mountain meadows B&W

[chauncey]

Please nit-pick this image.
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[knaufism]

beautifully area, a little dark in the trees, perhaps using the shadow/highlight tool in photoshop to pull in some highlights. i would like to see the color version,.. nice shot

[robgr85]

looks nice to me, but I am wondering about the color version (and I believe it could do even better in color).

[chauncey]

color image.
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[Gary Lindquist]

Lovely shot. Not sure I like the dead tree in the middle area. You might try cloning that guy out just to see if it improves the image. In any event, it is a great shot.

[SilverHCIC]

Nice image. I love mountain landscapes.
1. The only big suggestion that I would have is in the contrast of your image. ... Flat lighting always makes BW conversions difficult, and simply bumping contrast won't cut it. I would suggest selectively burning some of the clouds to give them a bolder appearance, and I would fade in a gradual increase in contrast and light from the base of the mountains down to the edge of the photo. This would help offset the flat lighting.

2. The second thing (although I'm not sure) is that the dead tree is somewhat distracting. I don't find it big or interesting enough to be a main focal point of the image, and therefore, I would not choose to emphasize its presence. At the same time, it does add some character to the image. I just wish it was much more interesting than simply a straight, dead stick. ... Oh well, you work with what you've got!!! Since it's your pic, you decide whether it's interesting enough to keep, or too distracting to save ;).

Here's a quick 5-minute adjustment to address the flat lighting. ... Just burned in some of the edges of the clouds & had a contrast fade at the bottom. --- Just my take on the setting.

[Broncobear]

It's pretty good chauncy, the background is really nice in B&W. the foregorund is a bit dark, but the background is pretty spot on.

[suzyb]

Lovely shot. Not sure I like the dead tree in the middle area. You might try cloning that guy out just to see if it improves the image. In any event, it is a great shot.

I agree that the tree stump looks a little out of place in the middle. But instead of cloning, what about a different crop? Maybe one of these?

[Bill Boehme]

I like the composition and my preference is the color version. The reason for that is that the hazy sky is messing with the overall contrast in the background and that is hurting the definition of details in the B&W version more that it is in the color version.

My feeling is that the trees in the foreground and mid-range seem to be too dark to show enough details. I believe that there ought be be a foreground point of interest (such as the tree next to the dead tree) and that it needs to have good lighting and sharp details.

I suspect that you could process the image in ACR -- then output it as a smart object in Photoshop in order to create layers that are processed differently in ACR again for different areas of the image.

EDIT: I decided to make a quick and dirty edit of the image, FWIW.

[newbee01]

I agree that the tree stump looks a little out of place in the middle. But instead of cloning, what about a different crop? Maybe one of these?


Suzyb, I agree. I think that the crops that you did make it a much more interesting photo and makes the dead tree more of a subject than something that wants to be cloned out. I love square crops too, maybe I'm biased.

[Bill Boehme]

Since the dead tree has received several comments -- combined with the fact that this is Super Tuesday, I register my vote to keep the dead tree.

My rationale is that nature is what it is and the photographer's challenge is to be able to depict it in a way that grabs the viewer's attention. I might want to remove a disconnected twig that is hanging from an upper corner, but otherwise, my preference is to leave a scene as it is. A foreground object is often a good framing element and the dead tree could be used to advantage in that regard. By shifting the photographer's vantage point slightly to the right and moving closer to the tree, it might be possible to accomplish that (assuming that one wouldn't fall off a cliff while trying to do that).

[chauncey]

The dead tree...this was shot as part of a panorama and it would have been no problem to select a different crop.

I am impressed by the fact that not much else in the image has had comments. Nothing on the snow capped peaks or the mountain range going off in the distance or anything.

Like it or not, it is the sole point of interest in the shot and without it you are left with a nice alpine image and that's all.

[tonydee]

Hi Chaucey,

I think your greyscale conversion is too dark overall, with the top right looking too contrasty. SilverHCIC did very well to balance the tones, particularly to get more contrast between the grassy foreground and the nearby trees - adds a lot of interest and more credibility to the shot. I think it boils down to taking a more "zone" system view of the image: you've been in the dark zones ;-P.

Cheers,

Tony

[Bill Boehme]

The dead tree...this was shot as part of a panorama and it would have been no problem to select a different crop.

I am impressed by the fact that not much else in the image has had comments. Nothing on the snow capped peaks or the mountain range going off in the distance or anything.

Like it or not, it is the sole point of interest in the shot and without it you are left with a nice alpine image and that's all.

You are right -- without the dead tree, the trees in the near foreground would have been rather nondescript. It is too bad that the comments got side tracked onto the foreground focal point as I think that the the beautiful valley with the snow capped mountains in the background are spectacular and I also think that your vantage point for photographing the scene was ideal. I don't recall whether I commented on the B&W image, but on my monitor it is quite dark and lacking in detail. I run Quick Gamma periodically to help keep it somewhat "normal".

[Broncobear]

The dead tree...this was shot as part of a panorama and it would have been no problem to select a different crop.

I am impressed by the fact that not much else in the image has had comments. Nothing on the snow capped peaks or the mountain range going off in the distance or anything.

Like it or not, it is the sole point of interest in the shot and without it you are left with a nice alpine image and that's all.

Basically that's what I mean in my comment yesterday but didn't elaborate, the valley and moutains were perfect in black and white and I thiought beautifully exposed.

[chauncey]

tonydee, your right when you commented on SilverHCIC rendition being better than mine and I shoud have commented on that. Big Sorry!!
The ground does need more separation from the trees.