First attempt at B&W

[Josh_Houchin]

Below is my first attempt at a B&W photo. I shot it in color with the intention of messing with it lightroom to get the look I was looking for. I am kind of on the fence whether I like it or not and frankly I am not sure why. Any thoughts positive or negative would be appreciated.

 

[RunJZ]

It's busy. I think the composition would be better if the dog was set in the field alone. The trees seem distracting in the background. I believe it would make the pooch pop out better without them.

Not a bad shot regardless.

 

[Rick58]

I'd do a tighter crop. Unfortunately the resolution was too low to do much with your photo

 

[vintagesnaps]

I see black and gray but not really white (look how gray it all seems compared to the white border on here), seems to need contrast adjusted. I'd probably crop the left side some too, I think that slightly taller plant to the left could give some balance to the dog in the composition if the contrast could be adjusted so it's easier to see it.

 

[vipgraphx]

I don't think this really benefits from BW and or your processing. Perhaps something different in the processing would work better and composition.

 

[71M]

Below is my first attempt at a B&W photo. I shot it in color with the intention of messing with it lightroom to get the look I was looking for. I am kind of on the fence whether I like it or not and frankly I am not sure why. Any thoughts positive or negative would be appreciated.

 

[71M]

I used a duplicate layer>multiply mode>linear mask to darken the trees. Dodged the grass and the dog, burnt around the dog outline as well, (50% opacities).

 

[cynicaster]

I don't think this photo is a very good candidate for a B&W conversion, as it lacks the punchy contrast that, IMO, makes B&W photos interesting to look at.

I like the composition, though, and I don't agree that the background trees detract from it because they're adequately obscured by blur.

 

[harishu]

me thinks the same.

I don't think this photo is a very good candidate for a B&W conversion, as it lacks the punchy contrast that, IMO, makes B&W photos interesting to look at.

I like the composition, though, and I don't agree that the background trees detract from it because they're adequately obscured by blur.

 

[Gavjenks]

Is this a mirror lens? Looks kinda like it, which would make it a lot harder to make the trees in the back not distracting.

 

[Josh_Houchin]

No it's my 70-300mm lens. It was cold and all the trees were covered in ice, perhaps that's what gives that effect. Honestly I just used one of the presets in Lightroom not much real processing was done. Thanks for the replies everyone.