Alan Welch
May 2019 - Untitled
Original
About the Image(s)
I liked so many of the B&W photos submitted that I decided to try one.
This is an old farmhouse in the far east side of Nevada near the town of Pioche.
Nikon D750
35mm 1/320 sec F-16 ISO 100
I tried to bring in the fence to give it some depth and more interest.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
9 comments posted
Again, I'm so impressed you keep trying new things! Not only trying black and white, but trying leading lines with your fence.
The photo seems a little "crunchy" to me, possibly over-sharpened. You can post the raw original in the comments, so we can see how much of the over-pixelated feel was in the original. Are you shooting in raw? If shot as a jpg, its very hard to do much in Photoshop or LightRoom without creating an overdone feeling.
What are you attracted to that made you want to take the shot, Alan? Is it the cool mountain behind with sagebrush? The great sky? The natural fence? The old building? Because we don't see much of any of those possible subjects.
I would love to see a shot taken a little to the left, where I get to see the old building and mountain more, without the rough fence pole and the caged tree blocking half of the front of the building. I love that you tried to shoot the fence, but it actually leads us out of the pic, instead of to your subject. You could certainly argue that it does help frame the building on the right and adds value that way.
What did you use for your black and white conversion? The blacks seem a bit "blocked up" or too black in this, but I think it works here, given its the Wild West.
I look forward to thoughts from our black and white experts!
Posted: 05/01/2019 11:51:42
The photo seems a little "crunchy" to me, possibly over-sharpened. You can post the raw original in the comments, so we can see how much of the over-pixelated feel was in the original. Are you shooting in raw? If shot as a jpg, its very hard to do much in Photoshop or LightRoom without creating an overdone feeling.
What are you attracted to that made you want to take the shot, Alan? Is it the cool mountain behind with sagebrush? The great sky? The natural fence? The old building? Because we don't see much of any of those possible subjects.
I would love to see a shot taken a little to the left, where I get to see the old building and mountain more, without the rough fence pole and the caged tree blocking half of the front of the building. I love that you tried to shoot the fence, but it actually leads us out of the pic, instead of to your subject. You could certainly argue that it does help frame the building on the right and adds value that way.
What did you use for your black and white conversion? The blacks seem a bit "blocked up" or too black in this, but I think it works here, given its the Wild West.
I look forward to thoughts from our black and white experts!
Posted: 05/01/2019 11:51:42
Let me start by saying, I don't care for this picture. I was camping and took a lot of pictures. I wanted to try Black and White so I quickly made this picture a B&W. I liked the way the picture was framed with the fence. It kind of made me feel like I'm trying to see things with a different eye. I agree, the leading lines are taking you away from the subject, which is the old house. I will try to consider the picture through the lens more as I set it up. Thanks for the very CC. I am learning a lot from this forum and the experts in it. Posted: 05/01/2019 12:55:50
I do shot in RAW. Here is the original. I had to reduce it a lot to load. Posted: 05/01/2019 13:04:54
Good thinking to play around with B&W in this setting. There seems to be a lot of contrasting elements that would be further enhanced in B&W.
I agree with Brenda that moving to the left may have been a good choice vs. going through the fence. Though perhaps also zooming out more to get the fence and house + mountain sky could have worked as well.
Looks like you had some nice puffy clouds to work with. I like these type of skies for a moody B&W image - especially with the mountains and stone house. Maybe going with a wider angle as well where the sky takes an equal or larger part of the frame could have worked too. Posted: 05/02/2019 10:19:18
I agree with Brenda that moving to the left may have been a good choice vs. going through the fence. Though perhaps also zooming out more to get the fence and house + mountain sky could have worked as well.
Looks like you had some nice puffy clouds to work with. I like these type of skies for a moody B&W image - especially with the mountains and stone house. Maybe going with a wider angle as well where the sky takes an equal or larger part of the frame could have worked too. Posted: 05/02/2019 10:19:18
I like your creativity mr Alan and make new look for your shot
I hope if you go there again to try to take the shot through the fens and let it be natural framing for the house , I imagine it in my mind and think it will br great , cause fens here not working as leading line it is lead for no thing .
thanks for this nice photo it makes me in high imagination mood . Posted: 05/02/2019 16:41:54
I hope if you go there again to try to take the shot through the fens and let it be natural framing for the house , I imagine it in my mind and think it will br great , cause fens here not working as leading line it is lead for no thing .
thanks for this nice photo it makes me in high imagination mood . Posted: 05/02/2019 16:41:54
I liked the way it is framed, good record shot, from the angle of shadows it looks like it is taken in harsh light condition (?), the original is well exposed with good details in the shadow areas and also highlights are not blown out. Posted: 05/07/2019 22:26:46
Hi it is a creative shot, and it is good to record it for good memory, which is one of the purposes of photography. Cheers.
I give it a try to re-crop it, but it doesn't mean it is a good crop. Just to play around to trigger more ideas. Posted: 05/07/2019 23:02:54
I give it a try to re-crop it, but it doesn't mean it is a good crop. Just to play around to trigger more ideas. Posted: 05/07/2019 23:02:54
Most has already been said, the top fence is too dominant so shooting from further left, and lightening the fence would most likely improve things.
Apart from the fence I don't think this is too sharp, the subject is hard and rugged and a soft look wouldn't suit. I might even push the stones in the building a bit further to make them a feature.
If you are just starting on B&W then this is a good attempt, you will soon be looking at overall tonal range and the difference a small change can make to the feel of an image. Posted: 05/13/2019 14:14:17
Apart from the fence I don't think this is too sharp, the subject is hard and rugged and a soft look wouldn't suit. I might even push the stones in the building a bit further to make them a feature.
If you are just starting on B&W then this is a good attempt, you will soon be looking at overall tonal range and the difference a small change can make to the feel of an image. Posted: 05/13/2019 14:14:17
Alan, I think you got some great feedback here. I really like Richard's crop, which is very similar to yours, but removes more of the distracting top rail. Posted: 05/25/2019 18:08:47