One Way or Another

Thanks to Amanda for setting the Friendly Friday Photo Challenge this week a challenge called ‘Two Ways‘. Amanda’s looking for two presentations of the same thing – two different ways. Perhaps photographs taken of the same place at different times, or a single photograph processed in two different ways.

It’s true that when you take photographs you have choices of when to take, how to take it, how to process it and how to present it. Here are a selection of my images that, I hope, fit the brief.

To begin with here are two ways of taking an image of the sea. Taken just the other week, I was using a tripod and a neutral density filter to let me increase the shutter speed. This first image was take at 1/2 sec.

And then here’s a second image taken from roughly the same place but now the shutter speed is 3 seconds, and the image is much more ethereal.

It’s just a question of which do you prefer?

Now like every other photographer, I sometimes do have that old quandary -Colour or mono? Here’s an image taken at Loch Doon in South Ayrshire, processed both ways. (Swipe to the side to see them both)

I always liked getting that reflection of the cloud in this shot. I do like it in colour but I’d vote for the mono version. For me, the contrast is so much better in mono, and I don’t think I could achieve such a strong contrast in colour without the image looking a bit odd.

Of course in processing, you don’t have to reduce the amount of colour. In the next image the natural version I started with looked a bit bland. To be honest I don’t remember what I did with it but I certainly pepped up the colour. I’d be playing with some of the filters and I know I did extra work on the trees. It gives that blue-yellow contrast in colours.

The Barony A Frame (above) is all that remains of an important Ayrshire coal mining complex. Long after the mine shut, all that remained was the headgear for the pit. It was restored as a monument and the surrounding grounds converted into a nature reserve, with play areas, BMX cycle tracks and exhibits related to the mining industry.

And finally, two ways to present an image – one full frame and the other a severe crop. These two images are of a riverside hotel in Glasgow, and I find it hard to believe that they are indeed presented from a single digital shot. The original colour is from a setting sun. The close-up is slightly desaturated for effect.

If you don’t believe they’re from the same image, just spot the seagull flying by.

So thanks again to Amanda for setting the Friendly Friday Challenge – Two Ways. And thanks also, for introducing me to this Image Compare feature.