Zapadni Cliffs Shrouded in Mist (B&W) St. Paul Island

Posted by Heather Forcier on Sat Aug 30, 2003 12:31 am

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© Heather Forcier, all rights reserved

Zapadni Cliffs
St. Paul Island, Alaska

I am trying to learn more about landscape photography and enjoyed doing some scenics of the fog recently at St. Paul Island. The mist was particularly thick this one day and converting it to a black and white seemed to fit the mood.

This image has not been cropped, although I was very tempted to take some off the bottom and the right side (the shoreline seems too long). I was hoping some of the more experienced landscape photographers here could tell me how my instincts are with this photo - composition, post-processing, converting to black and white, and if a crop might make it more effective, etc.

Digital capture with Canon 1D, Canon 28-105mm handheld.

Comments sincerely appreciated!

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by thapamd on Sat Aug 30, 2003 9:59 am

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Very, very eerit, Heather...perhaps a bit of selective contrast boos to the bottom portion of the image?

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by robert hasty on Sat Aug 30, 2003 10:30 am

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Nice one Heather, i agree, it could use a touch of contrast to help it pop a tad without taking away the moody feel of it.

robert.............

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by Dan Baumbach on Sat Aug 30, 2003 10:53 am

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I hope you don't mind reposting a modification of your image here. It was easier to download it and play with cropping and contrast rather than to just suggest things.

You have a nice coast and fog. What you want to do is make the best of it. I added a bit of contrast and cropped the top and left. I'm not entirely sure the cropping improves the image but I think the contrast does.

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by Karen S on Sat Aug 30, 2003 12:34 pm

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I have to disagree with the others.

I like it just the way it is. I love the soft black and white feel it has. It all blends well together. Great job Heather

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by Kerry on Sat Aug 30, 2003 2:53 pm

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Heather, did you shoot any verticals of this scene? I'm just curious because the "mood" of what's presented here fits better with my preconception of what a vertical *might* look like. I'm not saying it would be better--I'd just like to make a direct comparison.

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by E.J. Peiker on Sat Aug 30, 2003 3:40 pm

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Like Karen, I also prefer the original and like Karen, I was there when Heather took this. I think those of us that were there like it better because it represents the scene as it was more accurately and those that weren't would like to see more contrast because that is how they imagine it would be - an interesting dichotomy. Slight Sepia toning would be cool on this one. A cool shot!

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by Heather Forcier on Sat Aug 30, 2003 5:39 pm

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Dan, I don't mind the repost - thanks for taking the time to work with my image!

I did actually play with the contrast a bit but did not keep the changes, it looked more like the original scene without the adjustments.

But maybe the image doesn't speak as well to those who were not there without the added contrast. Interesting. I really enjoy the feedback, it's so hard to see my work objectively without it.

E.J., you read my mind, I though sepia would be really cool for this, too! (Now if I can just figure out how to do that...)

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by Eric Fredine on Sat Aug 30, 2003 6:41 pm

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I love photographing in fog, it lends a strong atmosphere that you've taken advantage of here. I like the sense of mystery.

I don't mind the contrast (fog of course tends to lower the contrast) but it looks way too dark to me - the whites are a mid-tone grey. But perhaps this is intentional to communicate the mood as E.J. suggests.

I also have one thought on the composition - it feels to me like the far end of the shoreline is too close to the centre - I think it might have a more dynamic feeling if you had placed it further to the right and a little higher up.

cheers,
Eric

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by Greg Downing on Sat Aug 30, 2003 6:47 pm

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I love this as is and it represents the scene well. Nothing I shot came out this well. As for sepia toning save the image back to RGB again (after converting to B&W and saving) and play with the channel mixer, adjusting individual colors to achieve the desired effect. There is also a sepia toning filter in PS, but I find it to be too radical and the color mixer gives you more precise control. Alternately rather than converting to B&W and saving you can also just de-saturate all the colors prior to using the channel mixer. I am sure there are other ways but this works pretty well.

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by Juli Wilcox on Sat Aug 30, 2003 7:49 pm

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Hmmm. Thought provoking. I've been there and like both the original and the re-post very much. I would like to see even more contrast. I have one I am inspired to post. May I use your exact same landscape questions, Heather?

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by Campbell on Sun Aug 31, 2003 1:16 am

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Myself, I dont care for the croped version, but the contrast change makes some difference. Very nice shot Heather.

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by Mark on Sun Aug 31, 2003 12:47 pm

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I like the emphasis Dan's crop gives to the curvature of the shoreline and the waves - however, I like the foreground rocks in the original better. It is a hard shot to work with - enough fog to create mood, but not enough light for the foreground. Sometimes being there is all you need to give this shot some nostalgia, but is a disadvantage for viewers otherwise if the image is missing something to draw you in. Maybe a very slight pop of some flash fill light might bring out some of the detail in the foreground.[/b]

Mark

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by RichardMittleman/Gon2Foto on Sun Aug 31, 2003 5:57 pm

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A request for cropping suggestions...I'm drooling

I think it needs a crop, but not as much as Dan's repost. I would just crop it from the bottom to just below the single rock on the far right.
I don't remember having the fog look this ugly when I was there, but I'm sure this is an accurate representation of how it actually was.

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by Lillian Roberts on Sun Aug 31, 2003 8:36 pm

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Hi, Heather! I like it cropped and I think the posted suggestion is the best place to crop it. The horizontal has a calm, moody feel that I think would be altered in a vertical format but that doesn't mean it would be less interesting, just different. Nice idea to convert to B&W, that never seems to occur to me.

Lillian

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