Architectural shots - National Gallery of Canada

[Manfred M]

I took a few architectural images inside the National Gallery of Canada.








Both the lighting (mostly diffuse daylight) and the construction materials gave me an almost monochrome look to these two images. Both full-frame shots were taken with the f/3.5 24mm Nikkor PC-E lens (shifted to correct perspective).

[IzzieK]

It will be nice if you will convert the first one to B/W for the reason that that big smudge on the wall at the LHS will be less obvious...I like the neatness of the shot, the perspective and the people shows how big the place is. A mixture of curves and lines and corners too makes this shot both in #1 and #2.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[Manfred M]

Interesting thoughts Izzie, because these two were shot with the intention of doing a B&W (or monochrome). After I did the conversion, I went back to the colour originals because I found them more interesting. Same issue with the stains / repairs on the column; they actually popped out more in the B&W version. I also tried a sepia tone because I liked the warm colours of the floor in the original, but that was a bit too much of a good thing and didn't really enhance the modern look of the structure.

I looked at cropping out the column(s) more or less completely; including the two small stands on the right, but found that the balance in the image was lost. I also removed the markings in post, but in the end, went back to the versions where I left them in.

My own view on monochrome is that there has to be a compositional reason to go with that genre. The two drivers I look at most often is "simplificiation" of the scene or to give a "period" look. Yes, B&W does simplify, even these almost monochrome scenes, but I felt I lost more than I gained.

I left the original B&W conversion work in the .psd files. I generally always do this as a separate layer so I can easily flip back and forth with the two versions. Here they are, for comparison:

[Shadowman]

Nice conversions.

[Mike Buckley]

I prefer the color versions of both images because there are two primary sets of lines, one set enhanced by the warm tones and the other set enhanced by the cool tones. A less important issue in the second photo is that I immediately recognize the tree as a Christmas tree in the color version; not so in the monochrome version.

In the second image, there seems to be a very small part of a wall hanging on the far right side that I would prefer to be omitted because its colors and shapes are different from everything in the image.

[Manfred M]

In the second image, there seems to be a very small part of a wall hanging on the far right side that I would prefer to be omitted because its colors and shapes are different from everything in the image.

I struggled with that one for a bit too, Mike. There is a repeating pattern of doors on all along the right hand side, and when I take that bit at the edge out of the image, that pattern is broken. So, it is a bit of a kludge, but I find the image actually works better when I leave it in.

[IzzieK]

I have no problem with the monochrome versions here. I think they looked good too. I was just wondering if it will make a difference in #1 shot...I like both. Though I like the coloured version of the second shot with that little red thingie showing at the RHS because it breaks the monotony (I can't find the right word...) of the structure shot. And the Christmas tree too. Love that at the peephole...pity about that black stuff that prevent it from showing the whole tree though...

[bnnrcn]

I prefer the color versions for both of the images

[aagola7]

B&w looks better,,