Leaves on Bench

[Fred Berg]

..........

 

[tirediron]

Hmmm... I think this one might work better in colour.

 

[bribrius]

I think if this were my image I would go something like this route.

 

[Fred Berg]

Hmmm... I think this one might work better in colour.

Possibly but as I took it in B&W I have no colour shot to compare!

I've been trying things in B&W recently, including subjects like this one that would normally be thought of as classic colour territory.

In this shot I want to look at the contrast between order and chaos, straight lines and contours, natural materials and artificial ones.

Perhaps colour would detract from this aim plus brown leaves on a brown bench didn't provide much contrast, whereas the separation of tones in B&W gave me what I was after to support my ideas.

 

[Fred Berg]

By the way, thanks both for your thoughts!

 

[mmaria]

I'm not liking the way you composed both of the shots. be careful of distortion with lines also

sorry

 

[vintagesnaps]

I like the second one better because it's in closer, I think that brings a viewer's attention more to the pattern of the leaves and the lines of the bench.

I've done some leaves/branches in B&W so it can work but this might need some adjustment, To me in the first one some of the leaves seem too light and you can't see the veins, was the bench getting more direct sunlight? You might have needed to take more than one shot, adjusting your exposure by a stop each time.

Maybe try adjusting contrast and brightness to bring out detail more in those white leaves and overall see if any other adjustments make a difference. I'd also think about some cropping and see if you can emphasize the bench and leaves and not an edge of the background along the right side of the second image (unless you wanted a different image that showed the bench in the leaves, to me it seems like what you're going for is emphasizing the leaves and the wooden slats). Same with the first one, I'd maybe lose some of the right side, and play with copies and some other slight cropping to bring the viewer in a little closer to what it seems like you want us to see).

 

[kdthomas]

I like the second image from down at a lower angle. I like the contract of the bright leaves against the dark bench, and the grain in the wood.

 

[limr33 2]

I would have cropped the first one, too, but not as much as bri did. I like seeing the bed of leaves on the ground. I think seeing that on both sides gives a balance and it makes the lines of the bench a bit more of a graphic interruption of, as you say, order amongst chaos.

I very rarely do this, but here's the crop I would have done, just to get that concrete part out. I thought it introduced a third element that didn't need to be part of the image:

 

[Fred Berg]

I would have cropped the first one, too, but not as much as bri did. I like seeing the bed of leaves on the ground. I think seeing that on both sides gives a balance and it makes the lines of the bench a bit more of a graphic interruption of, as you say, order amongst chaos.

I very rarely do this, but here's the crop I would have done, just to get that concrete part out. I thought it introduced a third element that didn't need to be part of the image:

View attachment 87237

Thanks for taking the time, I appreciate it. For me, though, the concrete is important and introduces a degree of tension to the image/idea.

 

[limr33 2]

Thanks for taking the time, I appreciate it. For me, though, the concrete is important and introduces a degree of tension to the image/idea.

That makes sense. It just goes to show how different people are drawn to different patterns and concepts in the same scene.

 

[KenC]

For me, the B&W of the original works well because this is mostly about contrasts in texture and tonal range. Of course in color it could have been about other things, but these are more interesting to me. I'd have been inclined to crop the way Leonore did, but I see your point about the concrete, so perhaps there's a middle ground where you crop part of it. I think darkening the background leaves a bit would also be helpful.