Arnside Railway Viaduct

Arnside Railway Viaduct 2 hdr, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

The viaduct over the Kent estuary that carries the railway line to Grange has always been a favourite subject of mine. I walked out to the centre span at low tide today and waited for the sun to come out. Thankfully it emerged before the downpour that followed, and I was able to shoot a series of RAW frames. The Photomatix HDR processing has fed detail into the brickwork and the shadows under the bridge, and made a worthwhile shot out of one which would otherwise have had way too much contrast.

Fishing Boats at Sunderland Point

Fishing Boats at Sunderland Point, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

I used to like black and white photography in the old days because the paper was cheaper and I had more control over the process than colour developing and printing, which was complicated, difficult and a bit hit and miss. With digital there seems less difference in the process, but some images are still crying out to be monochrome. When I post black and white pictures on Flickr there is significantly less interest than in a comparable colour image. Perhaps black and white is just a thing of the past, and soon nobody will shoot, print or post monochromatic pictures any more.
If so, I can't help but feel that something will be lost.

Arnside Viaduct Under a Cloudy Sky

Arnside Viaduct Under a Cloudy Sky, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

Shot this on the way back from the supermarket this afternoon. Great sky, but the bridge is at a half degree angle to the horizon, and as usual I have levelled the camera up with the wrong one. Doh!

The Beach on Friday

Arnside Viaduct, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

After work on Friday, I had a walk along the beach and took some photos in RAW format, in brackets of three. It was windy and overcast, similar to the day I went to Sunderland Point, so I was hoping for some similar post processing effects with Photomatix. I have read a number of comments on HDR photos on Flickr recently from people who say that HDR is just a passing fad, and that they are bored with it already. I'm not at all sure i can agree with that. It seems to me that it gives a good shot a whole new dimension, and that it illuminates scenes that would otherwise be muddy and uninteresting.
For my money, there are two things it can't do though. It can't change what is in the picture, just the way it looks, so it can't turn a poor shot into a great one. Nor can it provide a reason in itself for taking a photograph.
I suppose some people do rather overdo it, and get results that look like they are coloured pencil drawings, but then some people overdo saturation and contrast, and they are hardly passing fads.

For me, living in the North of England, one of the real advantages of HDR is that I can take worthwhile photographs on overcast days.

I quite like this shot. As usual, I had to alter the horizon in post. I don't know why, but i never shoot level horizons in Arnside. I have a feeling it is because the skyline is actually the railway line as it passes over the estuary, and it is at an angle to the promenade, so if I get the real horizon level, it looks crooked in the shot. I have tried a spirit level on the tripod, but the results looked like i had spent the afternoon in The Albion.

The Lifeboat Jetty in Lytham

The Lifeboat Jetty in Lytham, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

Taken on a day out in Lytham. I knew the lifeboat station had a jetty, and had wanted to photograph it for a while, but on the day it was blowing a gale and raining. I managed this and a few other shots as the clouds blew over. When I tonemapped them, the sky was pink (apparently), so I had to tone down the saturation until I ended up with something that didn't look like it was from a cartoon. I am not sure if the sky actually was pink, but that's all part of the excitement.