Passing On

[selig1656]

P5217618 GA4 by Raymond Friedman, on Flickr
P5217644 edited by Raymond Friedman, on Flickr
P5217644 GA4 by Raymond Friedman, on Flickr

[Manfred M]

These are interesting images, but the scenes are very busy and and there is nothing that the viewer can easily lock on to visually. There are many distracting elements in the shots; including how the light contributes to the images.

You might try simplifying your framing in order to create a stronger image.

You also seem to flip back and forth between colour and B&W. Presenting the viewer with two versions of the same shot is a bit of a cop-out on your part. Which version works best for you and why is that? Once you start to understand this, you will be more focused in your image making.

[xpatUSA]

I agree with Manfred as to clutter and main subject. In the above, the stones with Celtic-style crosses could be made the main subjects - So: quickly and crudely cropping, background blurring and toning down the bright shrub gets something like this:



Also reduced the green cast and added brightness, contrast and USM to the foreground stone.

That's the trouble with 'lockdown' - too much time to mess around with other people's stuff ...

[selig1656]

Manfred, definitely not a cop-out, I always shoot in color than convert, I value all the great input to learn and further make adjustments after all this is not about collecting likes nor votes at least for me there are many other groups for that.I do agree with your other assessments you have pointed out.

[Manfred M]

Manfred, definitely not a cop-out, I always shoot in color than convert, I value all the great input to learn and further make adjustments after all this is not about collecting likes nor votes at least for me there are many other groups for that.I do agree with your other assessments you have pointed out.

Raymond - sorry that I was not clear enough. I think you have missed the point I was trying to make.

In my experience, photographers tend to prefer either B&W or colour. That doesn't mean that they exclusively are drawn to one genre or the other, but they tend to prefer working in one over the other. It sometimes takes some time to figure that out.

Most competent photographers that I know will make the colour vs B&W decision before they even lift the camera to their eye. They even compose the same scene slightly differently if they take it both ways. They then follow through when they post-process.

You seem to be trying to move ahead without committing yourself. I find that I have seen very few images that work equally well in both colour and B&W. Until you start making a call on which way to go and working through it from capture through to posting the final image, you are not going to get on top of this skill. By the way, there is not necessarily a right or wrong answer here.

Personally, I would have gone B&W here. It's a busy scene and B&W often ends up simplifying the image, which is usually a good approach. The other issue is that you are taking it in an area where the light is coming through the leaves in the trees, which gives everything a green tinge. B&W solves this issue as well.

If you look at your colour version, the white tombstones have a green tinge to them. If you correct them to be white, as Ted did, you will often find that there is a magenta cast on some of the other parts of the image (as in Ted's version). Yes, this can be corrected, but it will take a lot of work. B&W is an elegant solution to this issue.

[DanK]

I don't entirely agree with Manfred. IMHO, it's entirely reasonable to change one's mind about whether an image should be color or B&W after the fact. I almost always shoot while assuming color but change to B&W for any number of reasons.

However, I agree with Manfred that there should be reasons for the choice. I have sometimes switched to B&W after the fact for Manfred's final reason: complex color casts that I have difficult correcting. More often, I change for compositional reasons--for example, deciding that lines and textures are the most important parts of the image and that color contrasts are either less relevant or distracting.

So, in my opinion, the key is figuring out your reasons for preferring one or the other. I wouldn't ask people which they prefer, when you can't decide. I would ask them why they prefer one over the other. Then you can decide whether you agree.

[Manfred M]

I don't entirely agree with Manfred. IMHO, it's entirely reasonable to change one's mind about whether an image should be color or B&W after the fact.

Dan - I agree on that point. My own experience is that I change my mind vary rarely; probably in the order less than 5% of the time.

[DanK]

PS: I can't read the EXIF from these images. however, they look like you used a narrow aperture (large f/stop number) because the depth of field is very deep. Seems to me that the second one might have worked better with a wide aperture/narrower depth of field.

[Wavelength]

With the presumed permission of Raymond, i have a crop of his image; no other changes

[selig1656]

Thanks, Wavelength this is my crop a long with a few adjustments please comment on both blk/wht pics.P5217644 Ga7 edit cambr by Raymond Friedman, on Flickr
pic #2

P5217618 GA4 edit camb by Raymond Friedman, on Flickr
The color capture I'm not sure I desire to change it as personally I like the vast details in it.

[selig1656]

I so appreciate your knowledge and time that you freely offer to me. Thanks!!! Manfred for the friendship and clarity.