The Estate
One one of the last days in Germany, we went for a nice walk to the estate next over. It's a working farm on one side, with the typical modern silos and a bio gas facility. On the other side, it's an arrangement of beautiful houses, most of them maintained as they were 200 years ago, with reed roofs. Not necessarily by choice, they're under protection now as cultural inheritance in northern Germany.
I noticed in the first picture that light as a huge effect on BW, which I never thought it would. Yeah, I know, big surprise, but remember that I'm a newbie 😅 Any tips and tricks are helpful!
The Mansion
M1 This one I wasn't sure about. I took a different angle (without the trees in the front) for the color, and this one for BW to add more structures to it. Of course, the color would disappear, but the change in brightness was what I wanted, especially from the lights on the mansion.
M1.1 Worked like a charm. Though it seems like I did not angle this one right, as it has a little fall towards the lower left in the horizon.
The "Festscheune" (Party Barn)
S1 Okay, this one was an easy target. It basically screams "BW me!" You can see my mom and my daughter walking past it on the left.
I like it, but as said - easy. Not special. I love how the house is build and how it looks, but the idea is always to create something special.
The Torhaus / Gatehouse
T1 I wasn't able to find an angle to put this extremely long building completely on the picture.
T1.1 It works great as BW, as all old buildings. I think I should've stood more in the middle of the road, the gate opening seems a little off.
The sourroundings
This post feels a little short, so let me add two more from the surroundings that are lovely.
W1 I saw this one and thought that the many structures provided by the trees, plus the little creek and the setting sun in the back would make a gorgeous BW
W1.1 Didn't work out quite as I imagined. I had hoped for a gradually sky like in the mansion picture, but wasn't able to reproduce that. I tried several forms of BW, with more or less warmth, to no avail. Still not the worst.
W2 This creek with the stairs on the side are out of our times. In the back you can see the big dome of the bio gas facility, if you look closely. But generally, the creek distracts from that.
W2.1 I like this one. The more I look at my pictures, the more I have the feeling that I'm not yet getting the horizon right. Or the ground. It's not even, most of the time inclined to one side. What do you think?
What do you think about these? Thank you for taking the time to look at them and maybe even contemplate, I appreciate that. Attention is a valuable currency these days, and I hope that my post beats some of the alternatives out there.
If you want some more winter pictures and haven't seen them yet, this was a post about A Field in Winter, pictures taken the day before this.
As always, any feedback and especially tips and tricks are very welcome! As long as it's not AI generated content or comment spamming... 😅
Thank you for stopping by!
All pictures are taken by myself with a Motorola Edge 60 Pro and I reserve the copyright - but you're welcome to ask if you'd like to use one of the pics!
Taking perfect pictures is almost impossible.
I notice all those professional photographers taking tons of pictures, hoping at least one stands out from the crowd.
These days (but also in the old days), post-processing is applied left and right.
Born and raised in the photography analogue days, I still try the one-shot photos. When I want BW, I try to shoot BW instead of colour, using the settings on my camera (well, phone these days).
A few tricks I learned in the past I still try to use today:
I now switched to taking as little pictures as possible. Before I take it, I really look at everything and see if it fits.
Those tricks are very handy, thank you! I'll try to apply them in the future. And I'll try to find the direct B/W function in my phone, there must be one.
Bio gas facility next to 200-year-old reed roofs sounds like the world’s most awkward dinner party" 🏡
lol they're far enough from each other, luckily :-D