Crosses and Couples

kirif1 · Mar 23, 2009

I have recently started to take pics with the intention of turning them black and white. Here are my first attempts, any comments are gratefully welcomed

dcclark · Mar 23, 2009

#2 is very nice (although the tree (?) shadow in the very front is distracting -- looks like a finger almost). I like the interaction of the couple.

#1 however has a lot going on. The crosses almost get lost against the bushes, tree, and bricks -- they're there but hard to see. You either need a shallower depth of field, or perhaps just recompose to put the crosses against a darker and less busy background.

kirif1 · Mar 23, 2009

Thanks for the comments, i'll have a play and see what i can do. the shadow in the front of no.2 is bushes (i was hiding in them

) i considered cropping them out but wasn't sure, i might do so now and see how it looks.

kirif1 · Mar 23, 2009

Is this any better?

LaFoto · Mar 23, 2009

The crosses are kind of better like this, but it also looks false... mostly so the halo around the near one.

The couple photo is good! You can also clone out the shadow of the bush you were hiding in, I think. Though, if you cropped (but wanted to keep the usual print ratio of a photo), you might at the same time get rid of the tree trunk on the left...

Rere · Mar 23, 2009

In the couple photo, the white burned-out leaves are distracting. And I'd like to see the couple lightened a bit. I'd also take out the tree on the left and clone some of the white blanket on the left. Really light areas lead the eye right to those areas.

On the cross pictures, I like the second one better than the first. But if you re-shoot them, move a little to the left and try some other different angles.

JE Kay · Mar 23, 2009

Ya the crosses are nice. Did you hit that with some diffusion? Looks glowy..

kirif1 · Mar 23, 2009

I agree the crosses looks really fake now, the halo bit on the RH cross is actually a bit of light in that corner that came out like that once i turned into BW. I think i may have to retake that one

As for the couple, i think i like the secluded feel you get from the slight tree frame, but agree with everything said :er: so, this is what i've done....better??

teneighty23 · Mar 23, 2009

dcclark said:
#2 is very nice (although the tree (?) shadow in the very front is distracting -- looks like a finger almost). I like the interaction of the couple.

i actually completely disagree, i feel like the shadows in the photo make it much more of a secret or candid photo. slightly framing the subjects.

Rere · Mar 24, 2009

Ah yes, your couple picture, in my opinion, is much improved. However, I think that it depends on what you are trying to achieve with this photo. If it's for the couple, then they would prefer the second since it's a close up and you can see them better.

If you are trying for an artsy look, then maybe you would want the couple back a bit as in the first---but with the tree and some of the blanket cloned out.