my first post some b/w in santa monica

[boostedmechanic]

i took these shots in November at the pier in santa monica, ca. its was super gray the whole time i was there so i put these into b/w i think they look pretty good but i would like some opinions.

[Avi]

Hi,

You need to increase some contrast using the curves/layers...need some more PP to it...I liked #1 more than #2..

Avi

[S.Horton]

Avin's right -- What software are you using to PP?

[boostedmechanic]

i am using photoshop elements 2.0 that came with my camera. i am not very good at using it yet but am always messing around trying to unserstand it more. are there any websites with tutorials for photoshop?

[boostedmechanic]

is this better. i just changed contrast and levels. its not a drastic difference. i was thinking that maybe it would look better with some of the sky cropped out. if this is not what you were thinking would you show me your edit. thanks

[S.Horton]

Crop is better -- Elements 2 sounds pretty old -- Your best bet may be to Google that version, see what you come up with.

I think this photo needs the shadows lifted, then a dose of contrast.

[crayfish13]

I like all the curved lines in the first they really adds to the composition.

[boostedmechanic]

how do you "lift the shadows"? i did mess with the contrast a bit. what needs to change about the contrast.

[kadamar]

Hope you don't mind but I flipped the photo and did a histogram stretch. I think North Americans tend to see or "read" from left to right so I thought a flip would cause our eye to enter from the left. The histogram stretch increased the contrast between the sky and the foreground.

David

[rab3rd]

no. we read,see from left to right. But this flip works better because as we come in from the left the ferris wheel gives our eyes a place to rest and keeps us in the picture. The other one, as we come in from the left our eys are lead out of the picture by the dark part of the board walk.

[kadamar]

LOL...I knew what I wanted to say but screwed it up ie left to right.. I edited my original post. I agree with your thought about the ferris wheel acting as a resting point.

David

[boostedmechanic]

its totally cool to edit my stuff. i is very weird to look at this picture flipped since i have always looked at it the other way. i will have to remember the left to right thing. what about contrast anybody have an edit of this picture to show me what it should look like since there were some comments on contrast.