Grey I and Grey II

[Rob MacKillop]

DP1M. I just wanted to try these rocks, stones and shrubs. Increasing the sharpness brought out far more detail than I felt healthy, but when reduced to jpeg with normal sharpness, they lose something. Every filter in Nik Silver looked false. You can click on them to increase the size a little.
I'd be interested in your thoughts.

 

[Tom Dunne]

Are these the jpegs Rob. Is your question whether they look oversharpened?

 

[Rob MacKillop]

These are jpgs, Tom. No, I've not sharpened them. Not sure what my questions is!

I recognise that they don't hold much interest for the casual observer, but there are many non-casual observers here who might get something out of them. I quite like looking at them, but maybe having taken them myself, I have associations for them, and therefore can't imagine what anyone else would get out of them.

Maybe the question is, Do they work as photographs? Or, Do they work for you? To me they are studies in grey - I know that sounds pretentious, but that's what they are to me.

 

[Tom Dunne]

If these are jpegs straight from the camera I would say that they are excellent with excellent detail from the Merlin.

I perfectly understand why you would choose this as subject matter.
In Ireland I regularly visited the bogs to photograph the giant machinery they use there now but I also photographed the huge walls of bog/earth that was left exposed after the machines did their business which of course in the process they destroyed important wildlife habitats. It was just interesting to see the different strata of the earth and how it changed the deeper you got.
I also shot the banks of turf left after the traditional hand cutting with the Slean. Always interesting patterns left behind by the humble tool; back breaking work though.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Now, pete bogs sound like a wonderful subject for photography! I know I would take a few shots.

Well, I'm pleased someone understands. I'm sure there are others too.

The first photo has what looks like man-made elements, the horizontal slabs of stone. But why would they have done that? If it is natural, the whole area looks like it has fallen on its side.

Charles Darwin used to study these very same rocks...

 

[Pete Askew]

They do hold interest I think but the complex detail and similar tones makes this hard to translate I think. Shots of dense woods are similar. In many ways I guess they need colour to help the process but maybe using something like a blue filter before the conversion (or on the lens) will help by darkening the foliage and allowing the fine structure of the rock to shine through.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Good point re the blue filter, Pete. I'll try that.