Doorway

[Richard24]

Canon EOS450D, 18-55mm lens @28mm, f4, 1/3 sec. Some PP in PSE, converted to black and white, levels adjusted.

Comments always welcome.

Thanks,

Rich

[cneedha]

Rich,
This is a great subject but everything looks 'flat' to me. What was the lighting like when you made the exposure?
Chris

[bleys]

I'd have to agree with Chris on this one. Your subject is beautiful but something's happening with this exposure. Was it taken midday?

[Geoff F]

Rich, What method did you use for conversion to B & W?

Possibly you are just using the green channel, or mostly the green; which has caused a slight loss of contrast. I would expect that a good range would be needed to 'lift' the image slightly. Not a lot more required, it is almost right; and there are several ways to just add that little bit of extra pop.

As your shutter speed is 1/3 sec at F4, I assume the light was rather poor at the time.

[bleys]

As your shutter speed is 1/3 sec at F4, I assume the light was rather poor at the time.

Heheh, should have noticed that.

Do you have a colour version of this picture, Rich? If you do we might be able to help you make a better looking B&W version. It seems to me like this picture has the elements needed for a great B&W, but needs some PP adjustment.

[Ashwin]

Probably taken with TOP LIGHT
To improve it Needed some PP... if you like

[pwnage101]

Tried adding contrast without losing too much detail, and threw in some green. It's an interesting picture indeed! well done. Although, I think my modification is a little overdone, now that I think about it.

[Richard24]

Thanks for your comments, sorry for the late reply. You're right, the lighting conditions were not great, it was a grey January day! Looking at your efforts, I agree it does need a boost in contrast. I used elements to convert to black and white, but I'm still learning and my PP skills are not always brilliant.

This is the original file if anyone is interested. Sadly only a jpg, sorry.



I think I may well have to revisit and photograph this again on a day with better light. Will post the results when I do.

Rich

[Ashwin]

Thanks for your comments, sorry for the late reply. You're right, the lighting conditions were not great, it was a grey January day! Looking at your efforts, I agree it does need a boost in contrast. I used elements to convert to black and white, but I'm still learning and my PP skills are not always brilliant.

I think I may well have to revisit and photograph this again on a day with better light. Will post the results when I do.

Rich

with little contrast and sharpness added

[Donald]

Rich

I think I may well have to revisit and photograph this again on a day with better light.

Perhaps. But I don't think that your first posting was that far off the mark. This has a lovely, C S Lewis(ish) feel of childish mystery and intrigue - 'What lies behind that door?'. I don't think it wants the bold and brash treatment. It's about subtlety. That's why working with the grey tones, rather than going for blacks and whites, suits it, I think.

Here's another take on it for you to consider.

• GIMP's Octave Sharpening
• Midtone levels moved across to the right
• Converted with GIMP's G'MIC Channel Mixer
• A Platinum Tone
• Orton Effect (opacity down to 80%)
• Painted on a vignette
• Frame