Pictures & musings from Cheshire
Double vision – an experiment in reversed duplicates, overlaid. This was a lone tree (not sure which species) in an immaculately mowed field near Siddington, Cheshire – I will post up the original image next as I think it has some nice qualities. Both images have been treated with a number of texture layers and HDR processing.
I like the surreal yet flat look this technique creates and it reminds me a little of the feel of René Magritte paintings – hence the title of the post.
Winter scenes in the Bollin valley near Prestbury Village, Cheshire taken during the very cold winter of 2008/9. A seasonal mood for the festivities and my ‘virtual Christmas card’ for social media this year. I don’t think we will be getting anything like this now as the weather forecasts for the remainder of December seem to show double figure temperatures into early January!
The picture above has been treated with HDR, orton laying and texture layers.
2018 has not been a particularly productive year for me with only one big (cycling) outing early in the year so I hope 2019 will be much more active. I intend to do a lot more work around Castleton and the Peaks.
Another picture from the same session with an even more intense orton treatment. This has been published in several places already but I decided to have a go at re-editing it and trying to rectify many contrast problems in the original with texture applications. Any allusion to watercolour painting is totally accidental.
An experimental or ‘artworked’ picture of trees on Bakestondale Moor above Pott Shrigley on the Cheshire, Derbyshire borders. A beautiful and very atmospheric location which has more than a passing resemblance to the Yorkshire dales and is yet another of the many varied landscape aspects in this corner of the UK. The image has been treated with various filters, coloured layers and a texture overlay to create a kind of painting-like effect though this was not the primary intention. Instead, I wanted to create an image with a unique photographic quality rather than a painting simulation. Noble and resilient trees in this kind of wild landscape is a favourite subject of mine and I am always on the lookout for those wonderful wind-shaped Scots pines standing along and resolute on remote hill tops.
I have taken many pictures of the lighthouse on New Brighton beach and I thought this image was perfect for a more painting style treatment with a combination of HDR and Orton processing then various texture layers applied. Generally though, I tend to prefer to retain photographic qualities and rarely treat images in this way now.
Trees are a perennial favourite of mine and I think they can often make very dramatic subjects or an interesting ‘focal’ point in a nature / landscape shot. I live in a very rural part of the country and so trees of many varieties tend to be abundant subjects. This picture was taken back in February hence the bare branches – I was impressed by the shape of the crown and the kink in the trunk. The idea of treating it with some rather laborious manual texture effects came to me later – originally I had it in Monochrome but I think the colour and texture has enhanced a certain surreal or even slightly other-worldly quality in the image and I quite like that.
Again, the original photo was taken with a vintage Nikon 35mm f2.8 AI lens which is pretty much never off my old D200 at the moment – a very nice and somewhat antiquated combo that.
6:30am A September morning in Prestbury Village, Cheshire. This image has been (heavily) processed in HDR with other bespoke filters and effects added. The light was so interesting and intriguing on this morning that I just had to try to make something of it. This shot has been taken many times by many people including me, but the blueish glow in the sky reflecting off the the white walls and combined with the street-lamp light created quite an arresting effect in colour and radiance. Of course my HDR treatment has greatly exaggerated this effect.
