Tim Tucker
No longer a newbie, moving up!
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2015
- Messages
- 660
- Reaction score
- 579
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos NOT OK to edit
I agree with Gary on this. The first has a subtle potential and by far the best (of an excellent bunch). It's good to see that you're thinking of the B&W output, but think of the image in colour and visualise how the luminosity changes when you filter out certain wavelengths. Going for punch and contrast may give it 'pop' that satisfies the casual glance, but print it on the wall and stare at it for a number of days and you will see beyond the casual glance and subtlety is the key.
For instance there are some plainer leaves in the near centre, new leaves, greener? So how would a yellow filter (darken blues, green more luminous) look? Think of the whole scale of tones available and how you scale these in your finished image more than pushing your contrast towards the edges and speaking in the same dark/light across the whole image. If I were to offer an analogy I would say that you're using the letters a-f and t-z to define your contrast. But if you used a-n and m-z you could introduce a lot more tonal variation across the image and still keep the contrast between light and dark constant across the image. Things are not absolute!
Here's your image again, but this time with my edit on the right. There is a very distinct and abrupt transition, my edit on the right has far more grey tones and gentler gradation. And my question to you is can you see the join? I assure you that there is a very abrupt join, but if you cannot see the difference is there really any change? Now look at the image from side to side, which is brighter? Which side has deeper black? Which side has more depth? And which side has more contrast? Things are not absolute.
EDIT: To make it a little clearer consider an egg lit from 90 degrees, (so there's no limb effect). Now reduce it to the extremes of contrast so it's either black or white. Now you have an oval that's half black and half white. What happens to the 3D effect? The image is completely flattened.
Now consider how do you make part of the white area look brighter and the dark area look deeper black? You can't because you've used the maximum scale already. But if I use a grey scale I not only keep the 3D effect but a small area of pure white stands out as brighter and a small area of deeper black stands out as darker.
For instance there are some plainer leaves in the near centre, new leaves, greener? So how would a yellow filter (darken blues, green more luminous) look? Think of the whole scale of tones available and how you scale these in your finished image more than pushing your contrast towards the edges and speaking in the same dark/light across the whole image. If I were to offer an analogy I would say that you're using the letters a-f and t-z to define your contrast. But if you used a-n and m-z you could introduce a lot more tonal variation across the image and still keep the contrast between light and dark constant across the image. Things are not absolute!
Here's your image again, but this time with my edit on the right. There is a very distinct and abrupt transition, my edit on the right has far more grey tones and gentler gradation. And my question to you is can you see the join? I assure you that there is a very abrupt join, but if you cannot see the difference is there really any change? Now look at the image from side to side, which is brighter? Which side has deeper black? Which side has more depth? And which side has more contrast? Things are not absolute.
EDIT: To make it a little clearer consider an egg lit from 90 degrees, (so there's no limb effect). Now reduce it to the extremes of contrast so it's either black or white. Now you have an oval that's half black and half white. What happens to the 3D effect? The image is completely flattened.
Now consider how do you make part of the white area look brighter and the dark area look deeper black? You can't because you've used the maximum scale already. But if I use a grey scale I not only keep the 3D effect but a small area of pure white stands out as brighter and a small area of deeper black stands out as darker.
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