My first B&W picture ever!

[houghcon]

Im kinda new to photography. This is my first attempt at a black and white photo. Its a cop's Charger, tell me what you think or what to improve on.

 

[stsinner]

Only after you tell us the story of why you were in front of this cop and taking his picture..

 

[houghcon]

Lol well then a guy in a plow hit a big buck and the deer ran into our field where it died. So we called non emergency and they sent over a cop to tag the deer.

 

[Joe&Caroline]

Well I love the pic
although the plate is a lil out of focus ...
it should be photoshoped blured out anyway at least I think it should

 

[Mike_E]

It's a good first attempt.
It looks as though you haven't really come to grips with what you think about it though because the car is right in the middle of the photo.

If you shot it from the side of the road showing the road behind it and giving the feeling of being hard against the fence row it would be a little claustrophobic, trepidation compounded by the fact of a police car parked between you and free space.

If you had shot from the middle of the road you would have a feeling of relief at the police car being on the side of the road and your way being clear. With a higher perspective and more of the fence row showing you would be showing more of a sense of curiosity about why the police car was there.

There is more to the phrase "take a stand" then you would at first guess.

$.02

 

[houghcon]

So mike_e your saying be more artistic instead of showing the obvious be a little more creative

 

[dtornabene1]

First, please remember to include shooting specifications so we don’t have to look in the EXIF data.

I like the photograph but might try a few things different. At the time of the photograph I might try to fast-zoom. It is called many different things but the technique works like this.

You start at say 28mm and zoom to 70mm while exposing. If done right it give the feeling of motion. Difficult to do but looks cool in the right setting. The first photo is zooming in on a CD case in my office. The second is zooming away. Done quickly just so you get the idea.

I’m glad not one person has mentioned to straighten the photo. Photographs do not have to be level to the horizon.

On conversion I would like to add this. It is obvious you have a lot of snow in the picture. So, I would go back to my RAW file and change the WB (white balance) to make the image far more cool. This will greatly enhance the contrast and give a much better B/W (black and white) without loosing any image information therefore no loss of quality.

-Nick

 

[Mike_E]

So mike_e your saying be more artistic instead of showing the obvious be a little more creative

Hi Houghcon, in my estimation there are only 3 reasons to take a photo.

One is to have a general record of an event to stimulate your memory.

Another is to stimulate an emotion in order to provoke thought.

And the third is for evidence.

A straight graphical representation is mandatory for the third and will work for the first.

A graphical representation that is emotionally nuanced will work well for the first and somewhat for the second.

A demonstrable point of view seems to be required for the second.

So, having said this; yes, I think you would have had a much stronger photograph if you would have stood to one side or another.

Still a good effort though.