Bloody, Hell, thanks Pete!
The rotated slate wall was done by moving the camera while taking the shot. It worked better than I had hoped, but that was the effect I was after. I know these things can be done in Photoshop, but I really don't like that whole Effects tab stuff.
The first shot - I took a dozen or so, and this one came out best. I remember waiting for the lady with the red coat to be in line with the edge of the boat, but I was completely unaware of the guy walking into the scene at the bottom. I also like the woman's hand touching the boat, talking to her friend. But what makes the shot for me is the boat pointing at the child with the grandparents. One can almost read a "Life Cycle" narrative into the whole image, and that is what was on my mind when doing the pp. With the whiteout (raw processing) I was reminded of those images of sperm in petrie dishes - I know that sounds fanciful, but it was definitely on my mind - and the whole thing just came together. I'm pleased with the shot, but not sure about the frame.
It's true, I do not come from a photographic or image background, and your comments come at a time when I'm having doubts about my ability to take a photograph of any worth. Every upload I see here from other contributors looks amazing to me, especially technically. A lot of my shots are out of focus, badly lit..I could go on, but it would only serve to depress me further! I'm fascinated by Brian's shots using film, often with cheap cameras, and they always have something to say to me, make me keep looking at them. I'm wondering if I'm relying too much on digital manipulation, and maybe I should get back to film. For instance, I did this shot pretty much one of my first shots, using a Pentax K1000...
Bookshops by
RobMacKillop, on Flickr
and I've not managed to come close to reproducing that light and colour using a digital camera or any kind of digital software.
Anyway, the journey continues, and I'm the perennial student, never really understanding what I'm doing, but somehow stumbling onwards, going somewhere. I've noticed quite a few pro photographers selling their wares at temporary stalls during the Edinburgh Festival, and their images look like they were made with a £5,000 camera, burnished in a secret form of Photoshop only available to members of an elite club, from which I'm forever banned. On Flickr there are a million shots of such technical perfection, I'm flabbergasted. Yet, mostly they look fake and unreal. Not that fake and unreal cannot be used in Fantasy art, but it's not some place I want to go to. But I can't imagine having a stall of my images next door to those guys!
So, thanks Pete and Brian, and everyone else here.