Board index Photography Artistic Questions Black & White - Comments please.

Artistic Questions

Black & White - Comments please.

Discuss style and artistic aspects of photography
sunflowerimaging
 
Posts: 36

Black & White - Comments please.

Post Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:01 am


b]Hello[/b], first time doing digital black and white. Looking forward to some comments. thanks. :o

http://www.pbase.com/sunflowerimaging/image/91204420Image

sheila
 
Posts: 1303


Post Mon Jan 07, 2008 3:17 am


IMHO, you need far more contrast in this image. Also, you have a lot of "noise" in the sky. Frankly, I don't this this is the type of image which would convert well to mono. I do a great deal of conversions to mono using various filters, mainly from Optikvervlabs filter or actions of Fred Miranda. My mono site can be found here http://www.pbase.com/sheila/bw

Cheers
Sheila
Sheila Smart
Canon 5D Mark III; 17-40L; 24-70 f/2.8L; 70-300 f.4-5.6 L USM; 135 f/2L; 100 f/2.8 macro; 8-15 f/4 L fisheye

Blog: http://sheilasmartphotography.blogspot.com/

pstubley
 
Posts: 217


Post Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:34 am


Ditto what Sheila says. I like the composition, with the balance of the plants in the foreground with the shape of the clouds at the top, but it loses its impact because it seems dark overall.

I'm still learning to get really good b&w images digitally, but I first started with b&w film, where my role model was Ansel Adams. I don't use the full Zone system, but I did learn to ask myself "Where is the white?" and "Where is the black?" and try to have the full tonal range in between.

I'm not sure how much contrast you had in the original capture, but maybe you need to increase the contrast there before you do the conversion. As Sheila also mentions, picking the wrong filter can also flatten the image a lot -- I'm not very clever at it, but the beauty of the digital darkroom is that it is easy to not be clever and just try a bunch and see what works the best.

Hope this helps.

Peter

sunflowerimaging
 
Posts: 36

Black and White comments - Thank you!

Post Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:35 am


Hi Sheila and Peter

Thank you very much for your comments. I will have a look at your sites. Really appreciate the help. There will always be something to learn.
Cheers Caroline

cliffsmith
 
Posts: 5


Post Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:12 pm


Try this in Photoshop: lighten the bottom part of the image a little by selecting everything but the sky, then bump up the contrast on the overall image (without any part selected). Play around with the combinations and amounts of density changes and contrast changes until you get a result that you like.

sunflowerimaging
 
Posts: 36

another pointer! thank you cliffsmith!

Post Fri Jan 18, 2008 6:03 pm


cliffsmith wrote:Try this in Photoshop: lighten the bottom part of the image a little by selecting everything but the sky, then bump up the contrast on the overall image (without any part selected). Play around with the combinations and amounts of density changes and contrast changes until you get a result that you like.

jypsee
 
Posts: 1247

I looked at your photo at original size

Post Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:27 pm


and I disagree with the previous posts. The only thing I'd do is selectively dodge some of the foliage in the foreground of the photo. The sort of "moody" photo you've made is very marketable right now. I'd do the dodging and print it on matte paper at about 16by20....
Your composition is classic and your treatment is sorta pictorialist and "right now" at the same time (actually, pictorialism is making a comeback :))

sunflowerimaging
 
Posts: 36

Re: I looked at your photo at original size

Post Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:55 am


jypsee wrote:and I disagree with the previous posts. The only thing I'd do is selectively dodge some of the foliage in the foreground of the photo. The sort of "moody" photo you've made is very marketable right now. I'd do the dodging and print it on matte paper at about 16by20....
Your composition is classic and your treatment is sorta pictorialist and "right now" at the same time (actually, pictorialism is making a comeback :))



Hello, Thank you for your comment! As I said I am new to b&w processing and it was great to get your comment! I was looking for a moody picture too. But I did learn from the above comments too. Anyhow, I do agree that the foreground need dodging...thanks again.

surindersinghstudio
 
Posts: 52
Location: New Delhi, India

Re: Black & White - Comments please.

Post Fri Mar 22, 2013 12:38 pm


Surinder Singh (+91-9971008151)
Advertising, Fashion & Travel Photographer
New Delhi, India.
http://www.SinghStyleStudio.com


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