At The Pier

[Th0r4z1n3]

I was up at the lake the other day, and came up to the pier just in time to grab this shot. It was really overcast, an the b&w looked really "white" so I added the vignetting to offset the abundance of white. Grain just because I like the grainyness of old b&w film.

Feedback?

 

[Rick50]

Yes, you do like graininess. I like the isolation of the subject.

 

[Th0r4z1n3]

Yes, you do like graininess.

Too much? Just looking for some honest input about the image.

I like the isolation of the subject.

That's what grabbed me about the scene. I could only get a couple shots off before more people started making their way onto the pier.

 

[Rick50]

Well, I'm no expert but personally don't like a lot of grain. A little goes a long way.

 

[Th0r4z1n3]

Well, I'm no expert but personally don't like a lot of grain. A little goes a long way.

I appreciate the input, I'm looking for some honest feedback not just to get my ego stroked (otherwise I would just post on Instagram lol). I'm not a fan grain just for grain's sake, but something about this just seemed "vintage" to me. I'm not an "artist" by any means, but I generally try to make the image look the way I feel it (I don't even know if that makes sense lol). I've only ever used that level of grain in one other photo, and it looked kind of harsh on the screen, but a lot of it got toned down when I sent it out to print. I think I'm going to add this to my next batch of prints, just so I can see how much of that grain gets toned down in print.

I'm not a big fan of doing a lot in post, I try to capture in camera what I see in my head as best as possible, but I'm still learning. The most I usually do is convert to black & white, and maybe some grain; the vignetting is really pushing it for me, I'm not a fan of an overly photoshopped look. On a color photo I might boost the contrast an/or vividness, but not much more there either. I want to hone my skills with my camera so that I don't become dependent on the keyboard (I don't know if that makes any sense either, I probably sound like an idiot *smh*).

If anybody's interested, I'd be willing to post the original to see what some other's takes are on it.

Here's another black & white I did without a grain effect.

 

[Rick50]

The 2nd one has too much contrast. Sky is blown out. Is this film or digital? If digital you could check histogram.

 

[bulldurham]

Old film was not grainy. It was exceptionally fine grained film and slower than your aunt Mary. Early film was from around (DIN) 4 to 17, 17 considered a really fast film. 17 is the ASA (today called ISO) equivalent of a film speed of 50.

 

[Th0r4z1n3]

Thanks for the input guys I'm not all that familiar with using the histogram, but I read read on it it bit (and am going to continue to do so), and am going do some re-edits; hopefully with better results.

Any other input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kdthomas]

I was up at the lake the other day, and came up to the pier just in time to grab this shot. It was really overcast, an the b&w looked really "white" so I added the vignetting to offset the abundance of white. Grain just because I like the grainyness of old b&w film.

Feedback?

For me I think the grain is a little heavy, and somewhat distracting. I might pull back on the vignette as well. That being said, I like the leading lines, and a little bit of a mystery wondering what the story is with the subject. This seems to tell a story of quiet solitude.

For myself, I feel like I have it right when I can't really tell whether the vignette is there on purpose, and just enough to pull my eye toward the subject.

 

[Th0r4z1n3]

I agree. I liked it at first, but after I took a good look at it, it looked really gimmicky. Here's the re-edit I did on it, it's not the best but the original capture wasn't the greatest either, so I was just working with what I had.

 

[Tim Tucker]

Yes and no. Yes you are right in your observations that the print will be softer and image resizing for screen affects the appearance of grain.

Apply that observation to a wet print and you will see the difference in the grain to the filter you've used and why your's in unconvincing.

Grain in a wet print becomes more visible in areas of continuous tone or areas that have soft transitions between tones (such as out of focus). It is far less visible, to the point of being barely noticeable, in areas of sharp detail or texture. It's not a uniform pattern of grain as you've applied.

You have a NO edit policy, otherwise I would try and show you how much more convincing it would be if you applied the grain pattern in relation to the level of acutance. (In CS6 it's fairly easy: Start with the grainy version; layer the straight un-graind version on top; create a basic luminosity mask; apply a high pass filter to the mask; fade the mask density for the desired effect. I can post my example with your image if you give permission).