B&W Old Church, Bletchley

[Dinsdale]

I've been meaning to get out and shoot this old church which is set in a cemetery in Bletchley near where I live. I've always had this image in my mind of a harsh B&W with dramatic skies behind it. Sadly, overtime the skies are just right I've not got the time. When I do have the time? Crap skies!
Well today I shot the church anyway and later on whilst sat waiting for the BBQ to warm up, the skies were pretty dam good. SO I shot the skies separately and did my best to cut them in in PS12 Elements. The results are shown below but I'm keeping my camera with me now and hopefully when the skies are good I'll do a proper job on it.
Obviously as always your comments will be gratefully received.

1)

Old Church B&W 1 by RWalton65, on Flickr

2)

Old Church B&W 2 by RWalton65, on Flickr

 

[Dinsdale]

Shameful bump!

 

[Dinsdale]

Well either these are that good or you haven't stopped laughing yet. Can't work out which it is.

 

[Brian G]

Well if you insist...

Personally I find them both a bit "Ho Hum."
I find the cut off gravestones in the foreground of the first one a bit distracting - I'd sooner see all of them, plus there is something strange about the tree on the right hand side which appears to be set on a white background, probably as a result of pasting in a new sky.
Of the two I think I prefer the second one, but I'd loose the dustbin and possibly clone out the grave edge intruding at the lower right.
I also think the sky has been darkened too much on the second one, so the roofline doesn't stand out very well, and you've got the same "artificial" looking trees both sides.
Maybe try a graduated filter, so the sky is dark at the top but lighter nearer the horizon.
I think both of them need a bit more space on the right hand side, although not knowing the location that may not necessarily be possible.

However, the thing that spoils both of them for me is the "leaning backwards" view.
I'd square them up so that the church looked vertical.

If you take them again, I'd try stepping back a couple of steps (space permitting of course).
Then you could include a bit more of the surroundings, which would give space to allow perspective correction and stop the leaning backwards effect, and also give you some more cropping options as to what you keep in or crop out in the foreground.

 

[Dinsdale]

Well if you insist...

Personally I find them both a bit "Ho Hum."
I find the cut off gravestones in the foreground of the first one a bit distracting - I'd sooner see all of them, plus there is something strange about the tree on the right hand side which appears to be set on a white background, probably as a result of pasting in a new sky.
Of the two I think I prefer the second one, but I'd loose the dustbin and possibly clone out the grave edge intruding at the lower right.
I also think the sky has been darkened too much on the second one, so the roofline doesn't stand out very well, and you've got the same "artificial" looking trees both sides.
Maybe try a graduated filter, so the sky is dark at the top but lighter nearer the horizon.
I think both of them need a bit more space on the right hand side, although not knowing the location that may not necessarily be possible.

However, the thing that spoils both of them for me is the "leaning backwards" view.
I'd square them up so that the church looked vertical.

If you take them again, I'd try stepping back a couple of steps (space permitting of course).
Then you could include a bit more of the surroundings, which would give space to allow perspective correction and stop the leaning backwards effect, and also give you some more cropping options as to what you keep in or crop out in the foreground.

Brilliant! Some constructive critique. Many thanks for the advice. I knew about the artificial look of the trees etc. that's what made it a "ho-hum" for me too. I'm trying to get out there when the skies are interesting enough so that I won't have to cut some in.
As for the perspective issues, I was shooting from a low down spot, trying to go for the imposing structure type view, but it obviously didn't work. The rest I totally agree with and thanks for the input.