To The Edge Of Darkness

[Rob MacKillop]

These were over exposed film shots, which I've darkened with Nik Silver and Levels. I wanted to see how dark I could take it without blacking out the scene. Too dark?

River Black by RobMacKillop, on Flickr


One Morning A Travellor by RobMacKillop, on Flickr


Dark Path by RobMacKillop, on Flickr


night bridge by RobMacKillop, on Flickr


Dark Bridge1 by RobMacKillop, on Flickr​

 

[Paul Lange]

I like Dark Path and more so if I crop the old lady and her dog out. Sorry old lady and dog. The sheen on the water and the flicks of light on the tree branches make this image.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

You are right, Paul!


Dark Path_1 by RobMacKillop, on Flickr

 

[Paul Lange]

Whoa, steady! I'm not known for my croppage suggestions. Usually they are more crappage than croppage, you may want a second opinion.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Ha! No, I was already thinking it. You just pushed me where I wanted to go

 

[Pete Askew]

An excellent suggestion I think too. Works superbly and overall I like the dark tones and quite high contrast. I also like 'One Morning' and 'Night Bridge' very much. The former for the shafts of light and the way the shadows reach towards the lady and her dog. The latter for the sense that something is being revealed by the dramatic light.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Cheers, Pete. Seems I've entered a dark phase...

 

[Pete Askew]

When was the light one?

 

[Rob MacKillop]

With the orange filter on the colour film!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Love the inky blackness of the water in Dark Bridge1 Rob

I don't think I put enough black in my images - based on what I like in other people's work

Something to try I think - liking where you're going with this

 

[Beth Anthony]

great tones, it adds a lot of suspense to the photos. everyone's just waiting for the other shoe to drop, or the monster nobody speaks about is going to make his yearly trip out of the forest to grab some children.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Shoe to drop? I'm missing that cultural reference, Beth. But the comments are fun.

Chris, I too like the inky blackness. I'm wondering if it came about by the happy accident of underexposing the shots, then working hard in Raw and Levels to recover something. I've never managed to get that black before.

Also, I had the orange filter on (this time with black and white film!) but the camera was set to auto expose. Does a filter effect the AE calculation within the camera? Should I be compensating for using a filter?

 

[Beth Anthony]

ah, sorry, apparently that's just an american saying. learn something new everyday.
wait for the other shoe to drop - Wiktionary

 

[Pete Askew]

Also, I had the orange filter on (this time with black and white film!) but the camera was set to auto expose. Does a filter effect the AE calculation within the camera? Should I be compensating for using a filter?

A TTL meter should automatically compensate for the presence of the filter as it measure the light passing through the lens. The colour can have a small effect depending in how the meter cell works but it is not usually significant. Similarly, the sensitivity of the film will vary but, again, it shouldn't be significant. Can you check your camera against a hand-held meter? Don't forget to either remove the filter or correct the hand-held reading for the filter factor (this should be shown on the side of the filter).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filter_factor

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Thanks, Pete. I'll give it a check.