Monochrome adventure - opinions please

[TonyW]

I tend not to favour monochrome versions but these two I think cannot be anything else. They are both non-standard views and might be considered to be complete rubbish but they have some appeal to my mind.

1. Light and shade

056A8233(2) by tonyw36, on Flickr

2. Beyond the black stump

056A7159(2) by tonyw36, on Flickr

[Kodiak]

Hey Tony,

I am very sensible to pictures like #1. …the graphic element and
their eloquent dynamic are enough arguments to justify the take.

Your title is not representing the design interplay between the lines,
volumes, textures and shapes but underlining a minor feature in the scene.
I would prefer to not see the neon tubes in there!

This photograph is an interesting playground for the eye… an eye candy!
Yep, a darn good shot!

[Mike Buckley]

If the first one was mine, I would crop at the top to eliminate about half of the image and some though less on the right to make the neon light and its reflection the primary subject. As it is now, the image leaves me wondering what the subject is. If you can easily return to the scene, there might be easily 10 viable compositions in that scene.

[TonyW]

Kodiak, thanks for the reply. The title was meant to be a bit of a pun, representing the light and the shade cloth above it as well as the idea of chiaroscuro.

Mike, I tried to crop as you suggested but could not get anything that satisfied me. I also tried a different crop eliminating the light which is perhaps better than my original.



To my mind, this retains more of the diversity of shades, lines and textures. There is still really no central subject though.

[Kodiak]

Nice frame, Tony! Try a "vertical" frame, play with but keep the neon out!

I think the tubes could be easily taken care of in PS.

[Shadowman]

Nice set, I had to look twice, thinking there was a shaft of light shining through the structure, made me review again to study each line, pattern, and shadow.

[IzzieK]

Interesting shot Tony, a real study. I was just about to say clone out the flourescent light but Daniel beat me to it, so there goes..and I like the stump too. I wonder how old is that one...

[DanK]

I really like the shapes and lines in #1, and they are well suited to b&w. I prefer the uncropped because of the lines. The second one doesn't work for me because so little of the stump is in focus.

[Mike Buckley]

The most recent version works much better for me because the subject is obvious and the lines are very attractive.

[TonyW]

Thanks again for all your comments Kodiak, John, Izzie, Dan and Mike. I had another go at a different crop, using the suggestion of a taller aspect ratio and I cloned out the light and its reflection. The cloning was more difficult than I expected and was not 100% successful because of the subtle gradients of tone.

Izzie, the stump is really a decades old fence post. Living where I do in the bush, I have to confess to an affinity with wood and trees, alive and dead. Not everyone shares my fascination.

I will have to leave it for a while now because I am losing my sense of perspective.

[Mike Buckley]

I still prefer the second version because I don't know what the subject is in the third one.

[dabhand]

I prefer the version in post #4 because to me everything in it seems to point to the barbed/razor wire which leads one to speculate as to why it is there.

steve

[Kodiak]

Hey Tony, this is a good version. Good PP work! … and, more importantly,
it still has this "playground" effect on me. Very cool!