Study in B&W- C&C

[w3asle]

1. Concrete Discipline- 1/8000, f/4, iso 200, Manual, raw image processed with lightroom, taken with canon 20d w/ canon 35-70 mm.

I took this image with the objective of visualy representing the state of mind and calming effect riding has for me. If i was to take this image again i believe i would I use a greater depth of field to keep the background in sharper focus.

2. unnamed- 1/4000, f/4, iso 200, Manual, raw image processed with lightroom, taken with canon 20d w/ canon 35-70 mm

Where as the first image represents the inner focus this image represents the physical action. For this image i would like to frame it differently so as to remove the lights from the picture.

I took both these images in B&W becasue i felt it brought greater meaning to the images rather than just another action shot, putting more emphasis on the subject matter and less on the colors. Also i felt that it added more to the mood of the photo especially in the case of the first.

Please comment as i'm in sore need of critique as none of my friends have any interest in photography. thanks

 

[dtzitko]

1 is awesome. So much that you should submit it for the photo challenge this month, "tranquility". It definitely makes me feel at ease. I'm not sure why.

 

[Gaerek]

I like the photos, very cool. As for the lights in number 2, I don't know if you can clone in Lightroom, but if you have photoshop, or are willing to download gimp, it would probably be trivial to clone the lights out.

 

[w3asle]

1 is awesome. So much that you should submit it for the photo challenge this month, "tranquility".

Thank you, and i definitely considered submitting it, but in the end i decided i'd rather get the feedback before my winter break when i'll have time to take some more photos.

I like the photos, very cool. As for the lights in number 2, I don't know if you can clone in Lightroom, but if you have photoshop, or are willing to download gimp, it would probably be trivial to clone the lights out.

Thanks you also, as for cloning i do have the software to do it, i'm just not sure how i feel about crossing that line, i'm trying and keep my processing to more or less to a minimum, at least until i get better at this.

 

[elemental]

I like #1 a lot, but I think it could stand a little more contrast. If you look at the histogram, the left portion (highlights) is pretty much nonexistent. If you clip that closer, you would have more contrast to play with in your image, and it might feel a little "clearer." I would do this with levels, not the contrast control in Lightroom.

 

[Gaerek]

1 is awesome. So much that you should submit it for the photo challenge this month, "tranquility".

Thank you, and i definitely considered submitting it, but in the end i decided i'd rather get the feedback before my winter break when i'll have time to take some more photos.

I like the photos, very cool. As for the lights in number 2, I don't know if you can clone in Lightroom, but if you have photoshop, or are willing to download gimp, it would probably be trivial to clone the lights out.

Thanks you also, as for cloning i do have the software to do it, i'm just not sure how i feel about crossing that line, i'm trying and keep my processing to more or less to a minimum, at least until i get better at this.

If you don't mind my asking, do you have an issue with processing in general (ie. processing is 'cheating') or is it a general lack of confidence? You won't get better without practice, and if you mess it up, you don't have to save the image, you can always start over. If you somehow think that processing, and cloning is cheating, well, that's a different story. Everyone feels differently about processing, and if cloning is past where you want to go, then that's ok. Most people are probably going to tell you something like it's your final vision for the image that matters and if you have to clone something out to make it work, so be it.

 

[w3asle]

1 is awesome. So much that you should submit it for the photo challenge this month, "tranquility".

Thank you, and i definitely considered submitting it, but in the end i decided i'd rather get the feedback before my winter break when i'll have time to take some more photos.

I like the photos, very cool. As for the lights in number 2, I don't know if you can clone in Lightroom, but if you have photoshop, or are willing to download gimp, it would probably be trivial to clone the lights out.

Thanks you also, as for cloning i do have the software to do it, i'm just not sure how i feel about crossing that line, i'm trying and keep my processing to more or less to a minimum, at least until i get better at this.

If you don't mind my asking, do you have an issue with processing in general (ie. processing is 'cheating') or is it a general lack of confidence? You won't get better without practice, and if you mess it up, you don't have to save the image, you can always start over. If you somehow think that processing, and cloning is cheating, well, that's a different story. Everyone feels differently about processing, and if cloning is past where you want to go, then that's ok. Most people are probably going to tell you something like it's your final vision for the image that matters and if you have to clone something out to make it work, so be it.

Its a problem with it in general, i have quite a bit of experience in photoshop and other graphics programs through classes i took in highschool and i know that removing the lights that way would be an easy job. After spending some time going through this forum i feel a lot better about the idea of more processing. Though i'm still not completely conmfortable with the idea, i'm certainly willing to give it a try.

 

[w3asle]

I like #1 a lot, but I think it could stand a little more contrast. If you look at the histogram, the left portion (highlights) is pretty much nonexistent. If you clip that closer, you would have more contrast to play with in your image, and it might feel a little "clearer." I would do this with levels, not the contrast control in Lightroom.

I went back into lightroom with #1 and i got the histogram a little more even across the board, It seemed to bring teh darker areas of teh background into graeter focus, however it also seems to loss an egual amount of detail in the lighter areas of the back ground, i'm going to keep tweaking it and i'll post it abck up when i'm finished. Thanks for the critique.

 

[w3asle]

3.

on this one i adjusted the levels to try and even out the histogram a bit.

4.

On this one i actually cropped the image differently to move the subject out of the middle and to get rid of the majorityt of the lights. I then cloned the remaining ones out of the picture. I also adjusted the levels to add a bit more contrast.

 

[TiCoyote]

I agree that #1 is a bit dark and flat. #2 is a bit dark too, and could be a bit sharper. Consider cropping off the wall below your friend, so the background is all air. I'd also like to see more of those lights on the upper right, or eliminate them entirely.

 

[elemental]

3.

Bingo. The increased contrast really brings out the various textures in the foreground, and the image has a lot more "punch." I might drop the highlights (you might need to expand their range a little) in Lightroom to try to cool down the reflections in the bowl and the house in the background, and then I think you will have a black and white image with truly great tones (not an easy thing to do, trust me).