Arch

Okay, I did some radical work with the perspective here. I also boosted the sharpness in the stones. I am still working with the sky ... but aside from that, what do you think? I keep coming back to the spot at about ten o'clock on the arch ... it seems to blend into the wall behind it. What can I do about that? Any comments are greatly appreciated!

Any comments or ratings are appreciated!! :-)

Lou Ann, I suggest you play with curves. Also, I would crop out the white space at the top of the arch and some of the left side of the wall. Now that's just from my perspective. One more thing, try it in Sepia and see what happens.

I agree with Howard's assessment. Burning in some areas might help. too...

The tree touching the arch at 10 o'clock is a distraction as you say. Here it is with the tree moved a little for comparison. I have played around with levels as well. Notice - untouched drop shadow!

Thanks, Colin - especially for preserving the drop shadow! :-) I like the cut back tree. It's less distracting...

Lou Ann, I filled in the space of sky above the arch. Hope you don't mind my working with your image. Cheers, Sondra

I never mind when y'all play with my images ... it gives me ideas. I was reluctant to just chop off the top white part, because I didn't want to come too close to the dragon sign (which is actually a gold colored dragon on a red background). You've offered a good compromise. Thanks!

It is a good composition, and I like best Sondra's treatement( even Colin's as well.), there are more mid tones than in the original so it is possible to see better the different parts of the construction. I check the levels in every image, you can correct a lot by correcting them.nice place to photograph. Pnina

Magnifico trabajo en B/W. bello encuadre y gama de grises perfecta.. un cordial saludo.

I like the image and its compo but agree with Colin and Sondra about the need to work a bit on it. I explain below what I did.

I made a careful selection of the sky. Even the portion above the arch, which I agree would be better removed (no problem with the coat of arms being closer to the top) and then gave it a very low feathering.

Worked in the unselected area with selective colours, increasing blacks in blacks and reducing blacks in neutrals. Then increased whites in whites.

Colin... version look interesting.

Nice work Lou Ann.

The only critic I would do on this shot is that it is almost in the same tones of grey about everywhere. In this respect, Alberto's suggestion seems to me the best.

I think Sondra's version works good since it simplify the framing of the scene.