black and white

dinorock

dinorock

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Name
Mike
Edit My Images
No
Think I prefer the last shot of the house,there's some sharpness and contrast.....the house has some interest/style and it's sort of framed to a point,perhaps less pavement and a tad more chimney pot :thinking:
The swan might benefit from a rotation to vertical on the bars and losing the decking....but all just my opinion ;)
 
number 2 is my prefered shot like the way the person is framed by the walls
 
nicholi said:
number 2 is my prefered shot like the way the person is framed by the walls
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thanks nic 2nd vote for that one
Grandslammer said:
Think I prefer the last shot of the house,there's some sharpness and contrast.....the house has some interest/style and it's sort of framed to a point,perhaps less pavement and a tad more chimney pot :thinking:
The swan might benefit from a rotation to vertical on the bars and losing the decking....but all just my opinion ;)
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cheers martyn i can get rid of the pavement, but can't add a chimney :crying:
DB Photography said:
I really like the house shot. Could have a play around with that image to. Put Herman Munster on the drive make the house a bit more moody, bit of lightning striking the chimney stack....sorry my imagination running away with me. Nice shot!
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so i just stand on the drive and wait for some lightning :D
 
Johnytuono said:
Hi Mike
Personally speaking I feel the only one that warrants B&W conversion is the swan one. I love the framing, lines of the railings and composition on that one.
JohnyT
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thanks john the only reason the bars look "off center" is because the bridge has a bow in it thanks for your reply (i know the bent bars comment was left by some one else) cheers mike
 
colspics said:
I like #2 and the swan. Did you have the camera set to B&W when you took these or did you do it in PP ? I love the idea of B&W but when I convert them in PP there just seems to be something missing. Col
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Hi colin no the shots were done in RAW then converted to b/w in lightroom thanks for your comments
brind315 said:
#2 works best for me.
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cheers mark.
 
colspics said:
Thanks Mike, that looks easy enough but I'm not on Elements I've got like CS3 I think, it just has desaturate which doesn't look right when I do it ! Col
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forget desaturate go >image>adjustments>black and white....... then play with the sliders give it a go and let me know how you got on :) cheers mike.
 
No.2 for me without a doubt.

From a composition perspective I love the way that the passageway works as a frame for the main point of interest at the end (it really pulls me into the image) and I think you've done a great job at balancing the exposure between the gloomy passage and the scene outside.
Just one thing that's driving me nuts is the way that the "H" on "Hotel Entrance" is very slightly cut off by the upright support (sorry, that would be my OCD kicking in!!!)

Since your question was about B&W conversions, I also think it's the one that lends itself the best to the B&W treatment.
You've got a really nice tonal range in there from pure black to white and plenty of shades in between.
There's a variety of interesting and contrasty textures in the cobbles, wood and brickwork which are emphasised by the B&W.
I also think that it's something that could have been quite a busy and almost confusing scene in colour, but B&W has helped to pare it back to the key components and allowed your eye to pick out those little details like the cobbles etc.
 
SarahLee said:
No.2 for me without a doubt.

From a composition perspective I love the way that the passageway works as a frame for the main point of interest at the end - it really pulls me into the image. I think you've done a great job at balancing the exposure between the gloomy passage and the scene outside too.
Just one thing that's driving me nuts is the way that the "H" on "Hotel Entrance" is very slightly cut off by the upright support (sorry, that would be my OCD kicking in!!!)

Since your question was about B&W conversions, I also think it's the one that lends itself the best to the B&W treatment.
You've got a really nice tonal range in there from pure black to white and plenty of shades in between.
There's a variety of interesting and contrasty textures in the cobbles, wood and brickwork which are emphasised by the B&W.
I also think that it's something that could have been quite a busy and almost confusing scene in colour, but B&W has helped to pare it back to the key components and allowed your eye to pick out those little details like the cobbles etc.
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Wow great crit Sarah one more vote for the alley shot i'm torn between this shot and the swan for it's "simplicity" :)
 
Hmmmm . . . I quite like the swan, but I'm not convinced that it's really gaining anything from being in B&W.
I suspect that it's a fairly limited colour palette in that one anyway and I'm finding that I'm missing seeing the orange beak.

(OK - My OCDs getting to me again too and I'm getting a bit distracted by the railings not being perfectly vertical ;) )
 
SarahLee said:
Hmmmm . . . I quite like the swan, but I'm not convinced that it's really gaining anything from being in B&W.
I suspect that it's a fairly limited colour palette in that one anyway and I'm finding that I'm missing seeing the orange beak.

(OK - My OCDs getting to me again too and I'm getting a bit distracted by the railings not being perfectly vertical ;) )
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it's impossible for the railings to be vertical as the bridge has a bow in it :D
 
I tend to think that a photograph should be in B&W unless it can justify colour, the opposite point of view to the majority here. B&W pares an image down to the composition plus light, tone and texture. I find colour usually distracts and confuses that purity.

Taking composition out of the equation (others have already commented sufficiently) I suspect that the main problem you have here is light, the one element that you didn't mention in your intro. All of the photos seem to have been taken in a very flat light and, with the exception to some degree of #2, they lack both luminosity and (I suspect) the potential to create it in PP. If you can find luminosity, you have the potential to take the images away from being mere photographs (snapshots, albeit well-considered ones) to something that projects a sense of the atmosphere of a place. This often involves some fairly advanced PP work, dodging and burning and building up layers, as well as the different techniques for carrying out the initial conversion which are explained in the video posted earlier.
 
dinorock said:
forget desaturate go >image>adjustments>black and white....... then play with the sliders give it a go and let me know how you got on :) cheers mike.
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Hi Mike, don't know what Photoshop i've got but there is no option for black & white in image-adjustments, thought i hadn't seen one ! Back to the drawing board ! :)
 
horrocks said:
I tend to think that a photograph should be in B&W unless it can justify colour, the opposite point of view to the majority here. B&W pares an image down to the composition plus light, tone and texture. I find colour usually distracts and confuses that purity.

Taking composition out of the equation (others have already commented sufficiently) I suspect that the main problem you have here is light, the one element that you didn't mention in your intro. All of the photos seem to have been taken in a very flat light and, with the exception to some degree of #2, they lack both luminosity and (I suspect) the potential to create it in PP. If you can find luminosity, you have the potential to take the images away from being mere photographs (snapshots, albeit well-considered ones) to something that projects a sense of the atmosphere of a place. This often involves some fairly advanced PP work, dodging and burning and building up layers, as well as the different techniques for carrying out the initial conversion which are explained in the video posted earlier.
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Hi toby i see your point so heres one i didn't intend to convert as its really nice in colour,but has a good range of "light" what do you think cheers mike. all other comments are appreciated :)


Green Park b+w by Mike Rockey, on Flickr
And for those who are going to ask heres the colour one:)


_MJR5604-Edit.jpg by Mike Rockey, on Flickr
by Mike Rockey, on Flickr
 
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