The Old Ones

[flechtight]

Washington Pass, Washington

Canon 5D MK2, Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8L

[Mark von Kanel]

Hey Jon, nice pic, is there something specific you would like us to comment on?

[flechtight]

anything from composition to sharpness, still trying to find my nitch

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Jon,

I am perturbed by the shooting and tree angles -
a) the tree on the mid distance left seems straight and vertical
b) the main subject trees seems to lean outwards (divergent towards the top of frame, but then
c) those trees poking and leaning into the right side of frame just blow things

Given what the main subject is doing, I hesitate to suggest PP perspective correction.

You could certainly clone out the ones we can't see reach the ground, the upper two on right edge though.

Sharpness, viewed full screen, looks acceptable to me, it doesn't look soft, nor oversharpened, it might stand a little more, but it really isn't a problem when viewed full screen. There might be a case for using a lower threshold on the final sharpen though, I just get the feeling that lower contrast edges are softer than higher contrast ones; e.g. compare the mountains to the trees in the background.

Hope that helps,

[flechtight]

Dave, thanks for taking a good close look, that is the kind of helpful criticism I was looking for. As I step back and take a closer look, I should have cloned out the two trees poking in on the right as they add nothing to the pic. I am having a great time figuring out this wide angle lens, maybe my vanishing point set a little high sucking in the trees on the right a little much

[Mark von Kanel]

I just love playing with my 11-16 tokina for this sort of shot, in my opinion its a good shot worthy of hanging on a wall once you lose those pesky trees peaking in top right. would be interesting to see how it looked in B&W, with the contrast pumped up. I Think i might even try tone mapping for a slightly surreal look. just a couple of alternative that might be worth a try!!

[flechtight]

Here is a version with the trees on right removed, gamma bumped a bit and tried something I had never used before "puppet warp" and used it on the tree to the left to straighten it back up. Thanks for the suggestions, it has made me think about slowing down my proccessing and has introduced me to other options that I will play with more.

Jon

[flechtight]

One last version using Silver Efex Pro 2 Blue filter applied and contrast bumped up

[Harpo]

Personally, if the mountain in the background was looming larger and filled up more of the upper part, I would think B&W would look great in this particular image. Otherwise, the color version does it for me because of the gradient change of the blue from the top of the mountain to the top of the frame. Like what you did here Jon.

[elfbob]

I really like the "old ones" idea, but its the trees with foliage on the right that to my eye detracts from the scene's statement, especially the foliaged tree shadow cast on the foreground in front of the "old one's" base; there are enough green foliaged trees in the background & left to "convey" the image comparison without the otherwise "cluttered" apearance; trees are like people, not all of us stand straight & true especially as we get older & perhaps battered by nature's vagaries; these old trees are still standing ,albeit in their own characteristic poses which i would leave alone; i shoot with an eos 50D in RAW & process 1st in Lightroom 2.7; if i have had a "senior moment" & failed to capture what i had pre-visualized then i might be forced to enlist PSE 8 to correct any defects that "suddenly" appear after i have downloaded the images into my pc. i look at sharpening this way: if i'm using my tack sharp canon 70-200mm F4L USM lens & the raw image ain't sharp to begin with then its the "truck driver" not the "truck" that's suspect; i can "tweak" the raw image sharpness in conversion in lightroom, but i can't save something that should have been deleted. I have attempted shooting in L Fine Monochrome, but have trouble converting my ideas into what is recorded on the flash card, similarly i have tried converting RAW images into B & W with somewhat the same disappointing results; it would appear the "truck driver" needs more experience with these renderings.

[Mark von Kanel]

Love it, well done on the B&W, how do you get on with silver effex? thinking of buying it.

[Donald]

That, in my very humble opinion, moves it a few rungs up the ladder. A scene made for B & W if ever there was one. (From a fellow SEP2 user)

[Donald]

Love it, well done on the B&W, how do you get on with silver effex? thinking of buying it.

Mark

Download the trial version and make sure it works on your system. Lots and lots of people have had lots and lots of problems, whilst for others it's been no problem. And, so far as I'm aware, there still hasn't been a satisfactory explanation.

If you get it to function okay on your system, then it's a joy. It really, really does transform converting to B & W.

[Mark von Kanel]

Donald, thanks for that, i thought everything worked first time on MAC (NOT)!!!

[flechtight]

As Donald suggested, do the thirty day trial first. I love the program, endless possibilities Never had any issues at all ( knock on wood)
I am using 24"Mac, 8 gigs of ram, Snow Leopard 10.6.8, Aperture 3.1.3, CS5. I have not, probably will not upgrade to Lion or Aperture 3.2.1, Had major issues going to Aperture 3.2 so went back to 3.1.3

If it's not broken don't fix it

[flechtight]

I sure am having allot of senior moments lately, and I'm only 49. Hard to convey to the family, that sometimes one needs time alone so it is easier to stop and smell the roses than to be rushed on by the bush to the next point of interest