Colonial Williamsburg

[kdoc856]

Recently visited historic Williamsburg, Virginia. Important town in colonial America, circa 1775. Any C&C welcome.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

[cliffmccartney]

Kevin - these are great shots.

I love the color in #3 and the light in #4.

Well done!

[Sergio M.]

Kevin, another great set of images. Nice catch on the cannon fire, #3 looks HDR like, and fabulous lighting on 4 & 5.

Did you use flash on either 4 or 5?

Serge

[kdoc856]

Thanks, Cliff and Serge, I appreciate it.

Serge: #3 is HDR from hand held bracketing, 3 images. No flash was used in any image (I avoid flash like the plague). I evened out the shadows in LR4.

[terrib]

These are great. I especially like the woodworker. The light is fantastic.

[Donald]

I especially like the woodworker. The light is fantastic.

I'd particularly agree with that. I think it's an excellent piece of work.

[tilde531]

I just LOVE things that go BOOM!!

The whole series is fabulous, Kevin.

(I'm ashamed to admit that I live so close and have never visited yet. It's not for disinterest...)

[glenng]

Great photos Kevin have you got any others?

[kdoc856]

Thanks, all, for the kind words and encouragement.

Glenn, just happen to have a few more- 513 to be exact . I dont' want to bore with snapshots, but will post a few more tomorrow

[Mike Buckley]

All are quite nice but the image of the woodworker is nothing short of spectacular.

[annie5154]

Kevin amazing images .... my favourites are #2 and #4, although I do love all of them. Well done on creating such lovely photos.

Anne

[kdoc856]

Mike and Anne,

Thanks very much. You guys make this fun

[FrankMi]

An interesting set of images Kevin. The first one lets our imagination fill in the remaining image and thereby avoids the stereotyped version. I'm not sure how you got the flame looking so detailed but is one of the best cannon firing images I've seen as a result. There is a lot of interesting architectural detail in the third. The fourth is an excellent HDR with the scene outside the window but more so how the light reflects off the work surface to give character and depth to both his face and the work in his hands. It directs out attention precisely to the most important parts of the scene right down to the detailed reflection in his glasses. Superb photographic craftsmanship. The fifth one exhibits a very realistic expression with the lighting on the face accentuating her features and portraying and attitude that reveals a bit about her likely thoughts. Both 4 and 5 tell volumes about the characters involved.

All five of these are professional class images in my view.

[jeeperman]

Very nice series Kevin. I would not be displeased to see #2, 4 and 5 in B&W. While I love them in color I am a bit curious.

[rpcrowe]

I love these shots... The are all creative. The cropping of #1 is imaginative but, I wonder how a even more severe crop (say to just beneath the drum) would look.

I could see this as a book cover with the words Colonial above the image and Williamsburg below...

[jprzybyla]

Well done Kevin, I agree with all that has been written above. The woodworker is my favorite.

[WJT]

Te word is professional, great use of ambient light. You have captured all of these people and their surroundings with skill and plenty of thought. Something to aspire to.

[kdoc856]

Frank, Paul, Richard, Joe and Wayne,

High praise from truly excellent photographers. I am pleased and honored to have approached your high standards. Thank you.


PS
Frank, the only image that ws done as an HDR was #3. #4 was a single shot processed in LR4 (you can see some noise artifact from having raised the shadow exposure locally) I have been shooting less HDR sice LR4 came out- it's a truly amazing program for preserving dynamic range.

[FrankMi]

Frank, the only image that ws done as an HDR was #3. #4 was a single shot processed in LR4 (you can see some noise artifact from having raised the shadow exposure locally) I have been shooting less HDR sice LR4 came out- it's a truly amazing program for preserving dynamic range.

To accomplish that level of dynamic range without tonemapping is quite a feat. Congratulations!

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Kevin,

They are certainly a 'wow' series, but you know how difficult I am to please?

Well; I see a few things that might be improved on some, but I hesitate to suggest them after all the other superlatives from many photographers I feel are better than I.

Now - if I don't say, you'll undoubtedly ask - and then I'll say anyway, so I guess I might as well.

Do bear in mind that;
a) I couldn't have produced these shots myself, and
b) they are minor points given the overall quality and
c) ya know how people say "hindsight is a wonderful thing" when someone states the obvious after the event, well that's all this is, hindsight

#1 I tend to agree with Richard's crop suggestion

#2 is perfect

#3 I wondereed if it is/was possible to correct the perspective, either by leveling the camera or in PP (with a slightly wider angle shot)

#4 is spectacular, but the black point is somewhat higher than I think it should be

#5 has a slightly high visual black point, although it doesn't show on the histogram.
It also 'feels' like there should be a bit more space on the left, but I wonder, looking at her right sleeve, whether the highlights forced a crop?

Well, I hope I haven't lost too many friends here with these comments, they are only intended to make the next series even better

My favourite is #4, for the beautiful lighting of the subject

All the best,