Castle-scape

[Arthur Morris]

On our UK Puffins and Gannets IPT we did spend some time with the great castles. This one is at Bamburgh (say BAM-buh-Ruh).

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS with the EOS-5D Mark III. ISO 400. 1/60 sec. at f/29. I am unsure how I metered this one--it might have been one of the RAWs from a 3-frame in-camera HDR.

Don't be shy; all comment s welcome.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Arthur, this is such a great castle. The low angle of the sun warms it up very nicely and gave you two great starbursts. This image makes me want to enter the doorway on the lower right and explore what might be the castle's dungeon. Did you apply any detail extractor to the stonework of the castle?

[Don Railton]

Hi Artie

Beautiful light, and that door is very inviting... I too like the sun bursts in the window, its a bit like the Castle is winking at you. Is the sun burst the reason for F29?? So what length did you have the glass set..? I do think its lacks something and I think Andrew is on the right track with the detail extractor. There are also a few dust bunnies playing in the sky, (above star burst, upper LH corner, mid screen RHS...)

regards

DON

[Morkel Erasmus]

Solid composition here Artie, with the drifting clouds adding interest in the sky. The sunburst in the windows is a nice touch. Overall it just feels a tad underexposed - particularly in the midtones/highlights? Worth a small tweak I would say...

[Don Lacy]

Hi Artie, Agree with the comments above especially like the star burst in the window and agree with Morkel on the mid tones. The other thing I will mention is that the image is a little flat to me a little one dimensional or lacking of depth a bit of side lighting creating some shadows would have added more of a three dimensional feel to the image. The only problem with that is you might have lost the starburst there are always trade offs in photography.

[David Stephens]

I see great front to back depth here and the reflected starburst really makes it special. Given a choice of more shadows or the sunburst, I take the sunburst. This may well be the best shot of this structure.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks all for your kind words and helpful suggestions. I think that I addressed all of them in the repost. Let me know if I went overboard. BTW Don, at f/29 there were a zillion dust spots so thanks again :)

[Don Railton]

Hi Artie

Much stronger image IMHO... and no, I think you are still firmly planted on the deck. Still curious on the F29 though. I assume for the star burst as you would not have needed to stop down that far for sufficient DOF, and I thought F16 ish would have given a better IQ normally...

DON

[Arthur Morris]

:). As far as I know, you need to be at f/22 with most lenses to possibly get the starburst(s). Not sure why I went to f/29 though..... A lesson for next time. IAC, thanks!

[Diane Miller]

Yes! The RP is so much more dramatic and not overdone, for me,

[David Stephens]

Another vote for the RP. ;-)

[Andrew McLachlan]

Love the repost Arthur!!!

[Neil Burton]

Re-post has pop! Lucky you getting clouds and good light, every time I have been it was either pure blue sky or pure white :( Nice one!

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Neil. We wanted better clouds :)