Blue Dasher

[jcdeboever]

Shot with point and shoot (Canon SX60HS), converted in b & w with Gimp.

 

[bulldurham6 1]

If you can open up your hard blacks a tad, I think you'll find the revealed detail helps push the wings a bitt more off the BG.

 

[jcdeboever]

The blacks are at zero.

 

[bulldurham6 1]

Parts of the blacks are at zero but there is quite a bit of recoverable "grays" in the blacks.

 

[jcdeboever]

I don't like the specular highlights though.

 

[bulldurham6 1]

Do a bright lights luminosity mask and tone them down but still retain your opened blacks.

 

[Ysarex88 82]

I vote for keeping blacks the way they are in the OP -- just right.

Joe

 

[limr32 1]

I vote for keeping blacks the way they are in the OP -- just right.

Joe

Ditto.

 

[bulldurham6 1]

Taking out the few specular highlights gained by opening up the shadows defies the natural reflective light on a dragonfly's wings unless shot in complete shade and this one wasn't. Even then, the specular highlights can be toned down if that's the real issue. I will put down the loss of shadow detail to shooting with a P&S unless the P&S has a usable histogram then I will put it down to you not using the histogram to the image's best exposure. Unless you are going for the high contrast look, you should always have details in your shadows. In "The Negative" by Ansel Adams..go back and read from page 29 to about page 45 on Exposure...note carefully what he says about both the black and white exposure points and metering correctly. Read that, embrace what he says then go back and reprocess the Willy's Jeep image. You still have almost two full stops of details in the shadows that you are not showing.

 

[Ysarex88 82]

Taking out the few specular highlights gained by opening up the shadows defies the natural reflective light on a dragonfly's wings unless shot in complete shade and this one wasn't. Even then, the specular highlights can be toned down if that's the real issue. I will put down the loss of shadow detail to shooting with a P&S unless the P&S has a usable histogram then I will put it down to you not using the histogram to the image's best exposure. Unless you are going for the high contrast look, you should always have details in your shadows.

The photo has appropriate shadow detail. Black point is right on the Ansel money -- in fact a slightly stronger black point wouldn't hurt. Here's the total black content of the photo:

The photo looks great as is and the shadow detail is not crushed, but appropriate -- see threshold test above.

Joe

In "The Negative" by Ansel Adams..go back and read from page 29 to about page 45 on Exposure...note carefully what he says about both the black and white exposure points and metering correctly. Read that, embrace what he says then go back and reprocess the Willy's Jeep image. You still have almost two full stops of details in the shadows that you are not showing.

 

[bulldurham6 1]

Must be my calibration..I will redo and recheck...