Project 52 by Bob R

[Wendy Stanford]

Hi Bob, I like what you did with the image, the toned down lights and hot spots are a great improvement.
The clock, great detail and the image is very clear.
Look forward to more of your B&W

[SpiderBob]

Week 3

So I was looking at some old pictures of "Old Pasadena, CA" and I thought how about a new old picture. The one I looked at was in s sepia, but I don't want to be like someone else so here is a go. Please, bring on the comments.

OH, I see something already, my perspective is off, I'll have to work on that as soon as I get some time.

[SpiderBob]

Had to fix the Vertical plane. I also used just a tad "unsharp image"

[SpiderBob]

Week 4:
So I decided to take a walk in our concrete jungle to see what interesting lines I could come up with. Well....I came up with none that were straight. I left the bit of street in the lower right to give a sense of size. I had trouble blending some of the grays but stayed away from too much contrast. Not sure where to go with this one from here.

[SpiderBob]

Before someone catches me on my hot spot, here it is reduced, actually I had to do a lot of cloning and paint brush, then had to transfer each rivet down the stainless steel panels as well. Hope this is better. I also reduced contrast to bring up the distant mountains in the lower right.

[Fit]

Disney gives you so many interesting perspectives. Get a chance to shoot indoors when empty if you can.
Wondering about a crop or PP to eliminate the street scene and hill in the background? But I like the shot's qualities.

[Fit]

And I'd probably take out the light fixture bottom left and maybe bring the bottom of the crop up a bit more?

[SpiderBob]

Well actually I left the hill and the street scene to give the impression of the size of the building as many people don't know what it is.

But I do like the softer look

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Well actually I left the hill and the street scene to give the impression of the size of the building as many people don't know what it is.

But I do like the softer look

May be an early morning shot when the people aren't around? I like the building- what is it?

[SpiderBob]

May be an early morning shot when the people aren't around? I like the building- what is it?

Early moring, unless before sunup, would be out of the question when the sun hits the stainless. The heat it gives off is unreal, even in winter. It is the Walt Disney Concert Hall designed by Frank Gehry.

[SpiderBob]

Did some work on the bottom, took out the street light, people, calmed it down you might say. I still like the fact it gives size to the picture.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

That works. Nice job!

[SpiderBob]

Week 5 (I think) well almost Feb. I decided it was time to move on from architecture (although I sure I'll come back to it) and as we are headed to spring how about a backlighted Bird of Paradise. I really think the color version has it's merit as well, but this is the wrong place for that.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

I had to remind myself of your goal to shoot B&W. I'm wondering if a Bird of Paradise has enough texture to hold a viewer's interest?

[Sam Smith]

I have to say very nice image. I also think that the pavilions give a sense of scale.

The Bird of Paradise I think would work in color but not so much in B&W, I agree with Mal that it doesn't have enough texture, also my natural senses want to see the color.

[SpiderBob]

I had to remind myself of your goal to shoot B&W. I'm wondering if a Bird of Paradise has enough texture to hold a viewer's interest?

I had thought that too, but I really didn't go for the true B&W with "true Black and a White". I left it more subdued in grey tones. I was hoping that the flower would take on a different look this way and interest viewers. Perhaps you are right though. I'll go for a new walk in a different direct next week.
Thank you,
Bob

Sam, if you want to see the color version go to Macro flowers. It is colorful. You know, I got to agree with you guys, the flower was not a good choice.

[SpiderBob]

Week 6

Back to some architecture, seems I keep returning to this. Or perhaps I'm trying to prefect this before moving on. So....please comment. This is taken down a set of stairs that go into the bows of the subway system. I waited to get no people this time so I don't have to clone them out. I was intrigued by the light at the end of the tunnel not sure what it was, as I did not take the trip down the stairs .

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Looks pretty good to me. Only a couple of minor things -

The horizontal lines of the stairs against the bottom edge of the frame aren't in alignment. I'm not sure if it's distortion or it needs a rotation - or both ( I can't tell from the other lines in the photo). At the bottom of the stairs the pattern has a line that isn't symmetrical that I'd think about cropping out - purely because everything else in the photo is symmetrical.

A good range of tones and texture otherwise and great perspective composition.

[SpiderBob]

Thank you for the comment Mal. I straightened the frame up to the right 2.25 degrees. However, the pattern is off on the bottom due to a ticket machine attached to the wall at the bottom of the stairs. Perhaps, I should try to remove the machine as opposed to the pattern as it is centered. Just looks off center due to the ticket machine. I think this is what you were referring too?

[SpiderBob]

After referring to the grid, I did some more work, skewing mostly. Now the top step, I can't seem to straighten that one up without changing other lines in the picture. I'll have to work with that more.