Abandoned Mill

[Donald]

Donald, I think I implemented your suggestion correctly. Please let me know, and thank you!

Yep, that's what I meant. More important than what I think, is what you think.

[Donald]

Composition and contrast are the key for me, but I can't help throwing in that third element that I am drawn to... texture.

SLTT (Shape, Line, Tone & Texture). That's what it's all about.

Good to have another B & W enthusiast in the forum.

[Kaye Leggett]

this is the one that got me in your message this time around...Good grief! I wish I can think as easily as that! .

Izzie I find thinking hard too.....but just slowing down, taking a breath before pressing the shutter helps. You had planned some of your shots - that I find helps too and constitutes thinking don't forget.

[Jeff Blakemore]

this is the one that got me in your message this time around...Good grief! I wish I can think as easily as that! I guess that is a very good advice you gave me so far...can you please look at this post I recently have and tell me where I missed a mark or two? (Just the last edited one, not the original post...)

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/fo...5-new-post.htm

I can't seem to get it as well as you did with your shot here in this post. I have two black and white edited ones the foggy little duckie and Clark Bridge going to Illinois. If I had read your reply here before we went to Illinois, it would have helped even just a little bit...I will play some more on the pp for kicks in the morning...until my head hurts...

Thanks a lot for your insight...

I'm so glad that I can help Izzie. As side-note, I'm not formally educated in photography at all so hopefully I won't lead you astray. Everything I suggest will be based on personal learning experience & technique combined with what I've applied from what I do for a living, which is design & marketing. You'll never see me claim to be an expert!

I hope that others here that have a better handle on true technique and theory will help keep us on the path.

I glanced over the thread you linked to. I'll be able to give a good read later today. So far, it looks like there is some really great advice in there already. When I get a chance to read more in depth, I'll know if there's anything I can add that might be helpful.

I saw a second version of the edited bridge, but I don' think I saw the duck you were referring to. I saw some screen shots where someone was suggesting some edits, but not the shot itself. I may have missed it.

Are you shooting RAW? There are some tools in Adobe Camera Raw that really help in PP, and, of course, you have more flexibility in editing. Usually if I'm shooting anything besides my kiddos and casual family stuff, I'll shoot RAW. I'll be happy to walk you through my workflow sometime.

I'll be back later, gotta get some work done now!

[bnnrcn]

Hi Jeffrey Donald's suggested crop created a very nice image. I also like the other images, nice compositions and conversions. My favs are #2 and #3.

[Mike Buckley]

I like the crop that I suggested. However, this is the kind of scene that can be effectively displayed in many, many ways.

[Jeff Blakemore]

Thank you Binnur

[Jeff Blakemore]

Thank you Mike, I really do appreciate the suggestions from you and Donald. I enjoy exploring other options and opinions besides my own. I want to learn and grow even if I have to start seeing compositions differently.

I do still like the original the best, but I think that my opinion is in the minority LOL. I like the left edge with the small amount of sky/fence because it seems to let the composition "breath" a little (best way I can explain it). I do believe that if I get a chance to shoot it again, that I will compose so the window is better understood as the subject.

[tbob]

In the first shot you have a lot of texture in the clouds you are not using to full advantage. I shoot old farm buildings and I have come to the belief that on context/environment shots for of old buildings it helps to have a textured sky to place the building in context. I suspect in processing you could do lot with the clouds

Oh, and welcome to the forum as well

[Jeff Blakemore]

In the first shot you have a lot of texture in the clouds you are not using to full advantage. I shoot old farm buildings and I have come to the belief that on context/environment shots for of old buildings it helps to have a textured sky to place the building in context. I suspect in processing you could do lot with the clouds

Oh, and welcome to the forum as well

Thank you Trevor. I had a look at your 500px site when I commented on your photo earlier. Beautiful images. I love your subject matter as well as your style and technique!

I did pull some texture out of the clouds, but I have a bad habit of taking my processing too far so I've been trying to dial it back a little recently. Here are some of the same image. First one is a jpg straight from the camera (other than resizing for the post) and the second is midpoint in my workflow where I've enhanced the color and texture. If I intend to convert an image, I'll usually oversaturate some channels first so that I can adjust small nuances in some of the finer tones during the conversion. You can see more texture in the second, but I'm sure there is plenty more there that I could have grabbed. Due to the slight variation in tones in the clouds, I also lost some of the texture during the final conversion.

Here is a small selection of shots where I really attempted to capture the clouds and keep them intact if I did a conversion. Some of them I didn't post the color versions, but I tried to remember the ones where I did and include it as well.

https://flic.kr/s/aHskniP8vK

Unprocessed:


Mid-Workflow:

[Jeff Blakemore]

Yep, that's what I meant. More important than what I think, is what you think.

Donald... after I've stepped back and looked at it some more (after I saw it on my phone, and then came back and looked on my laptop), I think your crop is growing on me. I didn't see it at the time, but that open area on the left distracted from the chaotic lines and texture. I do think it has a claustrophobic feel to it with it cropped so tight, but at the same time I think I welcome that feeling because it's fitting for the subject matter. A 'trapped panic" if you will.

Thanks again for the suggestion.