Two Against the Storm, a photo from British Columbia, Western

Photographer's Note

Storm over Vancouver, as seen from Kitsilano Beach. These two people out for a walk seem dwarfed by the the immense storm cloud over the city. This was converted from colour by using mainly the red channel (70%) with the green channel 20% and blue 10%. The red channel gave this a more dramatic appearance and better tone. I didn't use all red because the other channels softened the tonality and added subtle details that were lost with just one channel. You can do this by using the Channel Mixer in Photoshop.

sevman13, eza1701, ChrisJ, Floydian, gabrielpat, pierrefonds, Signal-Womb, Charo, mpdre, robinlawr, scobert, euryan, keribar, singuanti, jmcl, Grzeslaw heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

sevman13 (553) 2007-05-12 2:59

hi Alvin,

very strong image balanced with fine B&W choice.
nice postprocessing as well as shooting a great compo.
well done.

Serdar

polter (7239) 2007-05-12 3:19

Very impressive and moody picture. Great light and composition.
Greetings T.

eza1701 (3345) 2007-05-12 3:30

Hi Alvin,

Great shot which portrays the immense power of a storm, not only do the people look dwarfed but so does the city itself. Channel mixer is definitely better for converting to B&W rather than just desaturating.

Best regards,
Paul.

ChrisJ (171884) 2007-05-12 3:39

Hi Alvin

Dramatic lighting with a superb tonal range. Reminds me of old b&w shots I've seen of Nagasaki & Hiroshima. The 2 figures in the fg add a nice human element. Good sharpness & framing. Tfs!

mhdesbois (0) 2007-05-12 4:04

Hi Alvin,
great shot with a lot of details. The scale of the cloud is impressive. Very good choice for the b&w, it gives a dramatic feeling.
MH

Floydian (30970) 2007-05-12 5:59

Hi Alvin,
I wonder....how was the colour version? The sky must be looking incredable, but i wonder. You decided for a b&w...why?
The storm and the rain that is falling is excellent exposed. the two people, the vertical composition...it all looks great.
Have a nice weekend, Henk

jonathan_hart (21276) 2007-05-12 6:01

hello Alvin
huge POV & good moment captured, amazing composition, the cloud is so big ! nice view on the city, good framing, good composition,
regards
jo

gabrielpat (7163) 2007-05-12 6:03

a very well done B/W Alvin,towers looks so little under the heavy sky.

Fis2 (170861) 2007-05-12 6:37

Witaj Alvin!
Yoyr photo make impression. I like the frame and light. The black and white increase emotion.
Regards
Krzysztof

pierrefonds (114536) 2007-05-12 7:35

Hi Alvin,

A nice photo of this dramatic storm scenery, the clouds are giving a very good effect to the photo. It has a good composition and DOF. Have a nice day.

Pierre

dcawker (5717) 2007-05-12 10:39

I love the 'big sky' and shades of grey in the looming clouds here, Alvin.. Really nice perspective and it works well in black & white too! Regards, Doug

kensimage (8563) 2007-05-12 12:40

You sure know the right time to head out to this area and take some shots! This one is spectacular, appropriately featuring the clouds dwarfing everything human. We are small in the universe. And the light on the falling rain--perfect! Regards, Ken.

Signal-Womb (13048) 2007-05-12 14:58

Beautiful weather situation! You composed this shot perfectly Alvin. The two figures in the composition are again a bonus. Well done.

bwiti (402) 2007-05-12 16:28

Impressionnante photo ! Superbe ciel tourmenté servi par une verticalité de circonstance... Felicitations...

cbrman (21685) 2007-05-12 17:07

Hello Alvin,

Excellente masse orageuse qui , par la présence des ces deux personnes et de la ville en arrière plan, est présentée dans toute sa taille !
Bravo, impressionnant !

A+

Dominique

cdmonson (5304) 2007-05-12 20:53

Wow! Powerful is the only way to describe this shot. Makes you realize how small man is compared to nature. Great job Alvin.

Clark

mpdre (1611) 2007-05-12 22:29

Very impressive. The mass of clouds is incredible. Very nice B&W with light and shades modeling the scene. Great job.
Andre

PixelTerror (0) 2007-05-13 4:53

Hi Alvin,
As for me the BW is a rare exercice of yours !
It probably fits well to the scene although for me the main asset here is this vertical framing that accentuates the threatening dimension of this cloud over the city.
Have a nice sunday, JY

Charo (51290) 2007-05-13 5:01

Hola Alvin,
Impresionante foto con esas grandes nubes amenazando la ciudad, el B/N le da más dramatismo.
Excelente captura.
Saludos cordiales
Charo

robinlawr (903) 2007-05-13 7:04

What fantastic drama you've captured here Alvin. The composition in giving those amazing clouds most of the frame was a great choice. It's a great image which really demonstrates our position relative to the natural forces around us. Great B&W conversion tutorial too!

Excellent!

