Some recent B&W photos (D40)

ianbramham · Jan 18, 2010

A few recent B&W images from the French Alps and also from the English Lake District in Cumbria.

All shot with a Nikon D40.

Ian
http://ianbramham.com/
http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/ (Photoblog)

1 - "The March of the Pylons"
Photographed a few weeks ago high up in the French Alps next to Mt Blanc.

2 - "Fresh Snow"

Fresh overnight snow covers ski trails from the previous day at La Rosiere in the Alps.

3 - "The Alps in Winter"

4 - "A Clearing Storm"
A glimpse of the alps through the clouds of a clearing snow storm

5 - "The Leaning Tree"

Photographed recently at Coniston Water in the Lake District - the weather was horrible - bitterly cold with steady heavy rain and a featureless grey sky so I was really surprised when I got home to see this photo.

It was handheld at iso900. It was only a test shot for a possible long exposure otherwise I'd have used my tripod but nevertheless I was impressed by the lack of noise.

6 - "Last of the Snow"
Photographed on the same shoot as the last shot (grain added in post processing)

7 - "Dusk at the Lake"
Dusk at Haweswater in the Lake District

capanikon · Jan 18, 2010

nice!

any manipulation in the computer?

ianbramham · Jan 18, 2010

capanikon said:
nice!

any manipulation in the computer?

Thanks!

Re your question on post processing, apart from the obvious B&W conversion I always manipulate overall contrast and I've also played around with the levels of light and darkness in each image using the 'curves' tool in photoshop in all of the photos as well as the 'dodge' and burn' tools in a few of them. NX2's 'U' point controls are also very good and I occasionally use that as I'm hopeless at masking in photoshop

Ian
http://ianbramham.com/
http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/ (Photoblog)

Jorma M · Jan 18, 2010

Composition, mood, tonality, and detail; all very well done!
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Heinz · Jan 18, 2010

Great pics, Ian. I like the composition and pp. Since we're always courious here could you give information about the lenses you used? Thx
--
Heinz
http://pbase.com/wembly

André BARELIER · Jan 18, 2010

Great pictures Ian !
The third is my favourite, followed by the 2nd.

I love the way you're playing with light, be it when taking the picture, or after, in pp.
Thanks for sharing.
André

ianbramham · Jan 18, 2010

Jorma M said:
Composition, mood, tonality, and detail; all very well done!

Thanks very much Jorma!

Ian
http://ianbramham.com/
http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/ (Photoblog)

ianbramham · Jan 18, 2010

Heinz said:
Great pics, Ian. I like the composition and pp. Since we're always courious here could you give information about the lenses you used? Thx

Thanks Heinz!

In answer to your question I used a Nikon 16-85VR for all of the shots from the alps (I was skiing at the time) and a Sigma 10-20 for the ones from the Lake District. I used a 10 stop nd filter to get the long exposure needed for photo 6.

Ian
http://ianbramham.com/
http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/ (Photoblog)

ianbramham · Jan 18, 2010

andrbar said:
Great pictures Ian !
The third is my favourite, followed by the 2nd.

I love the way you're playing with light, be it when taking the picture, or after, in pp.

Thanks André!

B&W images almost always need added contrast after conversion to B&W and as I use photoshop CS3 this involves adding contrast as a seperate step in the process once the image is converted to greyscale.

With the issue of light & shadow in post processing my usual approach in B&W is simply to try and accentuate the qualities of the original image but often I'll also add a a vignette.

Ian
http://ianbramham.com/
http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/ (Photoblog)

veteran35th · Jan 18, 2010

Wonderful shots again Ian. Which Sigma 10-20mm? The f/3.5?

Matt

ianbramham · Jan 18, 2010

veteran35th said:
Wonderful shots again Ian. Which Sigma 10-20mm? The f/3.5?

Thanks Matt.....it's the f4-5.6 HSM version which I bought when I got my D40 2 years ago.

Ian
http://ianbramham.com/
http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/ (Photoblog)

Waterengineer · Jan 18, 2010

Ian:

The first and third ones are great!

veteran35th · Jan 18, 2010

Cheers for the info Ian.

Without derailing your thread, do you ever do 'fast' shots?

Matt

ianbramham · Jan 18, 2010

waterengineer said:
Ian:

The first and third ones are great!

Thanks very much!

Ian
http://ianbramham.com/
http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/ (Photoblog)

ianbramham · Jan 18, 2010

veteran35th said:
Cheers for the info Ian.

Without derailing your thread, do you ever do 'fast' shots?

Matt, I don't do any sports photography if that's what you mean but I've taken a few action type photos including a set commissioned about a year ago for the website of a company called Wildcat Marine who specialise in transferring personnel out to offshore windfarms. Photos below:

Ian
http://ianbramham.com/
http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/ (Photoblog)

their website is here with more examples:
http://wildcat-marine.com/specs.html

André BARELIER · Jan 18, 2010

Hi Ian,
Yes, I agree that converting to B&W needs adding some contrast.

Have you tried Silver Efex Pro ? You might give it a try. This Photoshop plugin does a superb job in converting in B&W.
André

mikeyw · Jan 18, 2010

Absolutely brilliant - staggers me that results like this come from a £250 camera

mikeyw · Jan 18, 2010

Meant to ask what you use to frame your pics ? - it really works well.

Xscream · Jan 18, 2010

Fabulous pictures! I loved the 'Fresh snow' especially!

FabianB · Jan 18, 2010

Great photos and great PP Ian.

I trust you are an advanced skier...

Fabian

Some recent B&W photos (D40)

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