And on the other bank...

[Pete Askew]

a shaft of evening sun lit a glade.

Nikon D3 + Lensbaby Composer fitted with the Edge 80 optic. ISO 400, f1:4.0, 1/250s. PP in LR, Nik ColorFx 4 and SilverFX 2.

 

[Lesley Jones]

Pete - you have just ruined my weekend. I've been researching the Peak District before my trip and I've been getting quite excited about the prospect of three days alone with the camera. In a single shot you make me wonder why I'm bothering at all. This is truly magical

 

[Pete Askew]

I'll take that as a compliment Lesley! Thank you. I had originally envisaged this as a colour shot and was processing it with that in mind. But the more I looked at it the more it reminded me of a wet collodion print and so I did a B&W conversion and stained / toned it to match. I bought the Edge 80 optic a few weeks back but today is the first chance I've had to use it. After doing a few experiments in the garden (and a couple of shots I'll use in a write-up) I wandered down to the River Whitewater as some ideas had begun to form. This is one of the results.

- - - Updated - - -

I meant to add that I think the collodion look came about as that has been in my mind a lot lately and I intend to explore the technique in the near future (probably on 10x8 or maybe by modifying the DIY camera).

 

[Chris Dodkin]

very mystical Pete - like you're looking into a fairytale - very effective

 

[Beth Carter]

looks mysterious. next we'll see photos of the fairies you found coming out of the woods..

 

[Paul Lange]

I thought the image reminded me of a lot of the photographs we had talked about a while back. I think you have quite nicely emulated the collodion effect.

 

[Pete Askew]

Thanks Paul. I'm quite pleased because all of the distortion and focus was done entirely in-camera. The PP was only to add a touch of glow and perform the B&W conversion / toning to give it the collodion 'look'.

Funny you should mention the faerie folk Beth...

 

[Hamish Gill]

I really like that Pete!
Great use of the lens I think!

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Don't know what collodion refers to, but I'll look it up. What I do know is that the photo made me stare at it for quite a while. Something magical about it, more than the sum of its parts. Simple yet mesmerising.

 

[Davie Hudson]

I've been looking at this for a while now trying to get my head round what i'm looking at. It's compelling and I don't know why but I keep looking deeper into it and finding more. For me that's a sign of a great picture, it keeps drawing me back

 

[Pete Askew]

Thanks Davie. When I shot it, it was the trunks deeper in the wood that drew my eye and the way the lighting contrasted with the flowers and trees in the foreground. I therefore accentuated that in the PP.

 

[Allan Batchelor]

Top photo there Pete I like that a lot.
Ive tried to get a few pics along these lines myself but never seem to get it right. Like Rob i will be googling to see what this collodion effect is

 

[Ralph Turner]

What a beautiful image, Pete...

 

[Pete Askew]

Thanks, Ralph. I was lucky with the light that day.