Submitter's name:	Brian Swale
Title:	Morning light at the cement silo.
Gear used:	OM-4Ti + Zuiko 35~70 f/3.6, hand-held - possibly at about 60mm.
Diaphragm:	f/8
Shutter speed:	about 1/60
Film used:	Fuji Neopan SS 100 asa
Technical information:	Developed by commercial B&W processor, scanned from print made on Agfa D-lab digital printer. 5x7 print scanned at 100dpi on a KTX 4800AP flat-bed scanner.
Subject information:	My son was home for summer from University, and I took him every morning to start work early, driving trucks - his summer job; based in an industrial area. As the summer went on, morning came later and striking light effects began to show in the commercial buildings in this unlovely area. I came to have the idea, that just as B&W photos can have stark effects, the contrasty and almost monochromatic side-light in the early morning showed up aspects of the bare, minimalist, and essentially purely functional commercial building construction in this area, and that B&W shots could demonstrate this. I had just got another Zuiko 35~70 3.6 zoom that seemed to be a good one, and used this topic to try it out. I had forgotten about grain in B&W photos and found this a bit disconcerting - it shows up in the print even though Neopan is supposed to be fine grain. Also, the corrugated iron side-wall of the nearest building has yielded a moire effect in this scan, and I could not get rid of it. It was not in the print I worked from.
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Comment left by: Wayne Harridge (no e-mail specified)

Interesting subject, however I would like to see it more "architecturally correct" or with an exagerated lean to the buildings.

Comment left by: The photographer (* @ *)

Wayne, lines "not quite" parallel to the frame really *do* upset you don't they ! Well, it so happens that this is a pretty good shot for this lens model (my opinion), as far as that aspect goes, and in any case there has been quite a bit cropped from the bottom. I composed with architectural correctness in mind, thinking to crop there. I had rather more expected comment about the lines from the print paper showing in the scan (which I was unable to remove and retain resolution at the same time) - or the halo at the top of the silo which I see just now for the first time - but it's there even though I was careful (I thought ) not to overdo the sharpening.

Comment left by: Wayne Harridge (no e-mail specified)

Yeah, see this: http://www.usefilm.com/showphoto.php?id=23279

Comment left by: The Photographer (*@*)

Nice idea. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to use a skyhook to lift me up to the half-height position :-) In your example, the photographer was able to photograph from a position half way between top and bottom of the shot.

Comment left by: Saso (no e-mail specified)

First I have to say that more and more I come back to check the TOPE gallery, the more I see some photos stand out of the crowd. This is one of those that catches my attention lately more than those that were early favorites. But there are a few things that the photo could to without to make it much stronger, IMHO. Without the white silos in the background, the main two buildings would gain prominence and the photo would be less cluttered, which, at least for me, makes good industrial photos.

Comment left by: Adam Bolt (no e-mail specified)

I like this one Brian. Pity about the scanning. Could have bumped up the contrast otherwise! I really love the lines in that building thou and how it creates its ribbed shadows and highlights!

Comment left by: Brian Swale (bj@caverock.net.nz)

Hi Saso Thanks for your comments. Actually, one of the things that drew me to photograph these buildings was the existence of the white and cylindrical shapes alongside the grey and rectangular shapes; somewhat like an abstract arrangements of shapes that didn't need to be buildings - but here they were in front of me. So I saw the chance to illustrate a contrast of shapes as well as a contrast in shades of grey. A "found" topic, not a created one.

Comment left by: Brian Swale (no e-mail specified)

Re-visiting this page in February 2007. This image, apart from the print scanning lines, is how I envisaged it. I would not like to see the contrast increased at all; my intention was to use as much as I could of the range from black to white, without blowing out the white. In fact, maybe I should have raised the level of light to make the dark side of the silo a dark grey instead of nearly black.

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