Stone Morel

[flechtight]

I've been busy going through 2013 Photo Library and came across this rock which reminded me of a Morel Mushroom, taken just up the road from Lee's Ferry, Grand Canyon National Park and decided it was a candidate for B&W conversion practice as the color version did not represent my vision, kind of blah.

As usual I will post the color version along with the conversion so you can see where I started and the end result.

Nik Efex2, CS5, contrast layers, Overlay layers and Multiply Layer make up this current version. CC's welcome

[tamccain]

The b&W is definitely more dramatic. I like it. I see you cloned out the truck on the left hand side - that's good too.

Edit: looks like you cropped out the truck. that's definitely a good thing.

[Donald]

Excellent piece of work on the B & W conversion. You've made a superb job of bringing out the tones, shapes and texture of the rock. I'm not normally a big fan of darkening up skies too much, but this is an example of where it works very well to strengthen the picture.

My compliments, Jon. That is a very good one.

[batmura]

The monochrome is stellar!

[WJT]

I'm with Donald on the conversion. I like a bit of drama and mood and this is very well done. A good choice of which picture to convert.

[chauncey]

In this scenario, as the rock is the subject, I might of selected it and PP'd it differently than the background. It's great as is, with the conversion and all, but I'm thinking it could be better....maybe.

[Ken Curtis]

I agree with William. The rock is the main subject matter. The sky and the mountains in the background are competing with the rock for the viewer's attention.

[flechtight]

Welcome to my learning curve as I explore B&W. Thank you all for the comments, yes chaunncey they all could be better...maybe. when you look at a photo and say enough? As I learn a new trick I want to go back and revisit other conversions to see if I can make it better, this could be along winter......

[flechtight]

thanks Ken, yes I see the points made, funny when I want great depth of field it's not there , when I should probably limit it, it's infinite. Maybe I'll play with a copy of it and see if I can get a decent Gassian blur back there. After all, this is all about learning and trying different ideas. The great thing is I don't have spend allot of money doing it over and over

[chauncey]

Concerning PP...I rarely finish it in one sitting, preferring instead to let it stew and digest for a while.

[pnodrog]

I like the overall composition and treatment and I am happy with the background range. However you might like to try and clone out most of the clouds on the right hand side as I think a dark sky would provide a better contrast with the rock.

[Downrigger]

The B&W is terrific but I wonder whether, if similar time and effort had gone into the image without B&W conversion, you might have arrived at something similarly nice. Agree with Chauncey and the rest who note that PP matures with repeated revisits.