My First BW Post- Mt Whitney

cbgonzalez44 · Mar 26, 2014

Hey all, this is my first post here. I should've probably stopped down to get the deeper depth of field I was actually hoping for but I sort of ignored that fact since I was in a bit of a rush... I was hoping to get some feedback regarding composition and finished bw treatment.

Your honesty is appreciated.

Light Guru · Mar 26, 2014

The tone of the sky is two close to the tone of the rocks on the mountains. Darkening the sky with ether a red or orange filter would add some separation.

NedM · Mar 27, 2014

I think the tones in this image are great! I think darkening the sky would distract from the great appreciation of this photo - the mountains. Was this taken with film?

sleist · Mar 27, 2014

Softness is hurting this shot the most for me, and this seems to contribute to the flatness that Light Guru wants to fix by darkening the sky. Black point could set darker as well there is very little black.
Looking at the larger shot, there also seems to be a lot of noise. Was this shot under exposed out of camera?.

Here's a reprocess of the shot. I reset the black point, applied some noise reduction, dodged the mid tones in the forground, burned the shadows in the distant peaks, and applied some sharpening.

Fangman · Mar 27, 2014

Welcome to the forum!
Glad to see your posting - scenery like that brings back memories and fortunately a few negatives from a trip in the late 50's to the Dolomites
Like the previous post - I cheat, much easier than back the with an enlarger! Do experiment and possibly post various versions for the gang to offer advice on.

I have been behind a viewfinder since 1948 and still learning!

cbgonzalez44 · Mar 27, 2014

sleist said:
Softness is hurting this shot the most for me, and this seems to contribute to the flatness that Light Guru wants to fix by darkening the sky. Black point could set darker as well there is very little black. Looking at the larger shot, there also seems to be a lot of noise. Was this shot under exposed out of camera?. Here's a reprocess of the shot. I reset the black point, applied some noise reduction, dodged the mid tones in the forground, burned the shadows in the distant peaks, and applied some sharpening.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I agree this was overall soft. I had added some grain which wasn't helping but I was hoping to achieve a film look.

Sleist I learn more every day when it comes to editing- thanks for taking the time to share these pointers with me.