Ugly Hedgehog - Photography Forum
Home Active Topics Newest Pictures Search Login Register
For Your Consideration
Mabry Mill....In The Rain
Nov 5, 2018 11:35:52   #
deanfl Loc: Georgia
 
One of my stops on my recent road trip was the iconic Mabry Mill..on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. Unfortunately it was raining....and the main store closed due to flooding while I was there....from rain after hurricane Michael.

The day was drab and gloomy. I took some photos on my cell phone. I decided that black and white would be a good choice.

Here are both versions done with Snapseed on my I pad. I like the B&W better.

What do you think?


(Download)


(Download)

Reply
Nov 5, 2018 12:04:10   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
I don't think I've seen this composition before, with the fence in lower right corner and the curve of the pond's bank leading me to the mill. That appeals to me, but unfortunately, in my opinion the flat light and same tones throughout don't lend themselves to an interesting photo in either color or b&w. Sorry!

There's a more dramatic b&w possible, but that may not be in your plans. However...I played with and can show you here if you like

Reply
Nov 5, 2018 12:30:28   #
jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana
 
I like what you’ve done here--to a degree. The composition is nice, and the black and white blows the color version away. That said, a re-working while adding contrast would improve the black and white. I doubt there’s much you can do with the color version.

Reply
 
 
Nov 5, 2018 13:17:49   #
deanfl Loc: Georgia
 
Linda From Maine wrote:
I don't think I've seen this composition before, with the fence in lower right corner and the curve of the pond's bank leading me to the mill. That appeals to me, but unfortunately, in my opinion the flat light and same tones throughout don't lend themselves to an interesting photo in either color or b&w. Sorry!

There's a more dramatic b&w possible, but that may not be in your plans. However...I played with and can show you here if you like
I don't think I've seen this composition before, w... (show quote)


So much for the natural look some people claim to prefer.

Here are 2 more versions with more impact.


(Download)


(Download)

Reply
Nov 5, 2018 13:28:44   #
deanfl Loc: Georgia
 
jaymatt wrote:
I like what you’ve done here--to a degree. The composition is nice, and the black and white blows the color version away. That said, a re-working while adding contrast would improve the black and white. I doubt there’s much you can do with the color version.


Thank you for commenting, John. I just posted 2 new versions with more punch.

Reply
Nov 5, 2018 14:37:11   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
deanfl wrote:
So much for the natural look some people claim to prefer. Here are 2 more versions with more impact.
Natural look, impact, punch...all in the eye of the beholder, yes? We please ourselves and hope others enjoy, or we offer for feedback with the understanding that all may not appreciate our vision.

I've sent you the b&w I had in mind. The goal was to create more tonal separation, though apparently the rain turned to snow while I was editing

I've never personally claimed to prefer the "natural" look. For me, artistic interpretation is one of the joys of this hobby.

Reply
Nov 5, 2018 16:32:35   #
deanfl Loc: Georgia
 
Linda From Maine wrote:
Natural look, impact, punch...all in the eye of the beholder, yes? We please ourselves and hope others enjoy, or we offer for feedback with the understanding that all may not appreciate our vision.

I've sent you the b&w I had in mind. The goal was to create more tonal separation, though apparently the rain turned to snow while I was editing

I've never personally claimed to prefer the "natural" look. For me, artistic interpretation is one of the joys of this hobby.
Natural look, impact, punch...all in the eye of th... (show quote)

Attached for download is Linda’s version of my B&W. I would say that it is a definite improvement. I understand that she will explain how she did it. Thanks, Linda.

For some reason I couldn’t get the photo to display on its own.

Linda, you may want to add your photo to your response. Thanks, again.

Attached file:
(Download)

Reply
 
 
Nov 5, 2018 16:42:15   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
deanfl wrote:
Attached for download is Linda's version of my B&W. I would say that it is a definite improvement. I understand that she will explain how she did it. Thanks, Linda...Linda, you may want to add your photo to your response. Thanks, again.
Thanks so much for indulging me, Dean!

What little I know about processing I learned from UHH First, I saturated the color file to the point of garish. Then I used Nik Silver Efex, which includes color filters. With those I was able to make the greens whiter and the reds blacker. Then I did a few selective tweaks with lightening and darkening. There are a couple of additional edits that are needed on this one, I think, including reducing the brightness of that horizontal line of "snow" to the left of the mill.

Often even the simple photo editors will offer a choice of b&w pre-sets, and those may be related to color filters. One example is red will turn a bright blue sky very black. With flat light, boosting the color saturation and/or contrast prior to clicking the conversion might aid a more interesting result. Here is one article on using Nik Silver Efex's color filters:
https://shivverma.com/using-color-filters-in-nik-silver-efex-pro-2/

Thanks again, Dean.



