The Tree on the Hill - Black and Whte

This is yet another shot that made me wish I had my DSLR with me. The smartphone hasn't done a bad job but it is easy to see the limitations of the lens and sensor straight away.

Fortunately I shall be back that way in the next couple of months and I won''t have any luggage problems that will prevent me from taking a full bag of camera kit with me.

As I've said before, I treat these smartphone shots like planning shots. It is easier to run around and get lots of shots with a basic camera or a smartphone and the lack of options forces you to think about the composition more. Then you can go back later and spend some time on the shots you liked most and get a good capture.

Ploughed Field with Old Colour Treatment

I took this picture of a field that had been half ploughed just the other day. However I wanted to try a treatment that made it look a little older.

There of lots of aged looks you can go for from monochrome and sepia toned images replete with blurring and vignetting etc. through to 70s and 80s style treatments that have recently become popular on Instagram.

The rural nature of the shot put me in mind of the USA in the first half of the 20th century. I was thinking of some of the recoloured black and white shots from the Depression and early colour shots of farmers and their tractors.

This photo is a mixture of ideas so it doesn't replicate just one style but I like to think that the modern photo with old colouring gives a sense of the continuity of the earth and nature.

Photo slideshow video

I've made a slideshow video of the photos that I like most out of the ones I've produced so far.

Not the Midnight Garden

During the day the road between the camera and the tree is very busy, noisy and clouded in exhaust smoke. It's certainly not somewhere I'd expect to find an interesting shot.

However, the quiet of nighttime along with the orange glow of the street lamps brings this mysterious quality to the whole place. I like this composition, I was drawn to it at the time. There is something intriguing about the steps, the sign and the tree.

Also there is the strong contrast between the natural textures of the ivy and the leaves with the harsh industrial feel of the road and pavement. It seemed like an odd little nocturnal oasis that might disappear when morning came.

Smartphone photos in Black and White

Carrying a smartphone with a reasonable camera has meant that I can take shots when I'm out and about. The quality is nowhere near as good as an SLR and the number of options available to me are very limited but it does provide a great way record photo ideas for later.

Then, if I like the results, I can come back with proper kit and a plan and take a better quality shot.

The original photo in colour was nothing to write home about but there was something about these lobster pots that caught my eye. The whole scene was shouting old timey black and white photo to me.

Unfortunately as soon as you start processing these smartphone photos you start losing detail. It's most obvious in the sky. Also, not having a variable aperture lens I've had to crudely blue the background in an image editor.

However, as a process it has given me lots of ideas for how to take and process a higher quality version with an SLR camera. I think of this as being a quick and easy trial run. 

Whitby Harbour with Split Tone Effect

This started off as a decidedly average colour photo of the harbour walls in Whitby, North Yorkshire.

Astute readers of this blog may have noticed that often the image editing techniques I use are intended to rescue a poor or uninspiring photo.

I converted this to black and white and then used a split tone effect to add the colours. It uses a yellow to blue gradient which resulted in the sunset like sky.

The processing took away some of the detail as you can see on the edges of the lighthouse but it works well enough for a postcard sized print.

The Many Colours of The Sun

A low evening sun filtered through clouds produced this fabulous light. The photo doesn't quite do it justice. In person it was both eerie and wonderful. The field was shrouded in a deep golden glow along with these long shadows that added texture to the grass.

This is why I now carry a Smartphone with a high megapixel camera. The idea of not having been able to capture this in some way is too much for me to think about!

The changing of the seasons

I previously published this bleak photo of a hedgerow in winter.

I passed by the spot today and took a quick snap with my Smartphone and you can clearly see the difference the seasons make.

Summer is coming to an end but you still get a feeling of life, vitality and the beauty of nature. Even with out the Black and White treatment the first picture was the very image of bleak and lonely mid-winter.