black & white Spring I

Here's the original file, unmanipulated. Playing with different versions of B&W & Tritones/Quadtones & etc.

 

Thanks for looking. Let me know about the conversion. Boring? Too

dark? Not detailed enough? Etc.

This conversion appears to have happened on the Road to Emaus! [Couldn't resist the little Biblical joke - sorry.]

 

I think it's a wonderful conversion - much better than anything I've attempted. My attempts don't rate posting, that's for sure.

 

The conversion is, in my opinion, much better than the original, but you already knew that. I think it is not boring - rather the blossoms stand out in clear relief, the leaves are nicely balanced, the background suitably subdued.

 

I do not think it is too dark - I think the blanace is excellent. If you feel it is too dark then perhaps a new adjustment layer of curves would be appropriate in order to lighten some of the shadows.

 

Again, I think you've done a wonderful job here. Congratulations.

Great to see how you have turned a rather uninteresting picture into a beautiful black and white. I am not sure how you have managed contrast and tones, but it certainly worked out well!

Jayme,

 

I think the conversion worked out very well. The flowers seem to be more pronounced, as are the highlights on the stems. Overall a very aesthetically pleasing shot.

Jayme: This is really impressive tonal work. Lovely background blur, as well. I always find it a bit magical that eliminating color forces our eyes to explore tones and quality of line. Strong work.

Thanks all, played & played & overlayed & etc. Combination of a tritone & a filtered B&W then selectively combined. It even surprised me :)

I think you made a good picture into something elegant and artistic. Amazing what tones and contrast can do for a photo. Very nice, Jayme!

The black & white is better than the color version. It has more character and charm.

I love the b/w it really makes the shot pop! Nice composition!

Thanks Kim, Howard & Jason. It's rather mundane in color, but I did like the tritone effect.

I like this. The composition works well -- I like how my eye keeps shifting back and forth between the flowers. And B&W is a beautiful, welcome change from spring colors, another, more subtle way to present spring.

Jayme - once again a most elegant presentation, with the toned version clearly surpassing the colored one. Having said that...I fear that you may have oversharpened the flowers as (at least on my screen) there is a string dark line around the edges, synonimous of exactly this effect.

Doug- You are right :) I just can't seem to hit upon a "save for web" that works best with large files. RAW file. I've sharpened before I downsize, I've sharpened after I downsize, (just for web use only) both have their problems & advantages. My only solace is that the real print (not sharpened & aprox. 14x11) looks OK. Web compression on PN seems to change frequently. Some people are masters of web images, I'm definitely not. However, when I put an image up, I usually have printed it first & am satisfied with it.

 

But you are right. Usually I upload a much larger image & this helps with this problem once you look at the "large" file. Unfortunately, with the new "rate recent" the larger images are so compressed they look really awful, so I decided not to waste my time anymore & just load smaller files. Thus, if the larger image were present, the sharpening artifact should be absent.

Very nice conversion, Jayme. The multi-tone works very nicely. The shallow d.o.f. during capture is also key to its success.

to your original question: the B&W conversion is very good. I just think that the tonal range is a bit flat. What I mean, the tones are great and the contrast is good. But consider dodging the subject a bit, maybe also burning parts of the background. I am attaching a quick and dirty example of what I mean.

 

I also think that the flowers are a bit too far away from each other and that, IMO, makes the composition a bit uncomfortable (that is what Chris was saying about going from one flower to the other). A bit more space would have helped.

 

Just some thoughts.

Thanks Alejandro. It does make a difference. I have not printed this one yet & your suggestions may very well be what this image needs. After I print this one the first time, I'll let you know.

 

Anyone but me find that their monitor (no matter how well calibrated the color) still is different from the actual print. I use the first printing to adjust the image. Sometimes I have to print it 3 or 4 times until I am satisfied.

Fine art Jayme. Simple yet elegant and works well in sepia here.