B&W conversion from RAW...First try

I have had a few days to get out and shoot stuff, but the results have been less then stellar.

I took a few pics that I thought were kinda blah, so I played a bit to convert one of them to B&W using RAW Shooter 2006 Pro. I found a good tutorial in a magazine, and this is what I came up with.

The pic itself is not a wall hanger, but the conversion seemed to make it a bit more exciting...at least to me. I like the mood and the feel myself.

I am more interested in the conversion results then the pic...

Please let me know how it looks.

Thanks

Parm

Hi Parm.

I've had a bit of play with converting to B&W in RAW too - but never really cared for the results I got. They always seemed rather flat. Mine still required some dodging/burning afterwards to make them interesting if the light wasn't very cool at the time of the shot.

You could probably pull some more detail out of the sky?

Hmm, if you crop out the flying bird, I think it will work well.

350D_Noob wrote in post #2467202
Hmm, if you crop out the flying bird, I think it will work well.

that was my first instinct too, . . . but i like the flying one so much . . . . what if its a horizontal crop?

You might try playing with different crops. I like your idea of a horizontal crop. I have another idea. If you like the bird in flight split the picture into two images. It might make for an interesting duet.

Here is yet a third idea. Create THREE images. One with the bird in flight, one with just the sky (I know…it will be vacant) and one with bird in the tree. Hang them side by side. Bird in flight—vacant sky---bird in tree. It might make for an interesting set.

I see some good tonal range in the sky, but it's just not popping out and looks really flat.

The conversion technique looks like it would work well on an image with more contrast or texture.

I'm not a professional so take it with a grain of salt but I'd like to see more contrast between the sky and the birds/tree.

I would also like to see the picture w/o the bird in flight... just the tree and the bird sitting in it just the way it is... almost a blank sky with the tree coming out of the right side. Very nice... maybe a little more contrast.

Qweevox wrote in post #2469461
You might try playing with different crops. I like your idea of a horizontal crop. I have another idea. If you like the bird in flight split the picture into two images. It might make for an interesting duet.

Here is yet a third idea. Create THREE images. One with the bird in flight, one with just the sky (I know…it will be vacant) and one with bird in the tree. Hang them side by side. Bird in flight—vacant sky---bird in tree. It might make for an interesting set.

Been away for a few days...here is some of the ideas I took...LMK

Horizontal crop:

Marsha050 wrote in post #2471220
I would also like to see the picture w/o the bird in flight... just the tree and the bird sitting in it just the way it is... almost a blank sky with the tree coming out of the right side. Very nice... maybe a little more contrast.

Without the bird in flight:

Still a very flat grey sky. The two-bird crop is much better though.