Best regards

Robin

dkeus31 (27739) 2007-05-13 7:30

Hello Avin,
A nice BW showing us this impressive cloud above buildings which look tiny despite of being Vancouver's skyline.
Good PP.
regards
didier

scobert (5355) 2007-05-13 11:22

Hello Alvin,
This photo is incredible. It would be a fabulous shot without the two people in it but the people give a great sense of scale to this huge strom cell. Outstanding!
Stan

sabyasachi1212 (19779) 2007-05-13 11:45

Hi Alvin,
I haven't seen you play around with the post processing much neither with B&W so this is indeed an excepetion and an welcome one too. Apart from the well chosen POV, the tones have come out exceptionally well.
With Greetings from India
Sabyasachi

noborders (1010) 2007-05-13 13:35

Hi Alvin,
This is truly a spectacular photo - don't understand much about your note, but the result is stupefying and doesn't look unnatural, so I am really impressed.
Congratulations,
TFS,
Cath.

nwoehnl (122) 2007-05-13 14:38

Hi Alvin. Outstanding post-work on this one, enhancing greatly the mood and impact of the original. The tonal range is beautiful, and not often does one get to see such volominous and richly-textured clouds in a photograph. Also a good compositional choice to have the man-made elements (and man him/herself) be dwarfed by this spectacle of nature.

rhizomes (15343) 2007-05-13 15:18

Hi Alvin,
Congratulations for this shot !! The cloudy formation is impressive and the town looks so small...
Very nice picture !
Christophe

flosoup (563) 2007-05-13 16:48

The tow guys in the foreground lend this shot the exact sense of scale that it needs. Just glad im not there to get soaked :) You've managed to get great clarity within the clouds themselves. :)

euryan (8442) 2007-05-13 20:27

Awesome composition. The focal length and your composition really make those clouds look huge (which I'm sure they were). The B&W conversion looks great too. This is an awesome photo all around.
Regards,
Ryan

keribar (43841) 2007-05-14 0:21

Hello Alvin

I am very impressed by the incredible patterns of the storm clouds. BW is perfect here, but I would enjoy seeing the original color and find out whether there were some interesting tones among the clouds. Very impressive indeed - I wish you a very good week - Going to Izmir for 3 days tomorrow. I am not be around.

danyy (0) 2007-05-14 6:22

Bonjour Alvin,
un cadrage et un format qui détaillent de manière complète, la menace au dessus de leur tête.
C'est impressionnant sans aucun doute et le traitement n/b enlève des couleurs qui pourraient rendre la scène plus sympathique et moins inquiétante.
Très bien vu.
Best regards.
Daniel.

Standa (1877) 2007-05-14 11:02

Hi Alvin,
this is great dramatic shot with excellent composition, framing and sharpness. Good that you choosed B/W; two walkers are giving well perspective to this photo.
Best regards,
Stanislav

brevbrev14 (140) 2007-05-15 3:39

Hi ALvin, i like to see your works also in BW!
here the choice is perfect!
great line of buildings, great to see two persone on the stones...so we have the measure of the place..and great composition with the high sky!
great image!
ciao!
Valeria

zeca (19762) 2007-05-15 18:50

Well Alvin... I love dramatic skies! I am always looking to capture it specially in the summer, when the weather changes quickly and we could have some nice sun/clouds pictures. This shoot is great! The sky looks wonderful and the little buildings are like toys under the giant foot! Well done work!
Regards,
Zeca

singuanti (15250) 2007-05-16 22:27

Hi Alvin. For not doing many b/w's you appear to be an old pro at it. I agree with you on making this a b/w. You've got perfect contrast as well. What a stunning combination of light and sky you had. tfs Alvin!

PJE (20758) 2007-05-16 23:18

Hello Alvin. The conversion using the channels shows very dramatic results. This is an excellent zoom shot as well showing how the residents in Vancouver are totally subject to the weather above. Thanks for sharing.

Paul

Ann75 (0) 2007-05-17 14:22

Hi Alvin,

Wow, this is a cool shot! Those two people look like tiny little beings in this scene. I love the black & white it makes the clouds stand out even better. Excellent lighting, details and what a composition!! Fantastic work, Alvin!

Greetings,
Ann

partha (14023) 2007-05-18 5:34

What a great shot alvin. The proportion of the sky w.r.t land is well enough. The persons, the houses all add wonderful perspective sense. B&W convertion is surely a plus here.
Regards.
Partha:) later.

jmcl (14535) 2007-05-21 17:54

Hi Alvin,

Wondrous image .. and a great lesson in the note as well. I don't know if I have ever seen tow people so small against such immensity .. well captured .. great conversion .. as I said wondrous ..

take care,

John

danielswalsh (13597) 2007-05-21 22:37

This will be one of those 'flare' images I was referring to Alvin.

Great amount of detail, but what impresses me most is the clouds here. Amazing shading and detail revealed with the polariser. I like the bright highlights in the cloud and how you managed to capture the waves of rain coming down into Stanley park.

Amazing work Alvin...
- Dan

greg64g (11193) 2007-05-24 3:00

Hi Alvin

what an oustanding shot, very particular all is perfect to me, human touch, superb weather and wonderful b&w conversion.
well done
greg

clic (76) 2007-09-23 4:40

Hello Alvin
Not a strom but a calamity you created by such a manipulation of channels!
A work of dramatic inspiration executed with skilled talent.
Best regards.
Robert

tmsfan (80) 2010-02-18 10:24

Hello Alvin, I like this in black and white. Nice composition and exposure.

Spyder (4) 2014-12-01 0:47

WOW! Alvin, this is just about the best storm photo I have ever seen, what a monster.
It really works well in B&W.
Thanks for sharing, all those years ago.

Regards
Edward