The trail through the forest

[ashish]

The trail through the forest

Canon EOS 7D | EF70-200mm F2.8L IS II USM
ISO 320 | 1/100 | F9.0 @ 70mm

C&C welcome

[Shadowman]

Nice composition and conversion, hardly any blacks or whites.

[andrewaxford]

Nice composition and conversion, hardly any blacks or whites.

Hi John I notice your comment "hardly and black or whites". I read somewhere once that a b+W picture should contain both black and white.Was that correct or is it a personal choice? Is that what you were referring to? or was it just an observation. I like the effect of the photograph and like you I like the composition.

[deetheturk]

Nice capture Ashish!

[Kaye Leggett]

I like the capture but not sure about the conversion - seems to have too much of a pink hue to me

[Shadowman]

Hi John I notice your comment "hardly and black or whites". I read somewhere once that a b+W picture should contain both black and white.Was that correct or is it a personal choice? Is that what you were referring to? or was it just an observation. I like the effect of the photograph and like you I like the composition.

Hi Andrew,

Yes, the comment referred to probably the same observation you describe. Is it possible to have those particular tones (black or white) missing from a landscape or any particular image? It's definitely possible, think of a sand filled beach; but will the human mind accept it as pleasing or even realistic; or do we visual what isn't really there?

[Manfred M]

I read somewhere once that a b+W picture should contain both black and white.

Andrew - when I first started into photography, that was something I was taught as well. And your word "should" was replaced with the word "must".

I recently took a colour correction course at the local community college and got onto this topic with the instructor and got a bit of the history of this "rule". It stems back to the days of print when publishers would not accept any image that did not have both pure black and pure white values. You wanted to sell your image to a newspaper or magazine and the image did not meet spec, it was rejected. An image without any true black or true white was viewed as being improperly exposed.

Taking it into today's world, where just about anything goes, I would still maintain that proper exposure in a B&W image is probably a touch more important than a colour one, as in B&W we rely on tonality and contrast for impact.

When I look at this image it really does look muddy and underexposed; although not having been there, perhaps the scene did look like this. Regardless, my impression is still that both contrast and exposure are not right here.

The technically correct way to do this (assuming that there are black points and white points; and I'm sure that there are), is to set the black point and white point correctly and then dial in the exposure by setting the mid-point where you want it.




This is what the image would look like if my suggestion were followed; still dark and moody, but with more "pop". Ashish, if you don't want me messing around with your image, let me know and I will remove my edit.

[bnnrcn]

I like your original edit as it has a mystical mood Ashish

[Rebel]

Nice image, I do prefer Manfred's edit though.

[ashish]

Andrew - when I first started into photography, that was something I was taught as well. And your word "should" was replaced with the word "must".

I recently took a colour correction course at the local community college and got onto this topic with the instructor and got a bit of the history of this "rule". It stems back to the days of print when publishers would not accept any image that did not have both pure black and pure white values. You wanted to sell your image to a newspaper or magazine and the image did not meet spec, it was rejected. An image without any true black or true white was viewed as being improperly exposed.

Taking it into today's world, where just about anything goes, I would still maintain that proper exposure in a B&W image is probably a touch more important than a colour one, as in B&W we rely on tonality and contrast for impact.

When I look at this image it really does look muddy and underexposed; although not having been there, perhaps the scene did look like this. Regardless, my impression is still that both contrast and exposure are not right here.

The technically correct way to do this (assuming that there are black points and white points; and I'm sure that there are), is to set the black point and white point correctly and then dial in the exposure by setting the mid-point where you want it.




This is what the image would look like if my suggestion were followed; still dark and moody, but with more "pop". Ashish, if you don't want me messing around with your image, let me know and I will remove my edit.

Thanks Manfred for your informative feedback. I really appreciate it. I was not aware of the 'must' use of blacks and whites in B&W photography. Having said that; does the principle apply to all monochrome images? I had applied a sepia filter to the image to give it a rustic look.

[IzzieK]

Very nice effects, Ashish....I love it.

[Manfred M]

does the principle apply to all monochrome images? I had applied a sepia filter to the image to give it a rustic look.

Yes; I should have said monochrome, but again back in the days when I was first getting into photography; all images of this type started off as B&W and had the colours introduced later using a toning process. Sepia prints were produced this way.

Selenium toning was also fairly commonly used. Metal toning (iron, copper, gold and platinum) were around but less commonly used.

If you look at colour images that appear to be "muddy looking", incorrect white and black point settings are often the root cause too.