[Zig]

Alrightythen: this time a bit more manipulation.

Number 1: My original idea was to get the whole door, with brass letterbox and all. My positioning was off...and the lens' characteristics are not rectilinear enough. So, I cropped upon the doorknocker, getting a sense of its quite mysterious quality. I underexposed in conversion(and really should have subtracted compensation at the taking stage, I know), increasing contrast radically, then adding the mood more with a black soft brush. This also erased the distortion!



Number 2: I ran my bleach-bypass sim on the lo-contrast initial conversion, aiming for street-documentary feel. I deliberately wanted to recreate the feel of push-processed Kodak Tri-X, so on top of the bleach-bypass(which gave me the blown contrast) I used Black and White Studio's Tri-X sim, but had to add more grain. Note that this is NOT noise...see how it leaves the shadows clear(noise would stack up in the shadows first)? Finally, to give it that emulsion look, I added a tad of diffusion to the highlights then used a pre-loaded tone curve to give neutral highlights but slightly warmer mids.
...and did you notice I flipped the image?...hence you can read the writing...just to give that touch of added interest in the image and raise a question in the viewer's mind. There's no answer, of course...I did it just to engage attention, so that the viewer does not fully know hwy they are engaged...! Suggestion and subliminalism...

[nia]

Dear Zig, the first one is amazing, fascinated me what you did. This is so artistic too. But to be honest after the antique shop in other post, I can't say the same thing for this second one. Sorry also I can't explain why, still hits my mind the other one

Thank you, you did great series,
with my love,
nia

[Toad]

#1 is masterfully done - I will undoubtedly rip you off for that black brush technique in the future. That little hint of blue in the door is just enough to balance the gold of the fish with the black of the rest - and still add interest all of its own.

Very nice Tri-X effect. I feel, however, that there is a lot more grain than Tri-X would have shown on any shot taken in such obvious bright light. You hay bales shot of yesterday looked more Tri-X-y to me. I think this amount of grain would work better in a shot taken in much lower light. I think you also potentially have another variation on this shot - just cropping for the statuette.

Gosh - you sure have a big camera, Mr. Zig!!

[Zig]

Thank you Nia!
Gosh Toad: I'd not realised that inclusion of a complementary colour there! And...(yebbut yebbut!...)..but, like pushed in the darkroom to 3200+?...still, maybe you're right..
Yeah, the size thang(sheepish smirk): tell you the truth, when I went from the Nikon F4S to the Pentax67, I really did like the sheer monstrosity. I used to get endless glee going round touristy places, standing next to a guy with the latest Canon/Minolta in his new photo-waistcoat, then nonchalantly whipping out the Pentax(which as you know is like an SLR with serious elephantiasis). Oh, let Joy flow unconfin'd...!.... Though I'm going to Italy (NEXT WEEK: YIPPEEEE!) and the kit'll probably weigh more than my clothes, it usually turns a few heads, I've found.......... Heck, I'm 50 and don't have a fancy car, whaddya expect...

[Toad]

Yeah, the size thang(sheepish smirk): tell you the truth, when I went from the Nikon F4S to the Pentax67, I really did like the sheer monstrosity. I used to get endless glee going round touristy places, standing next to a guy with the latest Canon/Minolta in his new photo-waistcoat, then nonchalantly whipping out the Pentax(which as you know is like an SLR with serious elephantiasis). Oh, let Joy flow unconfin'd...!.... Though I'm going to Italy (NEXT WEEK: YIPPEEEE!) and the kit'll probably weigh more than my clothes, it usually turns a few heads, I've found.......... Heck, I'm 50 and don't have a fancy car, whaddya expect...

I used to have a girlfriend who told me in all seriousness that a man's size didn't matter one bit to her - unless she was planning to have sex with him...

[matthew]

Used to...

[Toad]

Used to...

It couldn't have lasted - she was far too intellectual.