Submitter's name:	Paul Reynolds
Location:	Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Wales
Taken:	End of February 2002
Equipment:	OM4
Exposure details:	not recorded
Film:	Ektachrome, converted to Mono in Photoshop.
Subject information:	Taken just outside the town. It was once a thriving slate mining community in the 19th Century. Behind the houses and church is a mountain of slate, dwarfing and seemingly threatening them. The perspective is slightly compressed (but not by much) making the houses seem that much nearer their backdrop.
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Comment left by: Olaf Greve (no e-mail specified)

O.k., I've had some difficulty in pronouncing the location of this shot ;) but the "compression" in the perspective work really well here.

Comment left by: Roger Wesson (roger@worldtraveller.f9.co.uk)

Awesome! The houses look dwarfed and vulnerable. It looks a little bit dark on my monitor, but I'm seeing enough to inspire me!

Comment left by: bbbean (bbbean@beancotton.com)

I like it - really plays with your perception of scale. What focal length were you using? May I assume this was a long tele?

Comment left by: The Photographer (no e-mail specified)

Thanks for the comments. I took a number of different shots on the day with different lenses, and must confess that not being one to take any notes, I'm not too sure now which lens it was. The longest lens I had with me that day would have been 90mm, but remembering how far away the houses were from where I was standing and the height of the "mountain", I'm more inclined to think it was the 35/2 or 50mm. Incidentally, there were Rugby posts in the foreground which I had to clone out in Photoshop.

Comment left by: Winsor (wincros@earthlink.net)

Wow. A man made environment becomes a landscape, truly. Beautiful use of dark tones and powerful use of composition to make a very strong picture.

Comment left by: Chris Barker (imagopus@threeshoes.co.uk)

Impressive composition, and excellent use of monochrome.

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

The light on the forground really lifts the composition

Comment left by: Chuck Norcutt (chucknorcutt@attbi.com)

Very powerful. It gives me a sense of foreboding. I'm very concerned that that pile is going to give way... then watch out below!!!

Comment left by: benson (benson@research.haifa.ac.il)

I love this composition. What lens? Is that a mountain of coal behind the houses? If so, the photo strongly carries the weight of the influence of the coal on the community. If you could get a wider range of black and white values out of the houses - well, it would take an excellent photo and make it stunning!

Comment left by: Scott Gomez (no e-mail specified)

Use of monochrome conversion here is perfect for the photograph. My favorite "black-and-white" of this TOPE.

Comment left by: Mike Lazzari (no e-mail specified)

I like the composition. Also like the texture of the background.Well done.

Comment left by: Roger Wesson (roger@worldtraveller.f9.co.uk)

I said it looked a bit dark before, but having looked at it again on my PC at home I see my work PC running linux doesn't disply it at its best. From home it looks much better, extremely dramatic and striking, and is one of my favourite TOPE 9 entries.

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