Hammock In The Woods B&W Conversion

[AndrewMcD]

While tromping through wintry woods I came across this hammock; apparently abandoned in more pleasant times. I thought I would try a B&W conversion as it was the bright white in the grey woods that caught my attention. I've essentially no idea about the nuances of doing effective conversions so I just went through the various Light Room presets and decided the high contrast blue filter black & white conversion came close to the feel I wanted. Any advice on how to approach B&W conversions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Andrew

[Donald]

A good idea. Well seen and, I agree, seems ready-made for a B & W.

Any advice on how to approach B&W conversions would be greatly appreciated.

A good starting point is, I think, the CiC tutorial on the subject - https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...lack-white.htm. This gives you a good introduction to the concepts and fundamentals of converting to B & W.

I don't think the tutorial goes into Dodging & Burning to lighten and darken different parts of the image. I think, with this one, that I'd have looked at a bit of dodging on those main trees in the foreground to lighten them up, in order to make them stand out a bit more from the background. Other than that - a good one.

[Clive Kirby]

I think this is a great image and you were absolutely right to move to black and white. It's a shame you didn't have a chainsaw handy to deal with the tree in the foreground - ha ha!
regards
Clive

[AndrewMcD]

Donald -
Thanks for the comments, I'll have a go at lightening those trees. I thought I had looked on this site for a conversion tutorial but I missed it; thanks for the reference.

Clive-
Thank you for responding and, yes, I do believe my next piece of photographic gear will be a chainsaw!

Andrew

[Shadowman]

Very nice. If you have the opportunity you should try some long exposures with a model for a ghostly effect.

[Geoff F]

Clive-
Thank you for responding and, yes, I do believe my next piece of photographic gear will be a chainsaw!

Andrew

Just a thought, but would a crop from the right side to remove most of the offending tree be an easier option!

Then use a different size ratio or also lose something from the bottom?