C&C: first black and white

[hjf]

Hi guys. I made some black and white pics yesterday and I wanted to hear some opinions. Thanks. You can see the rest of the data on Flickr (click on the image).

Old Door:


Old house

 

[arcooke]

The 2nd one isn't doing much for me, but I do like the first one. I'd crop off the piece of garage door showing on the left. Wouldn't mind seeing that one in color too.

Would have liked both more if they were shot more straight on. Looks like they're both taken at just a very slight angle, which is a little distracting. Kind of an awkward position between angled and straight that looks accidental.

 

[hjf]

The 2nd one isn't doing much for me, but I do like the first one. I'd crop off the piece of garage door showing on the left. Wouldn't mind seeing that one in color too.

Would have liked both more if they were shot more straight on. Looks like they're both taken at just a very slight angle, which is a little distracting. Kind of an awkward position between angled and straight that looks accidental.

Completely agree. The old house pic I didn't really like either, but someone said it was good so I added it.

The door one is pretty much monochrome in color too. It's a white door on a white wall and white light from behind the glass. Only color in the pic is the tiny plant and the rust below. and the house is right next to a paint shop!

 

[EddieDerbyshire]

First one is really great! love the cracks!

 

[Derrel]

Old Door is pretty good, although it looks a slight bit tilted. Not much, but tilted. I like it much more than the second photo. The second photo is not as clear, nor as revealing as the first shot, and that's what I dislike about it: I cannot "see" what is going on in the second frame nearly as well as I can in the first.

 

[Linkovicha]

I quite like the first one. It's quite sharp and I like texture. Not really likeing the second one though, kind of looks like a mumble jumble of subjects, not sure what to look at.

 

[DirtyDFeckers]

I agree that the first one is much better.... I would definitely crop the garage door off though.

 

[aprillove20]

black and white picture always look perfect to my eyes.

great shot dude

 

[Chamelion 6]

As usual, I think I'm the odd man out. I really like the shot of the house.

Since I'm the oddball I guess I should really justify why. While the first shot is a simple straightforward and pleasing composition, the house is much more challenging and complex. The way composition plays with the strong horizontal and vertical lines is compelling to me. It's very mechanical in it's own way. Contrasting that though, is the overall uneven aging and the other elements that are more organic, like the coiled, dangleing power line on the left, the streaks in the concrete, even the odd pattern of the metal railing, the grafitti, and the abstract shape of the puddle at the curb.

It wasn't the image that first jumped out at me, but it was the one that stuck.

The processing is a bit harsh and doesn't play up the elements as well as it might, but on the whole I really like the house image.

 

[hjf]

Thanks for the comments guys. I think I wold have liked the Door pic to have more grain tho. It's really, really sharp (Kit lens 18-55VR is amazingly sharp!) but I don't like digital grain.

The house photo is cropped, forgot to mention that. There was much more pavement I cropped off as i thought it was distracting (there were cracks filled with tar).

 

[KmH]

Old Door:

I agree that #1 has potential, but needs a slight crop. Did you make it as a color photo that you converted?

 

[hjf]

I agree that #1 has potential, but needs a slight crop. Did you make it as a color photo that you converted?

Yes, it's a RAW file from my D3000, converted it to BW with Photoshop (Adobe Camera Raw). What filter did you use on it?

 

[KmH]

Other than the crop, all I did was increase the mid-tone contrast.

In CS5 I use the B&W adjustment layer to convert to B&W after I have optimised the color image in ACR.

 

[white]