Erin Lamb
July 2025 - Potter's Hands at Work
Original
About the Image(s)
The original was taken at our local historic village in the potter's shop with my Olympus OMD-EM1 markii, 1/5 sec at f4,Hi Dean 73mm,ISO 100, -1.7 EV.
I love the texture and detail of working hands in B & W so I converted and cropped this shot.
I reduced the highlights and whites while increasing clarity, dehaze, texture, and contrast.
I brushed out some lighter areas of the background.
I wanted to show the details of the working hands but wonder if I overdid the texture.
3 comments posted
Erin,
I like both the original color and your converted bw. I have taken images like this of my potter friend. I like the implied motion of the wheel from the spinning/blurring and I would probably include a bit more of the wheel itself for this reason. The added texture seems fine to me. Posted: 07/09/2025 01:21:11
I like both the original color and your converted bw. I have taken images like this of my potter friend. I like the implied motion of the wheel from the spinning/blurring and I would probably include a bit more of the wheel itself for this reason. The added texture seems fine to me. Posted: 07/09/2025 01:21:11
Diana Edelman
Erin,
Your decision to highlight the working hands as a distinct image on its own has been successful. I think the choice of B&W has enhanced the final product. The overall tonality seems a little dark to me, which might just be differences in screen calibrations. Do you happen to use anything like NIK silver Effex, which has over 60 presets? I find that it offers me some solutions that I have not been able to achieve myself. You might be able to have the hands highlighted in a subtle way even more, which you could also achieve with some masking. The texture seems fine; there is no grain or noise apparent. Posted: 07/14/2025 22:37:07
Your decision to highlight the working hands as a distinct image on its own has been successful. I think the choice of B&W has enhanced the final product. The overall tonality seems a little dark to me, which might just be differences in screen calibrations. Do you happen to use anything like NIK silver Effex, which has over 60 presets? I find that it offers me some solutions that I have not been able to achieve myself. You might be able to have the hands highlighted in a subtle way even more, which you could also achieve with some masking. The texture seems fine; there is no grain or noise apparent. Posted: 07/14/2025 22:37:07
Erin, This image is very interesting in cutting the person out of it. It does seem dark on my screen, and I agree with Dean on leaving the wheel in, and which then a vertical crop would be needed. I like the B&W of the main one too. Posted: 07/16/2025 23:38:01