This Black and White Stuff Is Infectious

[dje]

I've been fiddling with some shots I took in Melbourne recently and ended up with these B&W shots taken from the Princess Bridge. I'd appreciate your thoughts on how well they work thanks.

Dave

[Mike Buckley]

Conversions of this quality aren't just infectious; they're addictive. Nice toning in the last one as well!

Consider cropping the first photo on the left to eliminate the tall building and cropping the second photo also on the left to eliminate the foreground material.

[Donald]

It's good to welcome another convert.

[Downrigger]

Very nice. Each is toned slightly differently, and all very nicely.

[bnnrcn]

They all work very well I like #1 as it is. I would crop #2 from the vertical line on the rock on LHS. There is a lof of water in#3, so I wonder if it would also look nice in color .

[Mike Buckley]

It's good to welcome another convert.

No pun intended, right?

[Texas Dave]

I love the crisp, cool silver look of one and especially two.

For some reason I just don't enjoy the sepia toned look of three and would have preferred the same treatment of the previous conversions. Albeit a nice composition.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[dje]

Thank you Mike, Donald, Mark, Binnur, Dave and John for your comments.

Here are a couple of crops as suggested. I had actually done the second one before my original post but couldn't decide which I preferred. And just for you Binnur, here's a colour version of 3.

Dave interesting to hear your views on the sepia treatment of 3, I'm sure the non-sepia version would have been fine but I can't help but dabble with sepia sometimes !

Donald and Mike, the word "convert" is perhaps a bit absolute in my case. I still have one foot very firmly in the "colour camp".

Dave

[bnnrcn]

I like the cropped version of #1. IMO too much cropping on the RHS in #2 and that's why the image lost the feeling of vastness. I prefer the color version of #3 although it is also nice in B&W

[dje]

How's this one Binnur ?

[Mike Buckley]

I prefer the revised version of the first image and the second revised image of the second image over their corresponding originals.

Consider or not that a lot of people don't like sepia toning used on images that are modern rather than timeless. Even so, I'm not in that camp and I don't take that thinking by others into consideration.

[FootLoose]

I think the revised crops of the first two work well, Dave.

I prefer the black & white version of the 3rd. I would use the yellow / green sliders to pull the trees down a bit and thereby separate them from the buildings in the distance a bit more.

[dje]

Thank you for your further comments Mike and Greg. Greg I use SilverEfex for my conversions and I don't think it has colour sliders. I could probably do what you suggest in PS first though. Anyway, I will investigate. Or I could probably use a control point in Silver Efex to change the brightness of the trees.

Dave

[Donald]

Thank you for your further comments Mike and Greg. Greg I use SilverEfex for my conversions and I don't think it has colour sliders. I could probably do what you suggest in PS first though. Anyway, I will investigate. Or I could probably use a control point in Silver Efex to change the brightness of the trees.

Dave

Dave

If you scroll down the tools on the right hand side, you should come across the section 'Film Types'. Open that up and then open 'Sensitivity'. There they are. You can then make all sort of subtle (and not so subtle) adjustments to tone based on the colours in the original file. Great tool.

[Downrigger]

Good images seem to produce good discussions.

I still prefer the first as is... can see the sense of the criticism, but prefer the original nonetheless. What the original might benefit from, though, is a little tweak on the vertical (lens corrections, transforms, vertical, in LR) so to correct the lean of the high rise on the left edge. The re-crop of the second makes sense to me as it reduces the dominance of the large concrete forms. Maybe something in between would work too - they're sort of interesting. And for the third, B&W is my preference.

[dje]

Dave

If you scroll down the tools on the right hand side, you should come across the section 'Film Types'. Open that up and then open 'Sensitivity'. There they are. You can then make all sort of subtle (and not so subtle) adjustments to tone based on the colours in the original file. Great tool.

Thanks Donald, I've never delved into that area before. Good to know.

Dave

[dje]

Good images seem to produce good discussions.

I still prefer the first as is... can see the sense of the criticism, but prefer the original nonetheless. What the original might benefit from, though, is a little tweak on the vertical (lens corrections, transforms, vertical, in LR) so to correct the lean of the high rise on the left edge. The re-crop of the second makes sense to me as it reduces the dominance of the large concrete forms. Maybe something in between would work too - they're sort of interesting. And for the third, B&W is my preference.

Mark thanks for your thoughtful comments. From memory, I did apply perspective correction in PS on #1 but I may not have got it quite right. When I took the second shot, it was my intention to include those concrete forms but I can see that they were a bit dominant. I'll try an intermediate crop.

Dave

[John 2]

Three nice ones Dave. I prefer the first version of no.1. For me there is a sort of balance there between the two skyscrapers left and right which adds depth. I would crop it but only to balance up the number of arches in the bridge balustrade (to 2off). Prefer the second version of no.2. Not keen on the lamp poking up the centre FG but that's life. What I really like is the fact that the lead lines take you to the bridge arch and then there is the interest beyond. I agree with Mike on no.3. The mono and sepia conversion has added warmth to a scene that in colour looks a bit heavy. Finally, if you follow Donald's directions and use the tool to pull down the blue channel, you will be able to control the amount of definition in the sky. Worth doing. Welcome to the club.

[dje]

Three nice ones Dave. I prefer the first version of no.1. For me there is a sort of balance there between the two skyscrapers left and right which adds depth. I would crop it but only to balance up the number of arches in the bridge balustrade (to 2off). Prefer the second version of no.2. Not keen on the lamp poking up the centre FG but that's life. What I really like is the fact that the lead lines take you to the bridge arch and then there is the interest beyond. I agree with Mike on no.3. The mono and sepia conversion has added warmth to a scene that in colour looks a bit heavy. Finally, if you follow Donald's directions and use the tool to pull down the blue channel, you will be able to control the amount of definition in the sky. Worth doing. Welcome to the club.

Thanks for your comments John, much appreciated.

Dave