Renee Schaefer  


Amsterdam Bike by Renee Schaefer

May 2021 - Amsterdam Bike

About the Image(s)

My camera club's competition for May is B&W. I like the drama of this image once converted to B&W.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
8 comments posted




Becca Cambridge   Becca Cambridge
I loved Amsterdam, their bikes, the canals and the flowers. All of it.
I wonder what the color version was like as I'm not sure about the flowers. In a BW conversion, they seem to get jumbled in the bike wheels. I think I'd have liked it better without the flowers in the BW version because of the lack of contrast.
They seem to distract from the leading lines of the canal intersecting with the horizontal bridge rails contrasted with the circular bike wheels.
I do like the lines you have captured which are such an essence of Amsterdam.   Posted: 05/08/2021 08:37:04
Renee Schaefer   Renee Schaefer
Thank you Becca. I will try to do something about the flowers.
  Posted: 05/11/2021 09:00:52



Jon Allanson   Jon Allanson
I like your view down the canal behind the bike, it really captures the atmosphere of Amsterdam. I think that a different conversion to black and white, which would have lightened the greens of the plants just behind the bike would have made it stand out more. I would also have used some selective sharpening on the bike.   Posted: 05/10/2021 09:17:50
Renee Schaefer   Renee Schaefer
Thank you Jon. Doing something to separate the flowers from the bike is a great idea.   Posted: 05/11/2021 09:01:34



Lauren Heerschap   Lauren Heerschap
Totally the feel of Amsterdam. I don't know what you used to convert to B&W, but if Silver Efex Pro, I'd suggest the end of the canal to darken the house that is bright white, with a control point. I'd lighten the entire photo, and work as suggested on the flowers. If you converted this in Lightroom, it tends to gray and muddy the monochrome. You have some lovely textures in the road and water.   Posted: 05/11/2021 11:15:27



Jan van Leijenhorst   Jan van Leijenhorst
My kind of town. I lived there twice. The image personifies the city. It could not have been taken anywhere else. I find the image a bit flat and wonder what the color version looked like. It might have brought out the flowers better. I would darken that building in the background a bit.   Posted: 05/22/2021 15:01:39



Brad Ashbrook   Brad Ashbrook
I really like the composition and feel of the image and it screams Amsterdam! I agree with Jan and the B&W conversion is a little flat. You did not say how you did the conversion so it is hard to comment. There are some great tools if you are using a plug-in instead of just desaturating the colors. The various color sliders in black white could help with the flowers and separating the bike a little bit more.   Posted: 05/23/2021 09:39:25



Danny Dunne   Danny Dunne
Good composition, good story about the place.
There are lines working well everywhere. Even the cars are all facing the same way.   Posted: 05/28/2021 06:07:32