"Old Pioneer Shack"

[Edwin Harvey]

I came across this dilapidated old Pioneer shack on one of my trips into the Aussie countryside last week. I used a Canon 40D + Canon 70-200L IS lens , hope you like it?
Cheers........Edwin.



Same shack, but converted to B&W.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

The black and white for me - looks more interesting and ominous. Some of the areas look like they've gone a bit dark in the B&W conversion to me though so perhaps some tweaking on the blacks?

[Maritimer1]

I like that black and white, too. The photo itself makes me curious. I really want to see if there are any old tools or pieces of wagons in that lean to section.

[MiniChris]

I think you are losing too much detail in the darkest part of the shadows. You might want to mask those areas and pull some of that detail back into the image, especially nearer the edges.

[Edwin Harvey]

Malcolm & Chris.
Thanks for your comments on the black & white of the old house. This image looks great full screen on my Mac & has more detail showing in the shadowed areas. I have readjusted it using the shadow & highlighting tool in Elements. Please let me know if you approve.
Myra, I too would love to know what old relics are hidden away inside the old house. Somehow though I don't think the property owner would approve of me poking around.
Cheers.......Edwin.

[Donald]

Edwin

I agree with the point about trying to get a bit more detail into the very dark areas, particularly on that B & W version which I think is so full of atmosphere.

There are lots of ways to skin a cat - you could also achieve by applying a dodging technique (as in dodge and burn).

EDIT - Oh you've just done it as I was typing. But I think you could be more selective and keep the barn and the grass as they were in the original.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Much better I think but I agree with Donald about keep some of the elements closer to the original too.

It's just impossible to keep us all happy, isn't it?

[Pappadi]

B&W is good. The grass and the roof could go slightly darker, which will enhance the already interesting mood.

[Edwin Harvey]

I've used the burn tool as suggested by you Donald & darkened the rusty roof & grass a tad, let me know if I've got it right this time & yes you blokes are hard to please.
Cheers....Edwin.

[Donald]

I've used the burn tool as suggested by you Donald & darkened the rusty roof & grass a tad, let me know if I've got it right this time & yes you blokes are hard to please.

YES!

That, for me, packs far more of a punch. I would have liked to have made that image.

Again, the new Lightroom (just click on one of images) really comes into its own here. You can then just flick between the three versions and compare them.

[kdoc856]

Wow! I didnt realize the new lightbox did that- that is a most excellent addition. A thousand times easier to appreciate the evolution of processing adjustments. Every once in a while, I love technology

[Edwin Harvey]

I almost forgot that I had a burn tool in Elements, thanks for reminding me. Now I'm aware of its presence, I'll be using it more often. You're right Donald, the revamped version definitely does pack more punch. I also have Lightroom 2, would you recommend an upgrade to 3 & why? Thanks again for your very good advise.
Cheers.....Edwin.

[Jack R Mann]

black and white for me. good work thanks for the comparison, will help when having to make the choice b=w or color.

[Donald]

I also have Lightroom 2, would you recommend an upgrade to 3 & why?

Hopefully some of the LR users might see this and answer. I've never used it (I use the GIMP), so am not in a position to suggest whether 3 is a worthwhile upgrade from 2.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Hopefully some of the LR users migth see this and answer. I've never used it (I use the GIMP), so am not in a position to suggest whether 3 is a worthwhile upgrade from 2.

I'm not really in a position to answer as I've only used LR 3 - never had 2. However i believe the noise reduction tools are significantly better. There's also some videos on the Adobe website that I believe highlight some of the new features.

[kdoc856]

I believe Mal is correct, that a major focus of LR3 was improved noise reduction. It's not quite as potent a tool as Dfin 2.0, but it allows easier customization of outcome, and more input when deciding the grey zone between noise reduction and slight focus softening

[Edwin Harvey]

Thanks all, for your comments re; image adjustments & advise on Lightroom3.
Cheers........Edwin.

[Kathy O]

you tube also has some great video's on different features of lightroom 3

[ScoutR]

Edwin, I recently upgraded from LR2. I had to in order to have support for the new camera. Noise reduction and sharpening (even though I don't know how to use it properly yet) are MUCH better. There is also a new import window with more options and I believe there is a watermarking tool in the new version and many more presets than available with version 2. The only thing that I'm impressed with, meaning I'll find it useful, is the improved NR and Sharpening. The other stuff is just a different way of doing something that was working fine to begin with.

Make sure you check system requirements though. I am finding things a lot slower since upgrading. I'm not sure whats going on, it could be something else messed up on my computer, but it seems to be a bit of a drain on resources, and I have and Intel i7 CPU and 8Gb RAM.

Wendy

[Edwin Harvey]

Thanks for that Wendy. I had a look at a few tutorials on YouTube & going by what I saw there & what you have said, I will do an upgrade to 3.
Cheers......Edwin.