Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio

Still don't have the feel for B&W. I tend to overdarken, so I'm focusing on not doing that. Comments welcome
Fran

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rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Fran, it looks like you're off to a good start.
--Bob

Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio

What should i change in it
Fran

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

NMGal Loc: NE NM

I think it looks fine.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Very nice, Fran. I see a little haloing around the treetops. That could have happened in color, also. Did you use the original sky in the image? Other than that it looks really nice to me.

RiJoRi Loc: Sandy Ridge, NC

Honestly, Fran, I would not change a thing.
That said, let me ask you, for whom are you making this picture? If it's for some yet-to-be-defined viewers, I'll guarantee that someone will object to something, while another will say the same thing is wonderful. 🙄
It comes down to whether or not _you_ like the picture, whether it's light and airy, or dark and gloomy. If you're happy with it, great! What does it matter what others' opinions are? If you're _not_ happy with it, then what does it matter what others' opinions are?

Again, I really like this picture. It shows a piece of history plainly and clearly. HTH,

--Rich

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Very nice!! B&W is a very good choice for this.

Dodie

Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio

Thanks for the thumbs up
Fran

Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio

Thank you NMgal
Fran

Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio

Ken thank you. Yes that is the original sky. I went back and looked at the original, and the haloing was there. I did sharpen it some, so possibly from that.
Fran

Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio

Thanks for your input Rich. As far as B&W, i struggle with concept of tonality. I don't know if I really get it. . I'm not sure who I'm trying to please. I will edit a picture and I like it...go back to it at a later point and through my hands up. I guess that's insecurity in what I'm doing. It is much easier in color!
Fran

Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio

Thanks Dodie. I thought so too
Fran

R.G. Loc: Scotland

When changing over from colour to B&W, one of the differences that you need to come to terms with is that B&W frequently (but not always) needs more contrast. However, when you use the Contrast slider, one of the things you have to watch for is the dark areas becoming too solid and impenetrable and/or too large. That can be countered up to a point with the Blacks and Shadows sliders. You may also find that the bright areas become too harsh and the highlights can get pushed into saturation (i.e. blown highlights). The Whites and Highlights sliders can alleviate that (up to a point).

The haloing around the tree line in the sky suggests that you're already using quite a lot of Clarity (or possibly that the image is an HDR merge, or it has a Picture Control profile baked in - which is often the case with SOOC jpegs). The best approach is to make Contrast adjustments as described above and make that the main way to add contrast. The Clarity slider should be left to the end for minor tweaking.

Another possibility is to add contrast via selections and avoid including the problem areas as described above. Alternatively you could add the correcting adjustments via selections. In your picture the area inside the shed is already plenty dark and you could select that area to lift the shadows a little. You could also select any problem bright areas and give them their own corrective adjustments for similar reasons. That frees you to add more overall contrast to the rest of the image.

It's very often the case that global adjustments can be pushed further if you can mitigate the unwanted effects that the pushing produces. That way you can get more of what you do want and less of what you don't want. There's more than one way to apply corrective adjustments, some of which are described above.

gmontjr2350 Loc: Southern NJ

It's a very nice picture! If it were me, I would try to open up the shadows a bit in the right-side entry/garage/??.

George