Ancient Pine

This was taken at dawn just before the actual good light hit the dead tree. I went a little crazy and played the dodge and burn tool too much and the experimenting might of sent in too much grain?

Oh Man, this is a sweet shot! This is a beautiful scene. I do see some noise in the sky. But it is not too objectionable at least at web size. You may want to run it through noise reduction for larger prints.

You guys are inpiring me to try some B&W conversions. Which technique do you use to convert to B&W?

BTW, whats the scoop on this image, where, when, etc...?

Derek

This is sweet, Steve! I actually don't get too bothered by grain in black and white images. I have experimented with adding actual film grain to bw digital images and I like the results from time to time. So, this one works for me.

This is really nice, Steve. It looks IR. The grainy look goes very well with the image. I would leave it unless it gets out of control with a big print. Beautiful work.

Well composed, Steve. I like it.

sweet Steve. nice b&w conversion too.

I really like the composition and the overall B&W toning, but I do find the highlights in the tree to be a little too bright.

Very nice shot Steve and I think it looks great with the dodge and burn you did.

Thanks Guys!

Derek, thanks! this was converted using the BW adjustment layer in CS4. There is always a basic method that PS offers. Before that it was it the Channel Mixer, before that desaturate. You can actually use a hand held filter to look through to see tones with out color. I seriously need to start writting things down because I can't remember who makes it.

The location was near the South East boundary of Sequoia Nat'l Park. It was shot one camera ago.

Nice scene, Steve, and I like the conversion. "One camera ago", wow, this must be old.

Thanks for the explanation on the conversion Steve. I have very little experience with B&W conversions. But I would like to give it a go. I plan to upgrade to CS4 from CS soon.

So is "one camera ago" like dog years in the digital age.

Derek

I would guess one camera ago, is equal to about 2 years, for me at least.

Derek, I think it's available in CS3 too and at least Light Room 2 but it really comes down to the way you dodge and burn the image after the conversion. Some images are harder than others. OP mag will highlight many of these BW tips in either this month or next months issue in case your interested. I think they call it the Ansel Adams issue. There is bound to be something in there that will help you.

Fantastic shot Steve,I like it a lot. I think the grain works well in the tree, but I don't like it so much in the sky and hill. Obviously, a subjective personal opinion....

Steve,

This is fabulous! I really like the grain effect through whatever process produced it. The tonality and contrast range is superb! - although borders on the unreal in terms of what I imagine this would have looked like had a I been there. But no matter, this is really quite superb.

Lon

This has kind of a prehistoric look to it, very cool! Grain's no problem for me.

The B&W treatment really gives this image quite an impact. That fg tree stands out nicely and yet fits in with that beautiful bg scenery. Nice work all around!