Reply
Nov 5, 2018 23:55:20   #
canadaboy
 
deanfl wrote:
What do you think?


What I think is you have a quite decent photo in the color version which with a bit of light added and some definition means it will stand on its own without any special effects or a black and white conversion to hide what you see as defects. Its a good shot I think. I changed the aspect ratio to make for what I feel is better viewing.


(Download)

Reply
Nov 6, 2018 08:38:40   #
Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas
 
I think this is one beautifully composed picture. If mine I would enter it in a show.
I am so impress at what people can now get with their cell phones.
I did make some adjustments to give the picture a bit more punch. My edit involves processing in Photoshop. I opened in Camera raw then increased Highlights. Increased both whites and blacks with just a bit of Clarity. As I did this blue fringing appeared in the tree edges at the sky line. So I added a Hue/Saturation layer. I chose the blue area and then desaturated it and brightened it till it no longer showed I then filled the layer with black (turning it into a mask) and then with a soft brush opened just around the tree branches as needed.
Hope you like it. As I said if mine I would enter it in this springs photo contest if it was mine.
Jim

Please see download and enlarge to see detail better.


(Download)

Reply
Nov 6, 2018 08:45:13   #
deanfl Loc: Georgia
 
canadaboy wrote:
What I think is you have a quite decent photo in the color version which with a bit of light added and some definition means it will stand on its own without any special effects or a black and white conversion to hide what you see as defects. Its a good shot I think. I changed the aspect ratio to make for what I feel is better viewing.


Thank you for taking the time you did...it is an improvement over my original.

Reply
 
 
Nov 6, 2018 08:58:50   #
deanfl Loc: Georgia
 
Jim-Pops wrote:
I think this is one beautifully composed picture. If mine I would enter it in a show.
I am so impress at what people can now get with their cell phones.
I did make some adjustments to give the picture a bit more punch. My edit involves processing in Photoshop. I opened in Camera raw then increased Highlights. Increased both whites and blacks with just a bit of Clarity. As I did this blue fringing appeared in the tree edges at the sky line. So I added a Hue/Saturation layer. I chose the blue area and then desaturated it and brightened it till it no longer showed I then filled the layer with black (turning it into a mask) and then with a soft brush opened just around the tree branches as needed.
Hope you like it. As I said if mine I would enter it in this springs photo contest if it was mine.
Jim

Please see download and enlarge to see detail better.
I think this is one beautifully composed picture. ... (show quote)

Jim, Thank you for the compliment on the composition....and thank you for your taking the time to improve my color photo.

Reply
Nov 6, 2018 13:31:38   #
artBob Loc: Near Chicago
 
jaymatt wrote:
I like what you’ve done here--to a degree. The composition is nice, and the black and white blows the color version away. That said, a re-working while adding contrast would improve the black and white. I doubt there’s much you can do with the color version.

I agree. Great subject for the contrasts of textures, and man and nature. The values of the water and greenery were too similar when I just tried to work on your BW. So, I did some of what Linda did, to differentiate the greens and water, then converted to B&W from /Image/Adjustments in Photoshop. Still, even manipulating the various color sliders, could not get it to work.

Finally, I converted the color into B&W in /Modes, and did dodging and burning to separate tones and bring up contrasts. I kept your dark tonality because that was what you saw.


(Download)

Reply
Nov 6, 2018 18:20:28   #
deanfl Loc: Georgia
 
artBob wrote:
I agree. Great subject for the contrasts of textures, and man and nature. The values of the water and greenery were too similar when I just tried to work on your BW. So, I did some of what Linda did, to differentiate the greens and water, then converted to B&W from /Image/Adjustments in Photoshop. Still, even manipulating the various color sliders, could not get it to work.

Finally, I converted the color into B&W in /Modes, and did dodging and burning to separate tones and bring up contrasts. I kept your dark tonality because that was what you saw.
I agree. Great subject for the contrasts of textur... (show quote)


Thanks, Bob, for your contribution.

Reply
Nov 7, 2018 02:29:52   #
Horseart Loc: Alabama
 
deanfl wrote:
One of my stops on my recent road trip was the iconic Mabry Mill..on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. Unfortunately it was raining....and the main store closed due to flooding while I was there....from rain after hurricane Michael.

The day was drab and gloomy. I took some photos on my cell phone. I decided that black and white would be a good choice.

Here are both versions done with Snapseed on my I pad. I like the B&W better.

What do you think?


Being an artist, I almost always love color the most. The green looks quite harsh here but not as harsh in my photo editor. I desaturated it a bit anyway and dodged a little light in a few places...it may even look drab here after that...I guess we'll see.



Reply
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.
For Your Consideration
UglyHedgehog.com - Forum
Copyright 2011-2024 Ugly Hedgehog, Inc.