Puget Sound XXXII: City

Puget Sound XXXII: City, a photo by doug_r on Flickr.

This image was shot specifically as the final image for a portfolio of beachscapes taken around Seattle. I had made an image in these same tripod holes the weekend before during the day and wanted to come back in the evening to catch the cityscape across the bay against the piers in the foreground.

A storm was clearing when this image was made. The light was changing constantly as the low clouds ascended and the rain turned to a light mist. Most of the light here is from sodium arc lights on the the port cranes off to photo right bouncing back and forth between water and sky. Seals were barking nearby, just off shore in front of me.

The image was made with a Canon 5D Mk II and 17-40 f4.0L lens. The focal length was 40mm, and the exposure was made at f5.6 for 8 seconds. The image was processed using Lightroom 3 to do the raw conversion and to correct lens and color issues, then further processed in Photoshop CS 5 and Nik Silver Efx 2 to do the black and white conversion and sharpening. Prints are made on metallic paper.

My goals for this image were to show the city from a well known but frequently dismissed view point, contrasting the verticals and lights of the skyscrapers in the background with the empty and abandoned piers just offshore in this area. The challenging part of the capture was exposing and recovering the fronts and shadows on the foreground side of the peers without letting them go completely black.

Overall, I'm fairly happy with the composition, capture and processing of this image but I look forward to your critiques. Thank you.

Oculus

Oculus, a photo by doug_r on Flickr.

New work posted: Oculus. Split tone exploration of the dome in the Nat'l Gallery of Art in DC with a mystery reflection from somewhere... Spooky...http://bit.ly/g6apaP

Upper Yosemite Falls in Autumn

Upper Yosemite Falls in Autumn
Originally uploaded by doug_r

Polaroid Autumn Colors

Polaroid Autumn Colors
Originally uploaded by doug_r

Autumn Maple V

Autumn Maple V
Originally uploaded by doug_r

Still LIfe I

Still LIfe I
Originally uploaded by doug_r

I like this image alot; it works better in color than black and white, I think. Color seems to bring out a richness in the colors of the antique wineskin that are difficult to bring out in black and white.

Tomato Up!
Originally uploaded by doug_r

A fun little outtake taking during the still life shooting I was doing yesterday. I'd been wanting to shoot this little vase filled with cherries but cherry season is long over but cherry tomatoes are ripe and abundant right now.

The black and white version has quite a different feel to it that really differentiates the red and orange tomatoes.

End of Summer Dahlias

End of Summer Dahlias
Originally uploaded by doug_r

Continuing with my black and black still life work, these nearly black dahlias seemed like a natural against black seamless. I was pleased with the definition in the deep shadows here as well as with the rather broad tonal range.

Film Profile - modified Agfa 100 film with increased and hardened grain.
Filtered with 50% yellow filter before toning with grey green and brown passes of Platinum toning washes.