After deciding to put a few framed pictures up in the local pub, to gauge interest from a range of people, one has emerged as being quite a talking point. It has been really interesting talking to people about it and I have been amazed by the comments made by many people who would not normally be interested in art photography.


The image in question is this one, of Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire:





I really like this image because of the architecture, the detail in the ruin and also the very moody sky. Walking around the abbey grounds, you really get a sense of awe that this place was built so long ago in such a lovely landscape, you can understand why people would want to come and meditate here. When I was at the abbey, it was a lovely day, if a little overcast. The shots that I got there were lovely, but lacked that little extra punch that I was looking for. I started thinking about what I could do to improve the image.


I always shoot my images in RAW file format. There is more information stored in the image file and the file doesn’t receive any compression, which can cause the image quality to drop. So after using the camera raw exposure tool, I discovered that there was a lot more in the sky than just a light grey mass. All I needed to do to improve the picture was to bring out the extra detail that dropping the exposure would provide. I decided to use Photomatix Pro to produce a HDR (High Dynamic Range) picture of the image. Usually you would use a few images to produce a HDR photograph, but as I had shot the image in RAW, I could produce three copies of the same photograph from the same file, each with a different exposure.


Once the HDR photograph had been produced, I converted the picture to grayscale and came up with the photograph you see above. Quite a catch image according to the patrons of my local. Some have called the photo eerie, or even brooding, but to see it printed and up on the wall is quite encouraging because I can talk to people about it, and I have even managed to sell a few prints as well.


If you are interested in obtaining prints of the work you have seen on my site – take a look at my portfolio of personal images by clicking here and then get in contact with me. I am also planning on adding to the images on the site so keep an eye out for new work.


I would also love to hear your thoughts about this image in the comments section below.