Eden, NY Cemetery - Horizontal, Wide, B&W - Please view "larger"

Same shot, different post-processing. Susan Stone suggested I try B&W with these cemetery shots, and I like how they came out. Don't ask me what I did ... some wacky combination of experimenting with the Red Channel and the IR command in the "Channel Mixer" dialog box as well as messing with contrast levels. I like the contrasts in the sky and the textures in the trees and leaves. Your thoughts?

Any comments or ratings are appreciated. Please view this image

"larger" for the best effect!

very ver beautiful shot regards

Hey, Lou Ann, have you tried the 'B&W' sliders in 'layers' in CS3? I find it incredibly flexible and creative; you can push the sliders about willy-nilly until you find a pleasing combination. Another terrific alternative that I use about half of the time is the black and white conversion in the Adobe Camera Raw feature in Bridge. Give it a whirl. I like the contrasts and tones in this shot, particularly those associated with the trees. Have a good Thanksgiving holiday, Lou Ann. Cheers! Chris

The bigger the better with this image. And talk about dramactic, it's ghostly, the sky is a perfect backdrop for the huge old tree and some of the headstones have a eerie glow to them. Changes the "feel" of the comp totally and the bridge in the distance adds some more graphic interest, sorta balances the dark side. Nice experiment Lou Ann.

Thanks, Susan - I have to tell you that even "larger" doesn't do it justice. You should see this shot on my wide screen. I love it! :-)

 

Chris - I will have to look for those sliders ... I don't recall having seen them before. And, to use Adobe Camera Raw, don't you have to be shooting in RAW to start with? (I would just have to assume.........)

Yup, you do need to shoot in camera raw...Hint, hint, hint...you need to start shooting in raw, Kiddo! You will be blown away with the latitude and flexibility it provides. No more procrastination! Now you have a homework project over the Thanksgiving holiday; read up on raw! Have a great holiday, and stay warm! Cheers! Chris

Hi Chris - I've been reading a bit here and there about RAW ... and it sounds to me like you take a photo in RAW and it's a huge file and takes up LOTS of file space then change it to jpeg to work in it. I have a lot more to figure out about it, but because I'm not a teacher any more, I don't get a Thanksgiving "break" so to speak. Spending 24/7 looking for work............

In a nutshell, Lou Ann; for example, with my 8mp Olympus E-500, the raw file is typically 13mb in size. I make non-destructive adjustments in camera raw (16-bit) and then save as a PSD file (also 16-bit); which can range in size, depending upon the layers and adjustments made, between 35mb and 90mb in size. When I am done, and ready to change the mode to 8-bit, sharpen, tone, and frame, I flatten the image and do my last touches and save a JPEG file one for the web (PN) and then one as a 10x7 high quality JPEG. So my workflow is really in three major stages: (1) Adobe camera raw in Bridge; then (2) into PS as a PSD; and then finally (3) the JPEG format, both for web and printing. I hope this helps. Cheers! Chris

The B&W really do make these photos so much more. I am learning to work more in B&W and athough I hardly ever gave it a thought before, I am starting to like it more and more. Nice work!

Beautiful trees, beautiful sky. I would have seen a grave closer in the foreground. Regards, Henri.

Lou Ann,

 

The B/W format really adds to the graveyard, somber mood in this image. Good choice on the fanlike trees and their positioning too. They bring the eye right down to the ground. I have also done some somber B/W images similar to these, but without the sky, which really creates an effective backdrop. Good work.

 

-Stephen