“Scent of Exile”|Fleetwood|2009

A double-headed entry tonight to celebrate the end of a brilliant run of traffic I’ve had off the back of Chromasia.com, and a photographic friendship that I hope will go on long into the future.

Tonight’s post is an image that I know Dave didn’t get to shoot. I chose this specific angle to include the old telegraph hidden amongst the undergrowth, aiming to scoop up the perspective and drive the depth of field far into the distance to make a focal point of the light at the end of the tunnel. In hindsight, the end result (at least in the initial RAW previews) felt a little weakened by a lack of a definitive subject. Because of that, I actually have two versions. While I like both for different reasons, I’ve chosen to post the edited version here.

(The train in this edit was Dave’s idea—I’d be really interested to hear your thoughts on it!)

Technically, the image is a 3-frame HDR, blended and edited using Photomatix Pro, FDRTools (the demo version), and CS3 on the Mac. It’s a workflow I really honed directly from the Chromasia Tutorials, which you can learn from too by subscribing and following the same path.

And while I’m thinking about it—if this happens to be your last time stopping by ID7, please consider following me on X so I can send you a quick update whenever I post a new image. Thanks again for being here, I truly appreciate it… csj

    capture date | 10.01.2009
    camera | Canon EOS 5D
    lens | 17-40mm f/4 L Series
    focal length | 17mm
    aperture | f/11
    shutter speed | 1/45
    shooting mode | aperture priority
    exposure bias  | +0.0
    metering mode | pattern
    ISO | 100
    flash | no
    image quality | RAW + 16-bit TIFF
    RAW converter | CS3 + Photomatix Pro + FDRTools
    cropped? | yes (slight & distort)

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    Stephen
    17 years ago

    Nice post processing.

    zecarlos
    17 years ago

    What a great photo. Congratulations.

    Pete
    17 years ago

    I also like both of them – but I’m drawn more to this main image because the brightness through the bridge leads my eyes right to it. Cool idea with the train though!

    Lorissa
    17 years ago

    I like both, and as others have said, they both have a rather distinct feel to them. Although, I think I prefer this one. There’s something more…obscure about it, which I particularly like.
    The tones on both are fantastic. Really enjoy your work.

    David Chabashvili
    17 years ago

    This one is awesome! Love the detail and the sky!

    djn1
    17 years ago

    I like both, but I guess we must still have a different take on the perspective as the train still looks too small in relation to the tracks, to me at least. I wish I’d though of the idea though 🙂

    Eugene
    17 years ago

    This is great! I like the heavier edit with the train – really adds a nice touch. Great post-processing and framing here.

    DedicatedRR
    DedicatedRR
    17 years ago

    I’m not sure which I prefer…adding the train sort of gives the image a whole different feel (which is a good thing!), I do like both though.
    I also like how you included that poem; I love seeing? (not the right word but anyhow…maybe experiencing??) different mediums incorporated together like this. Speaking of writing…
    (This is the part of the comment where I apologize profusely for not producing a short story) I did start, and I had something half-mildly ok but then suddenly it was exam week and seven days went by and then I realized what I had was kind of terrible anyhow ^^; So sorry about that, I really wish I had managed something for you….

    Craig
    17 years ago

    Nice one pal. It’s dark, moody and you’ve given it that fine touch HDR processing that you seem to have acquired.
    I have to say that I like the version with the train, in fact that’s slightly different to the version I saw. I liked the first one the best. However I know your reasons and you must stick to what you beleive in. Shame cos it’s the closest this country has come to seeing a running train all day ;O)

    Alan
    17 years ago

    Amazing shot. I really like this one and think it’s one of your best so far. Outstanding.