Afternoon Sun (black and white)

[dphoto]

Hello all,

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. This was taken with my digital rebel and kit lens, f/5 1/320 ISO 100 34mm. I tried a few different techniques converting to black and white, including some plugins that I found on the web. The best (in my opinion) was this one, and it was created by first adding a little more color to the sky (it was pretty washed out) and then using just the red channel from the shot. It's kind of a "light and airy" black and white. Anyhow, if you care to share your opinion, please let me know what you think.

Thanks!
-Deva

http://capitalcityphoto.com/gallery/photos/capitalcityphoto.com-AfternoonSun.jpg

[ecobo]

Nice composition! I don't like the sky - it looks like a PS gradient. Some clouds would add to the scene. I think a white sky will also be better than this one. Reducing or removing the left black column will be an improvement too IMHO.
Regards!

[Radtech1]

Hello all,

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. It's kind of a "light and airy" black and white. Anyhow, if you care to share your opinion, please let me know what you think.

Thanks!
-Deva


Welcome back to the board! I apologize that it has taken as long as this to respond, I know how frustrating it is when you check back every five minutes, (as little old obsessive me does) and still no one has responded.

Since this is Critique Corner I am going to tell you what I honestly think. For me it completely misses the "light and airy" black and white that you say you're going for. I find a shot extremely busy, and by my reckoning, that is the big problem. There is just no place for my eyes to fall. The biggest example of this problem is the tree behind the bird. Because it is all shades of gray, the bird is not standout to me in the same manner that it might have been looking through the viewfinder. What I see is the white body of the bird and then I have to really look hard to discern that that other white smudge is the highlight of the birds head.

I would like to encourage you to post more, as well as critiquing others. The more the merrier! Also have you tried BWWorkflow at www.fredmiranda.com? It is one that I use and have had good results with.

Rad

[dphoto]

Hey Guys!

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

Ecobo, glad to hear you like the composition. There were a lot of lines here and I was just drawn to the scene. Actually, this was not what I went to shoot at all. :D Sorry to hear that PS gradient is so dang obvious... that's indeed what it is. It was such a bright day, the sky was just too much.

Radtech, hehe, no apology needed. I typically critique a few before I post, but I didn't do that this time, so I should be the one apologizing! In fact, that's what I deserve! :D OK, to the critique... you make a good point about the shot being busy. That does tend to take away from what I was going for with the "color" composition. Yeah, that dang tree. To be honest, I think the shot would have been better with no bird and no tree. It was the lines I was going for and those objects just don't play any part in that. Anyhow, thanks for the honesty. It's nice to hear constructive feedback. Otherwise, how would I improve?

I would love to post more... it's hard to find the time sometimes, but I have a couple more shots that I want to put up, so I will get to that. And to critiquing others as well. As you say, the more the merrier. Also, thanks for that link. That looks like a pretty good site. Man, how do people take such awesome pictures?! :D

Thanks again guys, and I'll talk to you later!
-Deva