Contrast

[wrench]

Here is another old shot that I took a few years ago. The shot was taken after the sun had gone down and I loved how the dead tree was silhouetted against the bright sky. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Contrast by Big00Ern, on Flickr

[Mike Buckley]

I like this a lot. I would like it even more if the gradient in the sky would be gradually darker or if the sky was left as is and cropped about halfway between the treetops and the frame.

[Manfred M]

I'm with Mike on this one Ernie - All that sky over the trees does not do anything for the image, and I would be tempted to crop it severely. The same argument can be made for the very left of the image, you might want to consider a crop as well.

I understand where Mike is coming from with the gradient, but I would be more tempted to see if there was any detail in the sky that can be pulled out of the shot..

[wrench]

Thanks for the quick feedback!

I think I was trying to go for a wide open feeling with the original composition, but I took your advice and made the changes you guys have suggested.

IMG_0845 by Big00Ern, on Flickr

I agree it looks better. DPP has filter effects in it's monochrome format. I used the green filter effect in the original above. It seems to have a contrast boosting affect to it that I liked. For the edited version here, I changed to the red filter. It still seems to boost the contrast, but there is more of a gradient in the sky instead of the flat white as the original.

I welcome your feedback and comments.

[Mike Buckley]

Terrific improvement! Great idea of Manfred's to crop on the left.

[Mike Buckley]

It just occurred to me that this is a rare situation in which desaturating might produce better results than converting using a color filter. You might want to try that method.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Ernie, I like the cropped image very much

[Geoff F]

There is another image to be had here, Ernie. Try cropping from the right side and top, I'm not saying it will necessarily be better; but different.

[wrench]

There is another image to be had here, Ernie. Try cropping from the right side and top, I'm not saying it will necessarily be better; but different.

Were you thinking of something like this?

Contrast by Big00Ern, on Flickr

That's funny because when I first started looking at this, I wish the bush on the right in the original picture wasn't there.

[bnnrcn]

Last crop is a very good composition Ernie. I like the grey clouds along the lower frame. You can even crop just a little bit more from the top. I would hang this version on my wall if it was mine

[Geoff F]

Yes, that was the crop which I was thinking about.

Probably one of those scenes where everybody would crop very slightly differently.

[wrench]

Last crop is a very good composition Ernie. I like the grey clouds along the lower frame. You can even crop just a little bit more from the top. I would hang this version on my wall if it was mine

Thank you!

[wrench]

Yes, that was the crop which I was thinking about.

Probably one of those scenes where everybody would crop very slightly differently.

Thanks for the help! I've never gave much thought to how a picture is cropped before. Clearly it makes a huge difference.