Black and White set looking for C&C

[anthony.grimes]

Trying to improve my b&w photography, below are some of my newer attempts. Any suggestions for improvements, or areas where my shots need some work, are greatly appreciated. Thanks for looking.

1.

2.

3.

 

[danman281]

These are some very nice shots I've seen

 

[Tolyk]

In both 1 and 2 you crop parts of the apparent subject. In #2 your depth of field is slightly too large for what I believe you tried to capture.

#3 is your best out of these, just doesn't seem sharp though.

As for the B&W element, none of them are very contrasty except #1. B&W is all about the contrast.

 

[anthony.grimes]

Thanks!

 

[anthony.grimes]

Tolyk
Thanks for the comments, I completely agree about cutting of the subject in 2.

I do have some concern about contrast in these and am curious what others feel is the appropriate level of contrast for these photos. I felt #1 was a little to contrasty, and #3 was about right. Would more contrast be better for these?

 

[Tolyk]

It's all about the look you want. Personally, I didn't find any of them eye grabbing enough, so my tastes run to more contrasty black & whites. That may not be the look you're going for though, so it's really up to you. All I can say is what I like

In #1, you cut the second boat, you should've tried to isolate one, and if you couldn't, crop more of the boat. It's about cropping only part of something that's in the same area as the subject. That second boat just looks kind of, accidental.

In #2, I probably would've used a flash to highlight the subject and force the background to become darker, thus adding some contrast.

Also, how are you converting these to B&W?

 

[anthony.grimes]

Tolyk, Thanks for the input, it is very much appreciated. I convert in photoshop. Start by desaturating color, then adjusting brightness and contrast until I find something I like. Normally I just use GIMP, however on occasion I use CS3 (not on my main computer). Is there a better way?

 

[Tolyk]

Yes there is, there are several better ways. Do not desaturate, that takes away some of your contrast. Try using the Channel mixer (in CS3 at least, never tried it in Gimp), you'll notice a little check box for monochrome, click it and then use the sliders to fine tune for the image. The numbers should match up to 100% still, for the most part I use 60/10/30, but each image can be different.

This process gives you more control of the B&W conversion.

 

[anthony.grimes]

Great thanks for the tip!

 

[Weaving Wax]

Yes there is, there are several better ways. Do not desaturate, that takes away some of your contrast. Try using the Channel mixer (in CS3 at least, never tried it in Gimp), you'll notice a little check box for monochrome, click it and then use the sliders to fine tune for the image. The numbers should match up to 100% still, for the most part I use 60/10/30, but each image can be different.

This process gives you more control of the B&W conversion.

Wow, I never knew any of that. I use CS2. Thanks!

 

[sohel02]

takes away some of your contrast. Try using the Channel mixer (in CS3 at least, never tried it in Gimp), you'll notice a little check box for monochrome, click it and then use the sliders to fine tune for the image.