Posted by John Williams on December 2, 2007 at 9:54 PM
Playing in the rain earlier today...
I've never done black and white before; I've got a lot to learn.
Nikon D80
Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G
1/30 at 5.6
Posted by Erik Lundh on December 2, 2007 at 11:45 PM
John,
I don't know about this one. The stump in the foreground is kind of interesting. The background seems a little washed out. I guess I'm kind of "stumped".
Posted by Hans Sager on December 3, 2007 at 2:59 AM
John, the washed out sky really grabs my attention. I'd crop it out to the top of the hill on the left. I think that would improve things.
Posted by Mark Hudon on December 3, 2007 at 1:10 PM
Well, let me tell ya, John, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I sure ain't beholdin' this one. Better luck next time.
Posted by Chris Hodney on December 3, 2007 at 6:02 PM
I agree with the comments above. It would be better to crop out a bit of that sky, but unfortunately the foremost hills are alreay so close to the top of frame there's not much room to crop. I don't think this one worked out. I do like the exposure on the stump and foreground however.
Posted by John Williams on December 3, 2007 at 11:48 PM
Since this is a new foray for me, here's one more take processed differently (unfortunately the subject is the same though ).
Posted by Adrian Klein on December 5, 2007 at 1:03 AM
John, well honestly I am not liking the comp too much. However, if you were to crop just above the mountain on the right top it would take away that sky and focus more on the rain drops coming down in the water which is what I like most of this piece.
Posted by Chris Hodney on December 5, 2007 at 12:08 PM
Well this new process is interesting, because it brightens the subject to the point that you could completely change the crop. What if you crop all the distant shore and hills out, just to the top of the stump in the water. It simplifies the scene and puts the focus on those 2 subjects. Does make the further stump a little close to the top of frame. Otherwise there's still not much you can do with this frame that I can see. Maybe somebody else has a creative solution
Posted by John Williams on December 5, 2007 at 7:41 PM
Thanks for all the thoughts. Fortunately it's not a photo I'm totally in love with myself, so I'll head it to the recycle bin. It's been interesting to experiment with B&W though, I'll have to try that again in the future.
Posted by Marc Dilley on December 7, 2007 at 3:10 PM
John: Way to go, finding beauty in what I'm thinking is an otherwise sort of drab lake. I tried Chris Hodney's suggestions and cropped off the top of the image with a sheet paper held over my monitor. I didn't like it that way; the crop takes away too much. That sky is as good as your going to get with that drab rain cloud over everything.
I wonder how it would have worked to have exposed the root mass from a higher angle, like, six feet. Say you used a vertical format and sweeped across all that water to the edge of the lake, no sky included?
Discussion
9 repliesI've never done black and white before; I've got a lot to learn.
Nikon D80
Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G
1/30 at 5.6
I don't know about this one. The stump in the foreground is kind of interesting. The background seems a little washed out. I guess I'm kind of "stumped".
I wonder how it would have worked to have exposed the root mass from a higher angle, like, six feet. Say you used a vertical format and sweeped across all that water to the edge of the lake, no sky included?
Marc Dilley