Birmingham black and white in the rain.

[john knight]

Taken 24-11-2019.

 

[BrummyPaul]

Great photographs and quite powerful in mono in the wet. Some lovely contrasts, especially our Bull!

 

[Pedrocut]

I took a picture from more or less the same spot in 1991, at the time there were window cleaners working on the Hyatt. Putting the pictures side by side it shows the difference in reflections seen on the Hyatt.

 

[Astoness]

lovely photos john...must say i do like the black and whites and thanks for taking the time to pop to st philips to see if little nanette stockers head stone was still there....it was thought it had been removed..so pleased it has not...i will post it on the nanette stoker thread..

lyn

 

[Richard Dye]

Taken 24-11-2019.

John, really wonderful pictures! Captured great feelings and shows the character of the older buildings!

 

[Bob Davis]

Now how do I get out of this, superb pictures John they present the subject starkly all edges and definition the colour pictures of the tram again superb, have a mellower, softer feel, your tram black and white, an example of modern engineering. As for the bull, brilliant you can feel and see its power. Having said all this, I like both B and W and colour and now I will shut up and just admire and appreciate the artistry of all you photographers. Was this film or digital?

Bob

 

[Pedrocut]

Now how do I get out of this, superb pictures John they present the subject starkly all edges and definition the colour pictures of the tram again superb, have a mellower, softer feel, your tram black and white, an example of modern engineering. As for the bull, brilliant you can feel and see its power. Having said all this, I like both B and W and colour and now I will shut up and just admire and appreciate the artistry of all you photographers. Was this film or digital?

Bob

“There is more joy in heaven....” keep them comments coming Bob!

 

[farmerdave]

Yes, superb pictures of Birmingham buildings in the rain. I like those particularly where there is some human interest e.g. people in front of St. Martins Church and Baskerville House. It did make me think that if we looked at photos of the Town Hall or Council House for each decade since say 1900 then we might not see all that much difference. However, we know from comments about old photographs on the Forum that if we had 10-20 people in front of either of these buildings, during the same time period, then there would be discussions on what they were wearing, what their activity was, could there have been some event on, etc. Question is whether including people in the photograph adds or detracts if it is intended to be mainly a photograph of a building? Dave.

 

[Radiorails]

Without people in photographs they have a somewhat sterile appearance - rather like an estate agents photo.
The apparel worn by those people in the photograph are just as much part of the history of the time of the photograph as the buildings and other structures. Townscapes give a good idea of an era and it has to be remembered that with every industry there were very many people - sometimes thousands - that were working there.

 

[Richard Dye]

Now how do I get out of this, superb pictures John they present the subject starkly all edges and definition the colour pictures of the tram again superb, have a mellower, softer feel, your tram black and white, an example of modern engineering. As for the bull, brilliant you can feel and see its power. Having said all this, I like both B and W and colour and now I will shut up and just admire and appreciate the artistry of all you photographers. Was this film or digital?

Bob

Great question Bob! I'm sure there are many of us that want to know that...….thank you for asking!

 

[john knight]

Great question Bob! I'm sure there are many of us that want to know that...….thank you for asking!

This was digital, Fuji X10 camera, which takes sepia as well as b/w and colour.

 

[john knight]

I usually don't like people in landscape photos, I took the photos as when, people or no people

 

[Morturn]

I don't think there a right or wrong way to photograph landscape, it's what works for you. I did once set out to photograph the town centre without people a few years ago, just as a project.

 

[Morturn]

A few more here

 

[john knight]

Great photos, I like the 2 with all the newspapers in, how did you get the grain.

 

[Morturn]

I added it in with Photoshop is a fibre effect. the whole set were put into a audio visual sideshow to music.

What I find interesting is the change already seen and recorded

 

[Bob Davis]

Another superb set of pictures, doesn't the bull look more threatening in Black & White, fiercer, starker, glowering. People in photographs is a personal thing. if you want a picture of the Hall of Memory, the Library or the council offices, and you want the building, you do not want people in the way. If your picture is just general interest then people (as long as they are unobtrusive) are welcome, they add to the context of the picture. With both John's and Morturn's pictures, and Elliott's Metro they are of the place, the building, the machine and the bull, people are not needed. Pictures depicting streets now, people and vehicles are handy because they can date the picture and that has been commented on many times with some of the pictures on the forum. If you look at old postcards, most of them were animated because the photographer wanted to give substance to his picture where it was a street scene, but floral clocks in parks, the sea lapping the beach, the mountain range and the wooded glade, keep the people out because it is the view that sells the card. I could bore you with the history and development of the picture postcard, which is barely 120 years old and was black and white or sepia until the late 1920s and remember most postcard publishers were also photographers in the early days or they linked with a local printer to publish as a postcard the photographs of the crash of the traction engine, now lying on its side in a country lane to sell to the locals to send off to their friends and relatives....Such a card does exist, not relevant to Birmingham but now selling at £150.00 in a dealers box. The important thing is the forum seems to be blessed with some superb photographers who(unlike the writer, who is the butt of a family joke about photos of a flock of flamingos at Disneyworld, Florida), are producing pictures which I am sure in years to come will be of historical value. Anyway nowadays there is probably some law against capturing people you do not know on your photograph with GDPR (The new data protection act0 seemingly ruling our lives even more than elfnsafety. Just keep snapping away all of you and remember amongst the worthies on the forum is the colourist Old Mohawk who will turn Black & White to colour at the twitch of a mouse.
Bob

 

[Morturn]

One with a few people

 

[sospiri]

Nice cloud background, Mort!

Maurice

 

[Richard Dye]

This was digital, Fuji X10 camera, which takes sepia as well as b/w and colour.

Thank you John, I will look into that....I just purchased a Sony A6000 and am just finding my way around it. Your pictures were outstanding!

 

[Richard Dye]

A few more here

Great pictures! the texturing (?) is impressive.

 

[Richard Dye]

I added it in with Photoshop is a fibre effect. the whole set were put into a audio visual sideshow to music.

What I find interesting is the change already seen and recorded

Thanks Morturn, I know what I am going to buy myself for Christmas!

 

[john knight]

A few more this time in sepia.

 

[Bob Davis]

Because Black and white did not reproduce very well in early postcards, those that were not coloured were pproduced in sepia and often looked sharper, but my goodness that is some camera you have there, the tram is almost 3D, superb and thanks.

Bob

 

[john knight]

Thanks Bob, it's a Fuji X10, had it quite a few years now, also have a Leica, and compact Nikon.

 

[john knight]

Here you are Bob, I paid £600 for mine but you can get one now for just under£200.

 

[Astoness]

love the sepia shots john...the canal one especially

lyn

 

[john knight]

a few more.

 

[Astoness]

smashing john...thanks

lyn