B&W Trees

[Sam W]

I took this photo recently on a mountain hike suspecting that the color image edited to B&W would result in a pleasing photo. I only took one shot and kept hiking. I am happy with how it turned using just LR for PP. I do not own a tripod yet but I easily can see how that would make great improvements but might lengthen my hikes :0. I am probably posting too much here on CIC but the help I'm getting has been terrific and hard to resist.



Original:

[Mike Buckley]

Very nice conversion! It's a distinctive, viable presentation of the scene. My biggest concern is that the sky is so uniformly very black. It's so black that it lacks depth. Notice that the blue sky has variation in tonality that is lacking in the black sky.

[mknittle]

Very nice Sam,

[Sam W]

Very nice conversion! It's a distinctive, viable presentation of the scene. My biggest concern is that the sky is so uniformly very black. It's so black that it lacks depth. Notice that the blue sky has variation in tonality that is lacking in the black sky.

Thanks Mike - Just what I needed to know. I tried a bit to correct that below:

[Sam W]

Very nice Sam,

Thanks Mark!

[mknittle]

Thanks Mike - Just what I needed to know. I tried a bit to correct that below:

Better yet!

[Mike Buckley]

Much better, Sam! However, you've got the tonalities reversed. In the blue sky, the darker tones are at the top (which is how the sky always is). In your monochrome sky, the lighter tones are at the top. I have no idea how that happened.

[MrB]

I agree with Mike, and also add that it looks better to me when perspective distortion has been corrected, to make (the majority of) the trees vertical. I also like the colour version.

Cheers.
Philip

[IzzieK]

Yes, I like the edit better too Sam. And from the two versions, b/w and colour, I like the b/w better too.

[mugge]

The edit is much better, the colour version is just pretty, that is all
Cheers Ole

[Sam W]

Much better, Sam! However, you've got the tonalities reversed. In the blue sky, the darker tones are at the top (which is how the sky always is). In your monochrome sky, the lighter tones are at the top. I have no idea how that happened.

Mike, to me (an untrained eye) it seems that the lighter tones of the sky are to the side. In the update below I lighten the sky just by increasing the blue gray level. I also added some light vignetting. I attempted to adjust the perspective distortion that Philip mentioned.

[Sam W]

I agree with Mike, and also add that it looks better to me when perspective distortion has been corrected, to make (the majority of) the trees vertical. I also like the colour version.

Cheers.
Philip

Thanks so much for your suggestion. Until now I have never thought to experiment with the lens corrections in LR. I used the manual vertical adjustment in the update I posted to Mike's comments. I usually enable profile corrections but for this photo I did not see significant change so I did not apply them. I am glad you liked the colour version. Thanks again for the tip on perspective distortion. I don't know how many years I would have gone until I discovered them myself. Best regards, Sam

[Sam W]

The edit is much better, the colour version is just pretty, that is all
Cheers Ole

Thanks Ole, good to know. - Sam

[Sam W]

Yes, I like the edit better too Sam. And from the two versions, b/w and colour, I like the b/w better too.

Thanks Izzie, I appreciate your comments. Sam

[Mike Buckley]

Wonderful! The last version looks fine. Time to move on to your next conversion.

You mentioned that the lighter tones of the sky are at the side. You're right but notice that they're lighter only near the bottom part of the sky. The reason you notice them at the side is because the lower part of the sky appears only at the side.

There are two thoughts regarding the perspective control in a scene such as this one. Not correcting the distortion gives a sense of height, a sense that you are looking up to see the top of the trees. Correcting the distortion straightens the lines that are physically parallel in the physical scene. It's really a matter of personal choice as to which effect you prefer. Both effects look fine to me in this particular image.

[MrB]

That's it Sam - wonderful!

Cheers.
Philip

[Wavelength]

Excellent pair of images; both works well

[Dave Humphries]

Until now I have never thought to experiment with the lens corrections in LR. I used the manual vertical adjustment in the update I posted to Mike's comments. I usually enable profile corrections but for this photo I did not see significant change so I did not apply them.

Hi Sam,

To clarify (if not for you, then for others new to the game); the Lens profile corrections and the Perspective corrections are for two different things (causes) - they just happen to be in the same area of controls (in ACR and LR), because they both affect image geometry.

Personally, I always have Lens Profile corrections enabled, even if I can't actually see the effect, ditto the CA (Chromatic Aberration) on the Color tab - even if converting to mono, it may well make the image that bit sharper if it is on.

You decision to apply the vertical adjustment manually was wise, as was the decision not to over do it and make them all stand dead vertical.


I like the latest version best for that reason, although in that; the sky seems a little too pale now.

However, you've got the tonalities reversed. In the blue sky, the darker tones are at the top (which is how the sky always is). In your monochrome sky, the lighter tones are at the top. I have no idea how that happened.

and

In the update below I lighten the sky just by increasing the blue gray level. I also added some light vignetting.

Depending how it was applied, I wonder if the vignette was responsible for the apparent inversion of shading in the sky (e.g. if you were applying one that lightened the corners and edges of the shot), it could have overwhelmed the slight natural shading there.

[Sam W]

Wonderful! The last version looks fine. Time to move on to your next conversion.

You mentioned that the lighter tones of the sky are at the side. You're right but notice that they're lighter only near the bottom part of the sky. The reason you notice them at the side is because the lower part of the sky appears only at the side.

There are two thoughts regarding the perspective control in a scene such as this one. Not correcting the distortion gives a sense of height, a sense that you are looking up to see the top of the trees. Correcting the distortion straightens the lines that are physically parallel in the physical scene. It's really a matter of personal choice as to which effect you prefer. Both effects look fine to me in this particular image.

Mike it is great to know that the perspective is a personal choice in a scene like this. I'm not sure I passed the test of understanding/seeing the effect of the sky. I'll keep pondering it as I move onto my next conversion. In any event you have me sold on getting/keeping some depth there instead of none. This has been a very helpful exercise. Thanks again. Best regards, Sam

[Sam W]

Hi Sam,

To clarify (if not for you, then for others new to the game); the Lens profile corrections and the Perspective corrections are for two different things (causes) - they just happen to be in the same area of controls (in ACR and LR), because they both affect image geometry.

Personally, I always have Lens Profile corrections enabled, even if I can't actually see the effect, ditto the CA (Chromatic Aberration) on the Color tab - even if converting to mono, it may well make the image that bit sharper if it is on.

You decision to apply the vertical adjustment manually was wise, as was the decision not to over do it and make them all stand dead vertical.


I like the latest version best for that reason, although in that; the sky seems a little too pale now.



and


Depending how it was applied, I wonder if the vignette was responsible for the apparent inversion of shading in the sky (e.g. if you were applying one that lightened the corners and edges of the shot), it could have overwhelmed the slight natural shading there.

Dave, your advise to always enable lens profile & CA is a great tip as I am always struggling to get appropriately sharper PP. I agree that the sky could be a bit pale and I also think that the light vignetting is responsible for some of the apparent inversion of shading in the sky. Thanks for the complement for not overdoing the vertical adjustment. I did however, want Philip to know that the light bulb when on in my head based on his great suggestion. Best regards, Sam