4 and Tri-X -- then decide how we'd process the film, mixing-and-matching different developers and tricks like 'push-processing' to render different results. Whereas with digital post processing of the full colour RAW files, we have many more possibilities, and I'm still experimenting to find a set of looks that I like.

I also like to print my photographs onto paper. That, as you'll appreciate, Derek, gives a very different look to a monochrome image versus viewing it on a display monitor. If the image is viewed on a display, then the brightness is an electronic glow of the pixels, whereas in a paper print, the lighter tones are reflected ambient light, very dependent upon how the room (and, ideally, the picture) is illuminated.

One thing I would suggest you might like to try is changing the image format from 4x3 to something more strikingly rectangular. Again, this won't affect the RAW image, but helps you to frame things differently in the viewfinder, and if you print or display your images within a deep frame -- so the picture is surrounded by a lot of space -- you can get some really striking effects with larger print sizes. As your 50 years of experience tells you, photographs are best viewed in large printed form, from a distance, rather than with your nose on the lcd screen of a smartphone.

Anyway, Derek, I like where you're going with this. It's an amazing location, and I like that you're thinking about going back again and again to explore how it can be interpreted at different times of day, in different weather. Something I encourage Rob Trek to try instead of just hoping that he'll opportunistically stumble across a masterpiece at the exact moment when the light dynamics are exactly right.

Rick

Hello Rick

I really appreciate the detailed reply you have made and how you are encouraging me to develop ideas on this theme. This location is about 1/2 mile from where I live and I often end up at this bridge. I recall you encouraged Rob to explore the possibilities of a single location when you responded during a recent stream to his photo walk image of the rusting lock on the reservoir bridge. (I am a regular observer of interactions during the streaming sessions - perhaps I should join in!)

I will certainly adjust the picture format next time initially perhaps as 5 x 3, 16 x 9 or even 1/1 when I next return - it may be sometime as I am self isolating as a precaution at present (a bonus is more time to go back and look at earlier images with a view to making improvements using Workspace).

Rob suggested that I focussed on a smaller area - I did take another image similar to the crop he suggested but decided I would prefer comments on this one.

Here are 2 archive photographs (not taken by me!) from the days when the line was in use.

Regards
Derek Sleightholme

Hi Derek,
Yes, you should definitely join in on the livestreams, only problem being we're very limited in how many words we can write.

You mention self-isolating. That's not necessarily a problem, just stay away from crowds. Which reminds me of an old edition of Punch, the humourous magazine. They did a series on where to find crowds of people, which included such unlikely places as the tops of isolated mountains , so I guess staying away from masses of people may be more difficult than it sounds.

Nice to see those photographs of the old steam locomotives. Is there any aging signage or railway artefacts on the bridge? Those could make very emotive images of the ghosts of the railway.

I must see if there are any similar industrial architecture structures around here. Railway or canal bridges. They are so visually emotive.

Rick

Since (affordable) digital cameras still don't have the dynamic range that film did, I think you did a great job with the picture. I wouldn't change a thing... the composition looks great.... send us more!!!!!!

Thanks Dave
I am trying to develop my skills with monochrome and the Pen F includes many options. There are two more in the Picture a Day “Post your daily pics here thread”. I am going to revisit this location in greater detail as Rick suggests.
Regards
Derek