Getting fed up now!

[Hertz van Rental]

I think 8 and 10 are getting nearer to the mood and feeling in terms of lighting and colours. So take those as a starting point.
As there is no writing or any other clue in the image there is nothing to stop you reversing it (I've printed negs back to front for effect before now). Try doing it in PS just to see the effect. Sometimes it's easier to trick things up like that to help you visualise it.
Quite often when doing a still life I sit and sketch it first, playing around with composition and positioning until I get it how I want it and then use it to guide the set-up. You could try it for this - doesn't have to be a work of art, just simple outlines to help visualise.

 

[Rob]

Hey Chris,

I think you're nearly there. What do you think of this PS fiddling?

 

[Marctwo]

For me it's the first one in post #1 that gets closest.

I much prefer the blue sky but as everyone else said, the colours are just too warm and saturated. A simple job in PS but I don't know anything about DR printing - is it possible to desaturate the colours at all?

I'd also like to see it taken from further round to the right and slightly further back so that you feel you're standing behind it as it looks out over the valley. This, of course, depends on whether you want the sense of direction to come from the flat face or the circumference. The first shot is 50/50 in this but the rest are all very much from the flat face.

 

[PlasticSpanner]

Rob, Hertz great idea about reversing the negative when printing! I was wondering how to get the right angls with the stone on the left without getting the road in the shot too & never thought of that!:thumbup:


I have also done a couple of diagrams in my note book to remind me what I am thinking when I go back again along with all of Hertz's notes!

So now I'm thinking of the composition in 9, millstone exposure in 3 with the sky definition in 12 and the grassaturation of 10?

 

[Hertz van Rental]

grassaturation

And a new photographic term is born


Love it.

 

[PlasticSpanner]

And a new photographic term is born


Love it.

DOH!:x

 

[Chase]

I think 8 and 10 are getting nearer to the mood and feeling in terms of lighting and colours. So take those as a starting point.
As there is no writing or any other clue in the image there is nothing to stop you reversing it (I've printed negs back to front for effect before now). Try doing it in PS just to see the effect. Sometimes it's easier to trick things up like that to help you visualise it.
Quite often when doing a still life I sit and sketch it first, playing around with composition and positioning until I get it how I want it and then use it to guide the set-up. You could try it for this - doesn't have to be a work of art, just simple outlines to help visualise.

Interesting, 8 and 10 were the two that stood out to me as the best examples to convey the mood as well.

 

[vipros]

It looks like a scanner problem. What scanner did you use ?

 

[laudrup]

i might as well add my two penny's worth, although my opinion is no different than what has been posted so far.

I'd definately go for a wider lens and also step back a bit further from the millstone so that it doesn't totally dominate the frame.

it'd be good to include more of the background and the wider angle would help.Also depending on how good you are at getting out of bed take the shot at sunrise.....if you like sleep too much(like me) i'd go at sunset/dusk..it'd add a bit more colour & drama to the sky. I suppose clouds would work too, if you're shooting black & white try a red filter to make the sky darker and more dramatic maybe?

It might be worth experimenting with painting with light If you go at night. Set your camera up on a tripod and if you're using an slr set the camera to the bulb setting so that the shutter stays open, then use a torch to paint around the millstone, that could be a good shot possibly.

Or If you're camera let's you it may be worth trying a multiple exposure if you're camera allows it. Take one shot on the tripod at say f22 so that everything is pin sharp, then take another exposure on the same frame but open up the lens you are using to a big aperture like f1.8 defocus. It'd give the shot a nice dream like quality, the're will be a kind of halo around the millstone etc.

Hope this is useful

Cheers

Ad

 

['Daniel']

I think 9 is the most viable myself. If you could get a long exposure if it was windy to get the grass blurred (may not be possible, grass may be too short or whatever) would give the idea of it standing still for a long time.