C&C please on this b&w landscape

SquarePeg · Nov 22, 2016

The red light in the lighthouse was overpowering this in color so I converted it to b&w. This is not something I have a lot of experience with. The shot was pretty dark to begin with and I somehow hit a wrong button while shooting in the dark and ended up with jpeg only which really limited my editing options. So what do you think? Too dark or intriguingly dark? Interesting or not? Suggestions for improvement? Bin it?

Nubble4 by SharonCat..., on Flickr

Parker219 · Nov 22, 2016

Personally , I like the image.

Maybe if it was a RAW image you could have adjusted the lighting to show a beam coming from the lighthouse?

I might be tempted to raise the exposure a little , depending on how the image quality held up. Hopefully you shot this on a tripod with ISO 100.

SquarePeg · Nov 22, 2016

Parker219 said:
Personally , I like the image.

Maybe if it was a RAW image you could have adjusted the lighting to show a beam coming from the lighthouse?

I might be tempted to raise the exposure a little , depending on how the image quality held up. Hopefully you shot this on a tripod with ISO 100.

No RAW file so I only have the jpeg to work with. I was using a tripod but was shooting ISO 3200 as I was set up for the super moon and was trying to capture the moon details so I was keeping the exposure short so as not to end up with a big blob of light. Unfortunately the moon was a bust because it clouded up along the horizon and then I somehow ended up changing my settings by mistake so I ended up with jpeg only.

Parker219 · Nov 22, 2016

I was looking at the photo at first from my phone, so the noise is not as noticeable, now that I am on my computer and the image is bigger I can tell that the ISO was high. Would have been better to shoot at f/5-7.1 with ISO 100, but nothing you can do about it now.

Do you live close by, so you can re-shoot?

snowbear · Nov 22, 2016

It almost has a "model" effect to it, like it was shot with a t&s.

dxqcanada · Nov 22, 2016

Looks flat. Honestly ... I am not fond of the overall look.

480sparky · Nov 22, 2016

It really doesn't trip my trigger, or float my boat. I'm toggling between the visual brightness of the light and the visual size of the house. I'm confused as to which is the subject.

SquarePeg · Nov 22, 2016

Parker219 said:
I was looking at the photo at first from my phone, so the noise is not as noticeable, now that I am on my computer and the image is bigger I can tell that the ISO was high. Would have been better to shoot at f/5-7.1 with ISO 100, but nothing you can do about it now.

Do you live close by, so you can re-shoot?

Close but not close. I doubt I'll be back up there again this winter but I'll definitely be shooting there again at some point. We go there a lot in summer.

snowbear said:
It almost has a "model" effect to it, like it was shot with a t&s.

I can see what you're referring to.

dxqcanada said:
Looks flat. Honestly ... I am not fond of the overall look.

Thanks for the feedback.

480sparky said:
It really doesn't trip my trigger, or float my boat. I'm toggling between the visual brightness of the light and the visual size of the house. I'm confused as to which is the subject.

That is probably what has been bugging me the most. I may re-crop it to highlight the light. Thanks for the input.

bulldurham · Nov 23, 2016

Could you post the color version? I'd like to see how bright or red the red really is and if perhaps the color version could be manipulated to get the effect you were originally going for.

terri · Nov 23, 2016

It's a difficult one, but I think the scene is worthy of some extra work. I agree that it's a little flat, but then messing too much with the contrast will likely erase most of the shadow detail, and that is what helps give it the visual interest it has.

I'm not having an issue with subject matter. Lighthouses often have the lightkeeper's quarters attached to them, as this one appears to, so it's not something to attempt to separate. I am very fond of the glow from the light on the house. Everything in the middle of the frame is working nicely for me - it's the lower right and lower bottom of the frame that appear to be muddled, with perhaps too much loss of detail. Perhaps some selective burn-in in that area would be better than letting the viewer's eye strain to find something to rest upon - here, contrast might be your friend.

You might have better luck if you return to the area and end up with a better file to start with. But until then, no harm in playing with it, I say.

SquarePeg · Nov 23, 2016

bulldurham said:
Could you post the color version? I'd like to see how bright or red the red really is and if perhaps the color version could be manipulated to get the effect you were originally going for.

Here is that same photo in color. And I was wrong, I did have the RAW file for that one. It was the last shot taken before I somehow switched to JPEG only. I applied quite a bit of noise reduction and lifted the exposure and the shadows almost 100%.

Nubble color by SharonCat..., on Flickr

I do have better versions of this same shot that were taken earlier in the day so really no reason to mess with the high ISO version but I liked the way the light looked on the darker version when it was converted.

Nubble1 by SharonCat..., on Flickr

smoke665 · Nov 23, 2016

I'd say that 2nd shot is a slam dunk, print it and hang it!!! You've been on a roll lately.

SquarePeg · Nov 23, 2016

smoke665 said:
I'd say that 2nd shot is a slam dunk, print it and hang it!!! You've been on a roll lately.

Thanks. My time to shoot definitely comes in spurts these days. Now that the cold weather is here I'll be even more limited so trying to get some files in the bank to edit and work on during the winter!

bulldurham · Dec 4, 2016

I really didn't have any plan for this shot when I opened it in PS, just had an urge to fiddle a bit...it's just the wanderings of an old toot with more time on his hands than money in his pockets...

Desi · Dec 4, 2016

I definitely prefer your 2nd color version....at least at first glance.

In the B&W, the house seems more interesting, but my eye is drawn to the bright light. When I look more at the house, I find the noise of the background distracting. Of course, the bright lights of my screen seem to make it difficult to look into this dark image......it looks much better large and when I block out other lights.