The LAPC theme #385 is ‘unusual crop’. Sky shots of clouds are mostly abstract. Framing them in a way that makes sense is a challenge at times.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The LAPC theme #385 is ‘unusual crop’. Here the cropping process in-camera using a zoom.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The LAPC theme #385 is ‘unusual crop’. This one was cropped/framed by zoom on the iPhone while shooting.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The LAPC theme #385 is ‘unusual crop’. It is about cropping (re-framing an existing image) for effect. I used an old photo from March 2018 to play with for this theme. I cropped it to get rid of some elements that I kept in the original shot. This theme makes me think about how I shoot and the principles I learned in the past.
I am not sure I fully understand the essence of the brief. I only understand it if I take it literally: how it is unusual for me to use cropping while editing. Let me try to explain. Cropping afterwards is to re-frame a shot. My aim is to frame a desired photo at the shoot on the camera. That is a principal I learned long ago. Modern technology helps. You can see the result of a shot right away on the camera. And zoom lenses give you the flexibility to decide about the framing. Long ago, all I shot was on a 50 mm lens on film. Then sometimes I deliberately shot to ‘crop’ the result. E.g. when I was unable to get close enough. In the darkroom, you enlarged the picture (blow up), and then decided the result of the frame. Nevertheless, this often resulted in a loss of quality (grain, sharpness). So I learned to frame from the start, long ago.
But even in those analogue days, blowing up negatives was creative, it added to the texture of a photo. Nowadays it is easier to be playful using better technology. Camera’s, phones, software, monitors, computers all contribute to more agility in the editing process.
I am curious about the perspective of other ‘old school’ photographers. The ones who used film and a darkroom in the past before the digital age. How do they view this challenge?
Shot with iPhone 6s plus edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Every time we travel to the UK via the Channel Tunnel, I try to take photos of these steel giants. The same goes for when we return from there. They carry power lines in the area of St. Georges-sur-l’Aa. No worries, I’m in the passenger seat.
They remind me of mythical knights, marching in line over the fields. In the archive you find a set of photos over the years.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max, edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
To end a long set of photos of the marshes near Blakeney, a panorama shot.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseedand Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The coast path between Blakeney and Cley next the sea is used often by joggers.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
I published this one in a black and white version earlier, but this is the original. The coast path between Blakeney and Cley next the sea is used often by joggers.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge #384 is ‘astonishment’. The brief is to show in a photo a feeling of surprise or wonder. These two dogs (Murphy left and Cooper right) keep me wondering for years already. It is about their addiction to water in general. If there is water anywhere (preferably muddy) they dive in. Here they have a bath hunting for the ball in at the quayside of Blakeney.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge #384 is ‘astonishment’. The brief is to show in a photo a feeling of surprise or wonder. The marvel of surprise or wonder is not a big one. For me, it is more in appreciating the day to day events. And sometimes apart of the practical, there is wonder. Like when the Channel Tunnel opened, and a one way trip takes 35 minutes. You can not see much, but it is quite convenient.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge #383 is ‘patterns and designs’. Sunrises are always amazing, but the marshes being touched by the first rays is amazing to see.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge #383 is ‘patterns and designs’. The sunrise distorted in the lens.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge #383 is ‘patterns and designs’. The sunrise over marshes near Blakeney.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge #383 is ‘patterns and designs’. The sunrise over the famous Cley windmill and Cley next the sea.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge #383 is ‘patterns and designs’. A Winter rain shower over the quaside of Blakeney.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge #383 is ‘patterns and designs’. The marshes at Blakeney in first morning light.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge #383 is ‘patterns and designs’. Being caught in Winter shower in Blakeney, resultated in a gorgeous full and double rainbow. As we can see here, the story of the pot of gold is probably not true.
Shot with Nikon Zf (the two portrait photos),and iPhone 15 Pro Max (the landscape) edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
The quayside and harbour of Blakeney.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The quayside of Blakeney. Here you can go on a small boat to see Blakeney Point, visit the seals.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The seafront in Blakeney.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Lens-artists Photo Challenge #382 is about rejected photos. What do you do with photos you do not like? You can throw them away, or you can keep them. And if you keep them what can you do with them? First a story of myself, how I work. And in the end an example.
I am a snap shooter for a long time. When looking at this question for myself, I have to distinguish between the analog age and the digital age. But in both ages it is about quality, how you can assess that and what instruments are available after shooting. And above all: how can you be creative, and how much room is there to experiment?
