Monochrome Mini Competition #27

[ScoutR]

Thanks Wendy, it was a little difficult balancing the dark and light areas while maintaining the drama. I may have another go with some layers to see if I can improve. The location is a few miles from me, so easy to try the same at another time with another sky.
I do have difficulty deciding what will look good in Black & White though. Maybe there are some 'rules' I've missed?

I don't know about rules but Donald and many of the other B&W specialists here swear by this book. I plan to get it as soon as I can. I have other books by Michael Freeman and they are quite good. I have trouble seeing in B&W also and this has been highly recommended as the book to help in that area.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide...9262427&sr=8-7

This location looks like a really good spot. I notice you have a colour version in one of the other comps that I really like too. If it was close to me, I'd be going back many time. I do love the dramatic sky in both of the shots you have entered, but I know from experience how hard it can be to keep from crossing the line.
Actually the shot entered here, looks fine to me, I liked it right from the start, but when it did not get the votes, I started analyzing to see why, and the only thing I could come up with was the technical issue of blown highlights. On my screen it does not look bad at all.

Wendy

[carregwen]

It was a little difficult balancing the dark and light areas while maintaining the drama. I may have another go with some layers to see if I can improve. The location is a few miles from me, so easy to try the same at another time with another sky.

Mike,

I do a lot of silhouettes/half-silhouettes. I find it best in a shot situation like yours to get the fastest shutter speed using the camera light meter, then switch from AV to TV (shutterspeed) mode and set that speed or slightly slower. That makes the brightest area well-exposed, and throws the silhouette subject into a darker shape. If you don't want a full silhouette for the main subject then use 'fill light' in CS RAW edit to bring out more detail in the dark areas. If you are close to the subject (the mill in your case) you could also try some gentle fill-flash, which will help lift the subject but shouldn't affect the sky.

I do have difficulty deciding what will look good in Black & White though. Maybe there are some 'rules' I've missed?

Without colour, the various elements in a shot need a good strong shape that gives definition to the whole shot. You also need a good tonal range, not just via Photoshop, but when you actually shoot it. The actual subject matter is not so important.

[arith]

A first try at the monochrome mini-competition.



D300s, 16-85 VR @19mm, 1/60s, f11, Aperture Priority, ISO200, spot metering. PP with Elements 6.
C&C welcomed.

I like this; it is the sort of thing I'm practising without the silhouette. I noticed all my images are spot on exposure wise now and yet all get blown mostly red or yellow by PP in Topaz, but the sky slightly blown looks good. It is pretty darn hard to do and avoid the silhouette considering I haven't managed to do an HDR with my new lens yet, but I don't think I need to with Topaz anyway.

Mine are a lot more subtle and I would have done most of the windmill and relied on sheer size for drama, but I think this is brilliant.