Any ideas how to get this effect?

[jonnydee]

I've been browsing around and came across the work of <a href="http://www.michaelkenna.net/">Micheal Kenna</a>. These black and white landscapes just blew me away! He uses really simple and uncluttered images and I absolutely love the effect, for example,

http://www.michaelkenna.net/html/japan01/18.html

or

http://www.michaelkenna.net/html/japan02/l44.html

or

http://www.michaelkenna.net/html/japan01/l105.html

From reading on his website, there is a lot of mention of shooting at night to get these effects, (I assume coupled with a lot of darkroom work). The water and clouds shown in a lot of the landscapes are very smooth, suggesting very long exposures, for example, the stars have moved in this shot:

http://www.michaelkenna.net/html/rcliff03/12.html

I wouldn't even pretend to be able to match his shots, but does anyone have any ideas of how these type of shots might be accomplished?

Cheers,

Jon

[Killakoala]

I wouldn't even pretend to be able to match his shots, but does anyone have any ideas of how these type of shots might be accomplished?

Mate, there is no reason why you can't take photos of that quality.

All you need to do is think of a subject, set up a good position for a good composition and shoot, shoot, shoot and shoot again. Eventually you will get a photo to work with. Then it's off to the digital darkroom and some Photoshop work then you will end up with something you are happy with, that can emulate Michael Kenna's work, but is in your own style.

Get out there and give it a go. You have the inspiration, now put it into practise.

I look forward to seeing your results.

[Link]

Thanks for the link, these pics are very interesting...

Photolink #3 looks like a long exposure (to capture the clouds and water moving), but I wonder if it would not be possible to get this effect post-processing in PP... The contrast adjustment is easy to play with, either in PP or in a darkroom.

The grain texture, especially on the photo #4, let me think he shot using a high ISO black and white film. But again, it's probably something you can get from fine PP postprocessing as well!

Link.

[jonnydee]

Thanks for the tips and encouragement guys! I've got myself sorted out with a remote, got my tripod at the ready, so time for some experiementing with long exposures.

I'll keep you posted with my results.

Cheers,

Jon