The analog age was expensive: film was expensive, darkroom materials were expensive too. And being a poor student I shot as efficient as possible. You had to be patient while shooting, and selective. You also needed to trust your skills. Experience was essential to figure out what worked and what not. To produce good prints you needed to develop darkroom skills. And some negatives were impossible to print. But you kept them all. I never threw away negatives. That decision was beneficial in the digital age. After scanning my negatives, I properly made them look like what I had in mind when shooting them. What the darkroom did not deliver, software did.
In the digital age the cost of a photo is nearly non existent. The original photo (the former negative) can be copied lots of times. From the start technology offers instruments to oversee the quality of the photos. What you shoot is instantly visible on the camera. You can try different changes in the photo. Adjustments like shutter time, focus, and shutter opening can be tested most of the time. The RAW format offers flexibility for editing the ‘negative’ after the shoot. Software offers lots of creative tools to change the photo, or create new images.
So, do you keep rejected (bad) photos or not? I do reject photos, overseeing the result on my camera. I keep photos that can come to a good result after editing. The rest I remove straight away (e.g. bracketing shots).What I keep is stored on my NAS, where I use Lightroom as my archiving tool. I use editing tools to tweak a photo slightly. My favorite is Snapseed for web and social media publication. And Lightroom and Photoshop for prints.
The digital age is a time for unlimited creativity. The photos of ‘dinner at Wiveton Bell’ are an example of testing out the iPhone in a very dark situation. I shot about 8 frames, I kept them all but had my doubts. At home I worked them in Lightroom and Snapseed. And was surprised by what came out. And the ones that did not work were indeed deleted.
On the left the photo published and on the right the original RAW file.
Westgate Street in Blakeney, the access to the Quay at the seafront.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The King’s Arms in in Blakeney. Founded in 1763. And still sells fresh beer.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
An alley in Blakeney.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The last in the series of monochrome, more or less minimal photos for this week’s Lens artists photo challenge #381 (minimalism in black and white photography).
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Lens artists photo challenge #381 is ‘minimalism in black and white photography’. The marshes at first sunlight, as the light details the waving reeds.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Lens artists photo challenge #381 is ‘minimalism in black and white photography’. Overlooking the marshes at first sunlight in the direction of Cley next the sea.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Lens artists photo challenge #381 is ‘minimalism in black and white photography’. The marshes at first sunlight.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
An old boat, slowly decaying on the marshes near Blakeney. Lens artists photo challenge #381 is ‘minimalism in black and white photography’.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Lens artists photo challenge #381 is ‘minimalism in black and white photography’. The marshes at Blakeney are a place for running and hiking.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Lens artists photo challenge #381 is ‘minimalism in black and white photography’. A bus stop at sunrise.
If you wonder how it looks in color? Here is an iPhone shot of 2024 at the same spot. In the monochrome the sun is not over the horizon, in the color one it is.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Having dinner at the Wiveton Bell. A beautiful moonlight night, an open invitation to play with the iPhone. The results did surprise me.
The bottom right photo is taken with the night modus. The rest with the manual mode of ‘real light’.
The one of the church reminds me of a medieval painting.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The sky through ice on a window.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Theme for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #380 is ‘what’s around the corner’. A grey Heron in falling snow.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Theme for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #380 is ‘what’s around the corner’. Snow, no ice.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Theme for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #380 is ‘what’s around the corner’. Last week we had snow in the village.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Sometimes a photo goes wrong. Instead of a short shutter speed, the iPhone comes up with night mode. And occasionally an ‘accident’ creates an image that is quite appealing. Creativity by accident. I happen to like this one.
The image reminds me of the work of Sietse Goverts, a dutch painter.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Even in Winter there is blossom. And in monochrome it looks like snow :-).
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Even in Winter there is blossom.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
At dusk, a beautiful Winter sky.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
The year 2025 ends and we cross over to 2026. I hope the new year will be a good one. I wish it brings some of the desires I cherish in my heart. I am sure others cherish these desires as well.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
The canal in the fog.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
The Groene Maredijk in the Leidse Hout.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The Groene Maredijk in the Leidse Hout.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The Groene Maredijk in the Leidse Hout.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The sky and fallen leaves on windows.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
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.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
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.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
What's (in) the Picture? 