Donaghadee Lighthouse

[richard crowe]

Hi there

Managed to get out yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks! The weather here has been attrocious - well at the weekends anyway. Sods law is that during the week you are sitting in the office watching the blue sky and sunshine out the window!

Anyway, I got down to Donaghadee at about 4pm just as it was getting dark. There had been a glimmer of sun but at least it was still dry - well it started lashing about five minutes after I took this shot! The wind was blowing a gale and I had climbed up onto the pier wall which you can see is quite narrow. The tripod feet were anout two inches from the edge and there was a 20 foot drop to the sea and the waves battering against the pier! The things you do!!

With the wind and the need for a slow shutter - this was 1/2 sec - Iwas lucky to get any shot. Again, I have processed this with hdr. I tried it with just ps and it was too dark and flat. Again I think the hdr gives it a certain quality but I'm not sure if I have gone too far again! there are a couple of areas that I think may need tweaked, but overall I am reletively happy.

Glad for your feedback - both positive and negative.

Cheers

Richard

[Stephen]

Re: Donaghadee Lighthouse

Ah yes Donaghadee, I remember the coloured buildings on the front very well, they can just be seen in your picture. If you look to other side of the bay there is also that pink house which somehow adds to the scene But to your photo here. There is loads of drama going on IMHO and I like what you have tried to do. I think though I would like to see it toned down a bit. The high contrast and saturation that can be a product of HDR also makes for some false colours and the metallic blue feel is a little OTT for me. Ideally of course 3 separate exposures are best for HDR, so I wonder if that would help, though of course movement in the sea and the people would detract from doing that, not to mention the light in the lighthouse

I'd be interested to have a go myself though with the single exposure.

Oh btw that pink house I mentioned, heres a pic

[richard crowe]

Re: Donaghadee Lighthouse

Thanks stephen. Nice shot. Weather looks a bit more clement then!


I have had a go at processing it normally, just in ps and psp. This is more what it actually looked like - a bit murky really! To me it doesnt have the same impact as the hdr one and a lot of the detail is lost due to it getting dark and most likely not using the correct settings! I was more concerned with not getting blown off the end of the pier! lol

[richard crowe]

Re: Donaghadee Lighthouse

I had reworked this - but on reflection didnt like that either. So I deleted them all and started from scratch! This is the result. I think it is the best attempt so far, but perhaps with the available light I had, I wont be able to get it much better.

[coupekid]

Re: Donaghadee Lighthouse

I had reworked this - but on reflection didnt like that either. So I deleted them all and started from scratch! This is the result. I think it is the best attempt so far, but perhaps with the available light I had, I wont be able to get it much better.

I like the original personally Richard, loads of drama, very moody, and that sky is just awesome. In my opnion, an excellent image.

That said, some of the levels seem a little out. The horizon seems to be out of kilter with the lighthouse, though I am sure this is just an illusion.