The light fantastic
Thoughtful editing turns a simple shot into a graphic cracker
Our reader Jacqui McDonogh
Loop Head Lighthouse is located at the end of the Loop Head Peninsula, in West Clare on the west coast of Ireland. I took the photo on my Sony Alpha 500 camera with a 16-50mm lens at 16mm; the exposure was 1/160 sec at f/16, ISO 100.
I converted the shot to black and white in Lightroom. I increased the Whites as well as Clarity and Contrast, to bring out the shadows in the clouds and the top of the lighthouse against the white of the main body of the building. I wanted the sky to look imposing against the lighthouse itself.
Our expert Andrew James
Jacqui, your shot is very graphic, which makes it perfect for a black-and-white treatment; so I can see why you chose to convert it, and I’m sure it’s the best style of presentation for this image. I like the simplicity and symmetry of your composition, and the way the bright lighthouse contrasts with the darker clouds in the sky behind.
Without seeing the unprocessed shot, I don’t know whether the highlights in the lighthouse were overexposed at capture or afterwards. If it’s the latter (as you say, you increased the whites), you could reprocess to bring the highlights down a bit so you still get the detail of the brickwork, even on the sunlight side. You could do this and still produce a punchy monochrome image. I can understand why you pushed it – the overall look is crisp and dynamic – but I think the pattern of the bricks would add an extra texture to your photo.