Yep, was in the graveyard by myself again, CC plz

[Bitter Jeweler]

There is a fine line between filling the frame and giving your subject breathing room. Ok, it's not really a fine line.

These are framed far too tight. Back off.

 

[MTVision]

So leads me to my next question, what are some effective ways to do a B&W?
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photography-beginners-forum/273500-broken-valentine-rose-c-c-please.html

You have photoshop 7 right? I don't know how/if this method works but it was the first to pop up in google

http://www.ehow.com/how_6558290_change-color-black_and_white-photoshop-7.html

 

[kundalini]

The issues with these photos are not in the post processing. You might be able to doll them up some, but at the end of the day, they will still be merely snapshots.

How much time did you take to study the subject?
How many frames did you shoot?
How many different settings did you try?
How many different PoV's did you take?
How could you have modified the flat lighting?
How would a different time of the day improve these?

The subject matter certainly has potential. You'll need to find a way to draw out that potential. Perhaps if you were to bring a sprayer bottle and spritz the tombstone. Would that create more texture, particularly on the engraved words. Perhaps a reflector to cast more light on it. Perhaps a different prop. My thoughts are that graveyards are best in B&W..... think B&W. Contrast.

Just something for you to chew on for a while.

 

[luvmyfamily]

The issues with these photos are not in the post processing. You might be able to doll them up some, but at the end of the day, they will still be merely snapshots.

How much time did you take to study the subject?
How many frames did you shoot?
How many different settings did you try?
How many different PoV's did you take?
How could you have modified the flat lighting?
How would a different time of the day improve these?

The subject matter certainly has potential. You'll need to find a way to draw out that potential. Perhaps if you were to bring a sprayer bottle and spritz the tombstone. Would that create more texture, particularly on the engraved words. Perhaps a reflector to cast more light on it. Perhaps a different prop. My thoughts are that graveyards are best in B&W..... think B&W. Contrast.

Just something for you to chew on for a while.

I think the only way to fix this photo is a re-shoot, but thank you for the edit Becky

 

[luvmyfamily]

There is a fine line between filling the frame and giving your subject breathing room. Ok, it's not really a fine line.

These are framed far too tight. Back off.

Agreed, like i said, only way to fix this photo is a re-shoot.

 

[luvmyfamily]

So leads me to my next question, what are some effective ways to do a B&W?
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/.../273500-broken-valentine-rose-c-c-please.html

You have photoshop 7 right? I don't know how/if this method works but it was the first to pop up in google

How to Change Color to Black-and-White with Photoshop 7 | eHow.com

yes, that is what I have ol' photoshop 7. Thanks for the link, but as I said, only a re-shoot will fix this photo

 

[jonathon94]

Slightly off topic but is it legal to take photos in a graveyard? We have one directly beside the school (So many jokes about that) and if it is, I'd love to go and capture some pictures

 

[luvmyfamily]

Slightly off topic but is it legal to take photos in a graveyard? We have one directly beside the school (So many jokes about that) and if it is, I'd love to go and capture some pictures

This historic graveyard is in my neighborhood. They are slaves buried from the Civil war Era. There is no fence around it and some of the grave stones have just a rock for a headstone with no initials. The stone I photographed is the best one. It dates back to late 1700's, early 1800's. It is marked on our subdivision plat as historic....hmmmm, no wonder noone has purchased that lot....who wants a graveyard in their backyard. i don't know if it's legal....i did it anyway.

 

[jonathon94]

lol I ought to try it anyways. Heck I think the police would understand my reasons far better then some people going into the graveyard to play football (yes plenty of people have done that)

 

[luvmyfamily]

lol I ought to try it anyways. Heck I think the police would understand my reasons far better then some people going into the graveyard to play football (yes plenty of people have done that)

I LOVE old graveyards....and history. I went as far as trying to find out who was buried there. Found out they were slaves and was sick to my stomach reading the deeds to slaves being sold to people. I am a President Lincoln fan...

 

[PaulLambeth]

I know, I need about $10,000 more worth of photo equipment however this tree in my backyard has stopped producing $100 bills:lmao:

I don't know if you're referring to not having the best version of Photoshop or not having brilliant camera equipment, but this really isn't the case. Even if you have a digital point-and-shoot you can vary settings. As has been said, spend longer with the subject, change the settings (even if you're not fluent with how to do so, the gravestone's not going anywhere, so fiddle around and see what works), try and seperate the subject from the background, step back and try and frame your image ... walk around to get different perspectives. It's great to say you need to reshoot, but when you reshoot there's a lot to consider. All that really matters is that the result looks promising.

You can't PP an image unless the original has a lot of promise.

 

[jonathon94]

lol I ought to try it anyways. Heck I think the police would understand my reasons far better then some people going into the graveyard to play football (yes plenty of people have done that)

I LOVE old graveyards....and history. I went as far as trying to find out who was buried there. Found out they were slaves and was sick to my stomach reading the deeds to slaves being sold to people. I am a President Lincoln fan...

I love history as a school subject but that's as far as my love goes. But yes slavery was bad during those days. What's amazing is that the racism that existed back then is still pretty strong now...especially among the older generation

 

[Dominantly]

I'm a big Ol' fan of selective desaturation.

Now, the way it works in my mind, is this is nothing like selective coloring (which I generally dislike).

I don't remove colors entirely, I just bring the down a bit (some more than others). For example, a grassy portrait- I kinda of despise yellow in grass, so I will desaturate the yellow 80%, green maybe 10%, and then go from there. Sometimes I like to desaturate skin tones and make everything just kind of muted.

Please stop what you're doing and download this free program Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 | photo management software beta - Adobe Labs

Let me know when you do so and we can go from there.

 

[Dominantly]

Also when you get an off camera flash system goin, you can use it to create shadows in the engravings, making the words easier to capture.

Kinda like this:

"One if by land, two if by sea"

For this one, I was trying to capture those little dents in the tombstone, which were caused my musket balls from angry British soldiers during the battle of bunker hill.

 

[shortpants]

Your shot isn't really doing it for me but that's ok, just keep shooting. Sometimes you have to visit something like this several times before you really get what you want. I found an old cemetery tucked in the woods on the side of a road about 20 minutes from my house and I've been there several times, I still don't feel like I'm capturing what I'm seeing if that makes any sense. I'm due for another trip, each time I discover something new that I didn't notice before.