Arches

Agree with Andre on this shot. A tripod and a very long exposure would have been a different approach in this one and might have worked better for balance. Very difficult lighting scenario, especially with roll film. It cries out for a large format, one sheet development, attempt. Lots of shutter time and reduced development would be my best guess. Interesting image and composition. tim

This is a subject I keep meaning to have a go at, just have not got around to it.

I'd have used a tripod, exposed for the shadow (Zone III) using a spot meter, then using the old saying developed for the highlight. These are tricky locations to photograph. I'd ditch the flash as it just doesnt assist with the exposure problems such places provide.

Cheers

John

Thanks for your comments so far. I'm having a quiet chuckle to myself with this. I didn't use a flash, the foreground highlight is actually a result of darkroom processing. Yep, I did it on purpose!

The straight image wasn't very inspiring. It was very bad lighting down there and most of the fine detail in the roof was lost in shadow. I pushed the print to grade 4 to highlight some of the archetectural detail in the roof; this had the side-effect of giving a light transition from foreground to background, in an effort to exagerate perspective. I already toned this down from the grade 5 print, which totally blew out the foreground roof, making it look almost hand-sketched, rolling off into the picture further down.

Having said all of this, however, I have to agree with Andre's comment. The foreground is too blown out - it doesn't give a smooth transition into the rest of the print.

Theres certainly a print worth making at this location, but I think it really needs some mirrors outside the window to reflect the light in there - those small windows look out onto a shadowed courtyard. The detail in the roof is too amazing to overlook...

Mat

I was at Laycock a couple of years ago. Good shots there are murder! I found Fountains Abbey a lot easier although at first glance many scenes were much the same. You're not far off with either.

The only way I got some good prints from Laycock was to do some heavy messing in the darkroom. The original negs are fairly uninspiring and (imo) have come good from manipulation

Cheers!

mat