Black & White - Comments please.

[sunflowerimaging]

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

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

[sheila]

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

[pstubley]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Black & White Photography