The Final Resting Place

[Donald]

It's that long since I've posted an image here that I was in danger of forgetting how to do it! Anyway .........

Garry (my dog) and I went out for a walk this wintry Tuesday afternoon and we took the camera along with us. This was the result. It felt good to be back out there looking through a viewfinder.

Any comments and thoughts are always appreciated. Maybe looks better viewed larger in the Lightbox



7DMkII, 70-200mm f/4L IS

[Mike Buckley]

Garry did an excellent job. I hope he takes you and your camera out more often.

It's nice seeing a black-and-white image that most people including me would have made using more contrast and dynamic range. Your treatment using less of both is very calming.

[Chri5]

I love it and as Mike said, the treatment is perfect IMO. I love how sharp it is from front to back. Maybe you can teach me how to do that cause I cant get my head round sharpness . The more I look at it the more I want to jump in and walk up to the cemetery.

[Mike Buckley]

The more I look at it the more I want to jump in and walk up to the cemetery.

Exactly. The perspective in the photo reveals just enough of the cemetery to pique my interest with a desire to visit within its walls.

[Shadowman]

Very crisp conversion, nice use of leading lines.

[Donald]

Thanks for your comments, folks.

Chris - On that question of sharpness:-

I love how sharp it is from front to back. Maybe you can teach me how to do that cause I cant get my head round sharpness .

I think there are a number of factors involved.

Obviously, at number 1, is get the capture right. I know I am very fortunate in having one of the best lenses for the job. The Canon 70-200 L IS f4 is a magnificent lens. But there are many fine lenses and the fact that people don't have a Canon 'L' lens doesn't mean they can't make pin-sharp images.

Then there is making sure you set your exposure to get the depth of field you want. This was 1/350 at f8, with the focal length at 111mm. And then , of course, it's about making sure everything is rock steady when you release the shutter. Get that lot right and you're more than halfway there.

And then once you're back in the digital darkroom (i.e. at your computer) .............

Before going into various other software, I was an exclusive GIMP user. When doing that I learned, on here, about the importance of the parts to sharpening (assuming you're shooting in RAW) - 1) Capture Sharpening; 2) Content Sharpening and, 3) Output Sharpening. The tutorials here on CiC can introduce you to that idea.

That, for me, constituted the fundamentals. Understand and be able to apply that and you've got the building blocks in place for further development. For example - nowadays my capture sharpening is done using the DxO Optics software (the 'Clearview' and 'DXO Lens Softness' tools). My content sharpening (given that 99% of my work is in B & W) uses the tools in NIK's Silver Efex Pro 2 (Structure, Fine Structure). And then (old habits are hard to break) I resize and output sharpen using the GIMP.

So, probably I haven't provided much of a tutorial. But, if I have 'a message', it's about getting the fundamentals embedded. Understand the concepts of Capture, Content and Output sharpening. Learn how to apply them. And then go from there.

[bnnrcn]

Beautiful image and very nice conversion.

[Chri5]

great insight there. Its a little much to swallow at one time so ill just have to take baby steps for now.

[Donald]

so ill just have to take baby steps for now.

Exactly. Don't even try to take it all in at once. This game is a learning process. If we cracked it all at once, we might as well stop now.

[Marie Hass]

Dear Donald,

One could say that this is an excellent image and nicely done and they would be correct. Knowing that you have just recently put your wife to rest makes this image all the more poignant.

Marie

[ShaneS]

I second Marie's comment...on both counts. Is is a lovely capture Donald and a scene that you feel as if you can visually wander through which is a credit to your skills and attention to detail.

I am so glad that it felt good to be back looking through the viewfinder and I will look forward to seeing more from you and your wanders about with Gary.

[Brownbear]

Thank you for sharing. Indeed this is an exceptionally beautiful image and a wonderful one to learn from for the framing but especially for the lines and the way they lead and hold ones eye. I hope to be able to see like this one day.

[NorthernFocus]

That's simply n excellent image, Donald. Glad you're able to get out and be creative. Nicely done.

[mknittle]

Exactly. Don't even try to take it all in at once. This game is a learning process. If we cracked it all at once, we might as well stop now.

Exactly, That is the beauty of it always something to learn.

Excellent Image Donald, But that's what we have come to expect.

[JBW]

I am currently enrolled in a History of art course and this shot would fit right into the Engraving art of the Renaissance. Your ability to capture a thousand tones and hues in a Black and White(?) shot is inspiring to say the least.

However an honest critique must include what is lacking, so... Ill get back to you when I think of anything that could improve this shot. It could be a while.

[Stagecoach]

A stunning image Donald, not just the scene but the attention to detail in the PP work where we see every bit of fine detail.

[Donald]

Again, thank you all for your comments. When it's a good 'un, it's good to get peer confirmation of that. When it's not a good 'un, it's good to get the peer review that shows you what's lacking and where it could be strengthened.

... not just the scene but the attention to detail in the PP work where we see every bit of fine detail.

We each approach our photography in different ways. I know that some people see post-processing as something to be done quickly and would not spend more than a couple of minutes on a picture. Others, of course, think pp is something in which they should not dabble at all. I, on the other hand, am at the opposite end of the spectrum and more aligned with some of the old masters who spent days and weeks in the darkroom working on one negative.

I probably spent well over an hour (or more, I'm not sure as time gets lost when I'm working on my images) on this from RAW processing with DxO Optics, to conversion, sharpening, adjusting levels, dodging and burning, toning, vignetting, etc, etc, with Silver Efex Pro and then resizing with the GIMP. For those of you who use Silver Efex Pro 2, there are something like 60-70 Control Points on this (grouped). For example, the wall around the cemetery has its own grouping of control points to help bring out the detail of the wall and draw attention onto the cemetery as the central feature of the image. I tend not to use the global adjustment sliders very much, other than 'dynamic brightness' and to a lesser extent 'soft contrast', early in the workflow of B & W conversion. The hedge alongside the road also has its own grouping of control points that brighten up the shaded side.

[Rebel]

Looks like I'm on my own here but I always try to be honest.

The exposure, sharpness everything is excellent! It's just the composition I am slightly struggling with... for me its a bit lopsided on the left hand side and also it feels as if the bottom has been cropped off too much, it doesn't balance out with amount of sky.

When I look at it for some reason I just want to point the camera to the left and down a bit!

[mugge]

I do not know what to say.....oh I know, glad it is not in colour. Just beautiful.
Cheers Mugge

[Donald]

Looks like I'm on my own here but I always try to be honest.

Good. That is the only way to approach appraising either your own work or that of others.

The exposure, sharpness everything is excellent! It's just the composition I am slightly struggling with... for me its a bit lopsided on the left hand side and also it feels as if the bottom has been cropped off too much, it doesn't balance out with amount of sky.

When I look at it for some reason I just want to point the camera to the left and down a bit!

Interesting points, Matt. On the left-right question, I felt that this was the composition that felt most in balance. I was looking for an angle to the right of where I was standing, but there was a hedge and I couldn't see my way to get a shot through (too tall to get above it). That would have put the cemetery and the top of the hill more in alignment.

On the up-down point. I worked that one very hard and indeed took some frames in which I did include more at the bottom. However, what I didn't then like about those was that they included more of the road going out at the bottom left of the frame. That, for me, unbalanced the image. As it is, I felt the road gave a little bit of mystery. We can see it there, but where does it come from and to where does it go? Including more of it would, I think, have pulled attention away from the cemetery.

Anyway, that was the thinking going on in my little brain as I composed it.