Waterway in Black & White

[Paul Pagano]

Pentax K10D/Sigma 17-70
17mm Av f/5.6 @1/125s ISO 100
Taken along the roadside A1A in Mayport, Florida.
Converted to b&w in LR after some minor adjustments to color and contrast.
Ran through a single image HDR process to bring out depth & sharpened.
Figured I might get away with centered horizon with the reflection in the water.

[Grady Weed]

I am a huge fan of B&W images. I can say I love the cloud formation and the waterway going from bottom right to the left side upper portion. I see a lot of dead growth sometimes with birds in them. And sometimes the only way to make a good image of it is to do just this. I do not see however many doing it. When I do, I like to let the poster know how much a great concept it is. Does anyone else like this type of imaging?

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Paul,
You did well here converting to B&W. The lines are really working for me in this one. Some will say that there is no real strong interest here..........IMO the lines and tones are what this one is all about! On that same note..........I'll include Grady now.......my wife once accused me of only taking pictures with dead tress! They can work extremely well.............but if you take away Pauls sky..........again IMO.......you have nothing. I always felt that the landscape shooter had to have many more different elements to come together to make a very good landscape image. If I'm photographing birds or animals.........I need to be out early and late.........same with landscapes.............no clouds birds/animals..........shoot for an hour and a half........dramatic landscapes...........my day is over before I took one shot! We can do detail work and other such things.........but a blue sky is just as much of a killer in most instances as is a slate grey. In the above image imagine it without clouds........I don't think I would like it at all...........and now..........the curve of the clouds makes this a wall hanger!
Just my opinion,
Roman

[Leroy Laverman]

Roman is right on here. The clouds make this shot. It's great they way the mimic the lines of the water. One small thing. This may be OK in a larger image or print, but the three small flying birds in the sky are a distraction to me so I think I'd gently nudge them out. There's a lot of visual movement in this shot. Well seen Paul.

[Robert Amoruso]

Well done Paul. This image particularly lends itself to the drama created by B&W. The river and clouds lining up almost the same make this image.

[Paul Pagano]

Here's the pre-conversion image.

Thanks Grady, Leroy, Roman and Robert. I was really happy about this image. And I agree that for a good landscape shot there normally needs to be several factors that come together such as light, reflection, sky, water, etc. Leroy, you're right the birds are probably too small to do anything other than distract. I may remove them from the final image. I hope to have this one framed for inclusion in an exhibit I am putting together here locally. Thanks for looking!

[Vincent Grafhorst]

I agree entirely with Roman's that the clouds make this a strong image, without it it would not be a strong image at all. You orchestrated this one well Paul.

[Harold Davis]

you did well with both the color and b&w!! i'm a sucker for the b&w's so i like your conversion. nice job!