Rocks in B&W

[batmura]

Riva in B&W by batmura, on Flickr

[AB26]

Murat,
I like this, very much. It might be just a tad to dark, but that can be my screen.

[batmura]

Andre, thanks for your comment! It is a bit darker than most of my stuff, but it was intentional this time. Let's see how the other experts will comment on it.

[Mike Buckley]

I like everything about it. This is the type of scene that can look entirely different depending on the choices made when adjusting the curve and dodging and burning. The choices used here are very dramatic.

[AndrewMcD]

I have only the most vague of notions how such an image is made so that eliminates me from providing any expert commentary. I was struck by the darkness; I found it quite effective. I quite like the composition. I would be curious to see what this capture looked like before processing.
Andrew

[dje]

Hi Murat

I think your pp treatment of this is very effective. As Mike says, very dramatic. The shot also has a great sense of depth. Nicely done.

Do you use Silver Efex ? If so, did you use Amplify whites and blacks ?

Dave

[batmura]

Andrew, thanks so much for your comment! I appreciate it. I shot this image in the middle of the day (around 2 p.m.) while I was scouting new locations for future photos. I live in Istanbul and I like shooting rocks, so I mostly drive north to the Black Sea where the waves are amazing. I did some test shots to see how the rocks would look but the photos were pretty bland and uninteresting. So I decided to convert them into B&W and tweak contrast and brightness a bit and share my result with you guys. I'll be driving back to this location before winter for a sunset shoot and hopefully share a more colourful photo with a more dramatic sky with you. Thanks!

[Polar01]

That white around those rocks in the middle just draw you in. I am a little afraid that I tend to light my B&W on the dark side just like this.

Cheers:

Allan

[batmura]

Hi Murat

I think your pp treatment of this is very effective. As Mike says, very dramatic. The shot also has a great sense of depth. Nicely done.

Do you use Silver Efex ? If so, did you use Amplify whites and blacks ?

Dave

Hi Dave! Thanks for your comment. It's always good to hear your opinion. Yes, I use Silver Efex Pro 2 for my B&W conversions. I have been experimenting with darker skies and brighter subjects/focus points as per some great forum members' feedback. I did amplify the whites in the front and centre and go almost overboard with the darker sky and vignetting. I've been told that "the eye is attracted to the lighter areas of a B&W image, so light regions near the picture's edge tend to lead the viewer out of the frame and away from the subject. So B&W's often benefit from a little "edge burning" where the edges are darkened and hold the image together (that's the vignetting in the Effects panel)" and I find this view definitely holds true for me.

[batmura]

That white around those rocks in the middle just draw you in.

That is exactly what I was trying to achieve, Allan. Thanks for sharing your view on this. I've got a long way to go when it comes to B&W.