Views from the roof of the Reichstag. The panorama in the middle of the topline is from the iPhone15promax. On the bottom row on the left, you can see several notable ‘towers’. There is the television tower on Alexanderplatz, the International Trade Center, Berlin Cathedral, and the Red Town Hall. On the top right on the left the dome of the Französischer Dom, and on the right the Deutchser Dom (on Gendarmenmarkt).
This is the famous Cley windmill at Cley next the sea. It’s by far the best name for a coastal village. Interestingly, it actually does not have a sea front. The mill was owned by the family of James Blunt.
I have a fondness for black and white aka monochrome. That grew on me. Mono was cheaper 50 years ago and more ‘easy’ to handle in a dark room. Monochrome gives something extra at times. The sphere, the grain. And over all these years I learned to see objects in monochrome, visualizing what something looks like in grays.
When I bought my first Nikon digital camera (the D70), I naively asked ‘where is the monochrome setting?’. It was not there. Shooting was color only. If I wanted mono I had to create it myself afterwards in Lightroom, Photoshop or an app like Snapseed. But lucky for me, on the iPhone and on the recent Nikon Zf, there are monochrome settings. To be honest, that was one of the reasons to buy a Zf. So now I have a choice: mono or color.
I know the taste of my ‘audience’ is different than mine. In three days I like to find out more about your taste. What do you fancy more: a photo in mono or in color?
This is the famous Cley windmill at Cley next the sea. It’s by far the best name for a coastal village. Interestingly, it actually does not have a sea front. The mill was owned by the family of James Blunt. The photo was shot in color.
The Dutch landscape has low horizons and is flat (but not as a pancake). Canals cut through it. Bicycle paths offer easy access for exploring. These photos are just behind the dunes at Noordwijk. They are at the edge of the Maandagse Wetering. On the horizon is Voorhout.
In The Netherlands, all trees are bi-annualy inspected for risks, like falling over during a storm, to prevent calamities and discomfort. Its aim is to prevent and control future situations. In a way this makes sense, if you can prevent accidents, what is not to be liked about that? On the other hand you are never sure when they come down, but you do know that it will happen! At times with severe storms, trees tend to come down on roads and motorways or train tracks. C’est la vie, say the French. Luckily, in England one can enjoy the odd dead, broken, fallen over or not too healthy tree like this one. Let nature be nature, enjoy the ride.
The iPhone has a cute panorama feature. The result of a pan shot is the above. I wonder if you could ‘turn it around’ so that it looks more like a wide angle/fisheye shot. That would look more natural to me. Anyone has any ideas? Now it looks like a view from a corner.
All the bulb flowers of Spring are now gone. We have to wait for next year to see tulips, daffodils and hyacinths ruling the fields of our flat lands. Until then we enjoy nature exploding in its full force, and after that its decline into Winter. But for now it’s amazing how fast everything springs out.
A few days ago I published a resembling shot in color and mono. This post differs from the earlier ones. The tree on the right went out of the frame. And a very modern advertising pole pops up in the background.
My love for the bleak colors of Winter’s light are the same. But I prefer this mono version, even if it was originally shot in color. GrainLab is a great tool, and the atmosphere of the photo is ‘old’ but the view is modern.
I tend to think in black and white at most moments. Just my preference. And if I can I shoot just in a mono mode on my iPhone or my recent purchased Nikon Zf.
Yesterday I publiced this one in color. I do like it, the bleak colors of Winter light are nice. But I prefer this mono version, even if it was originally shot in color,
England, Stowmarket – Little Stonham – December 2024
Ending the year in the UK, a roadside view from the car over a foggy Suffolk countryside. Hence the sharpness is not optimal. This is another one I used GrainLab to put in an analogue grain feeling. It softened the darks and gave the photo a more balanced view in the highlights. Snapseed tends to distort big surfaces in the sky, and this is a nice retouch effect to repair that.
England, Stowmarket – Little Stonham – December 2024
Ending the year in the UK, a roadside view from the car over a foggy Suffolk countryside. Hence the sharpness is not optimal. This is the first time I used GrainLab to put in an analogue grain feeling. It softened the darks and gave the photo a more balanced view in the highlights. Snapseed tends to distort big surfaces in the sky, and this is a nice retouch effect to repair that.
The weekly LAPC #327 is ‘five elements’. Four of the Greek (fire, water, earth, sky) and metal from a Chinese philosophical edge. The only fire in this photo is invisible and contained in the wind sweeping the water onto the beach. And as far for metal, it keeps the wooden fence together. Water, sky and earth in abundance. Funny we do not look in ‘elements’ to a photo.
This week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge #322 is ‘there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in’. The quote is from a verse by Leonard Cohen about imperfection and beauty, redemption, healing and growth to overcome pain and hurt. The origin is more ‘cosmic’ and is much older (e.g. Rumi): the only perfect ‘being’ (the light) is the source of all. As humans we are not perfect but we can let the light in to heal our wounds and pain. And essentially learn from it.
Yesterday I showed a photo from the bright side, this one is from the sunrise, and I must say I love the light and the atmosphere.
This week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge #322 is ‘there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in’. It is from a verse by Leonard Cohen about imperfection and beauty. This photo is just a blunt statement: the light comes from the right. But considering my more frequent photo moments in the early morning on this spot, it is after noon. A total different view on the same view. The way the light hits a scene gives it meaning. And shows different details. It softens, warms an strikes with a tender touch, showing the deeper beauty. Not perfect, but priceless.
What's (in) the Picture? 