Cypress B&W

[Harold Davis]

one from this past weekend. i went out scouting some areas and found this place. it was later in the morning with nothing interesting in the sky. wondering what anyone thought about the composition and if it's worth exploring again. also, any B&W conversion pointers would be great. i converted this in silver efex pro and did some dodging and burning afterwards.

D300, 18-200VR at 22mm, f/18, 1/25s, +1.0EV, ISO 640? (that was a mistake, i was shooting BIF just a few moments earlier and forgot!!), polarizar filter at max. tried exposing to the right and bringing the brightness down in PP for better quality. is this the right thinking?

thanks for looking. comments and critiques appreciated.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hmmm Harold,
Was just about to log off.....saw this.....lucky you:p....The whites look a bit hot....may be due to too much dodging but I think you have something here. It is an excellent comp and worth exploring much more with clouds/sunrise/sunset/ and if so inclined storms! I would eliminate the white specs in the water...don't care what they are.....as at this moment they distract. Come to think of it dusk....with stars or moonrise would also work. If you want.....post an original and lets see what others (and myself if I get a chance)...can tweak out of the B&W. You are definitely on to something here my friend!

[Harold Davis]

that's as big as i can make it. straight out of the camera. sorry i didnt have the bubble level with me!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Thanks Harold! OK all....if you re-post.....give the specifics......so Harold can duplicate your efforts!

[Dave Mills]

Hi Harold...Converted this way..... Used Silver Efex, Neutral, Bright -6,Cont +26, Struct, +54
red filter. Burned sky and water...

[Harold Davis]

thanks dave. looks good! i particularly like the way your foliage turned out.

[Harold Davis]

here's another go at it. silver efex pro using the neutral as dave did. with a gradient from the right side, some burning in the upper and lower left, some dodging of the stump and eviction of all the lily pads. fixed horizon and distortion. thoughts? thanks!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Harold,
You posted your 2nd version while I was working on my re-do. The first looks more IR and I like the darkness of the sky. My first re-do came very similar to yours..reverse s-curve to knock down contrast..shadow 26/43/30...highlights 5/50/30.....saturation +26.....color balnce yellow -14 magenta -12....converted to grayscale.....brightness contrasdt -1 and +12....LCE at 20/22/0.......extensive burning and dodging and then a levels layer and contrast on the water......this version had the grey sky......the 2nd re-post was selective levels layers to darken. I kind of like the darker sky version...but you get the ideas. Let me know your thoughts.

[Roman Kurywczak]

2nd darker version

PS now that i look at it again......you have to work on the glow......BTW.....i had to blur the sky extensively due to banding.

[Roman Kurywczak]

oh yeah.....I cropped too.

[Harold Davis]

i like both, but think the second is the winner. one thing that sticks out to me is the white tips on the cypress needles that make your trees pop. mine do not have that. how'd you do that? its those little things that make these shine. thanks for the time you put into to these. really appreciated.

this place is about a two hour trip from home. thinking of going after work on a day when it's supposed to be stormy.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Harold,
dodging with progressively smaller brushes and burning too....took a while. Looking at yours I think you could make it work.
This will look wild with stormy weather.

[Robert Amoruso]

I would agree that with summertime clouds this would be a great subject. I suggest going in for a lower perspective too as best you can. Fisheye (extreme wide-angle) looking up. I will hold the fisheye in my hand outside the boat to get the right perspective (an Andy Rouse suggestion from Bosque when I was out shooting with him).