Juno Pier HDR B&W

[Matt Lerer]

Since the birding season has slowed a bit for me I decided to do some scenic stuff. I am close to some great spots for ocean related photography and I've been shooting at the Juno Pier on nice mornings. Here's one that I adjusted to B&W...not really knowing what I am doing but it looks cool to me.

Mark IV
16mm
ISO 100
7 shot HDR

http://photos.imageevent.com/ghireptiles/nature/Pier%20South%20BandW%20web.jpg

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Matt,
I think the comp works very well here with the shell/rocks/stuff in the FG adding a nice texture contrast. I also like the B&W conversion concept but do have a few questions for you. I did you open up the rooftop on the pier?.....almost looks like a halo....but could be the sun rising behind it. I do think you still need to tweak this with either selective levels/curves or other layers of choise to bring out the tonal range even more.......about 1/2 the sand area and almost the entire water area to the right of the pier can get tweaked IMO. Perhaps even the sky from the darker cloud over! I find the strongest B&W's have a huge amount of tonal range.....so pulling it up wherever you can will only help the final presentation. Just some food for thought on this very interesting comp!

[Dave Mills]

Hi Matt, Agree that the image could be tweaked a bit tonality wise but I feel you have a well thought out comp. It looks like you shot this at a lower angle which is adding more impact to the foreground shells. I like the pier acting as a strong anchor on the left also having interest in the sky with just showing enough of it. Good job Matt!

[Matt Lerer]

Hey Roman,

Where you see the lighter area on the left of the picture is the general direction direction that the sun has been rising from. When shooting from the North side the sun casts really nice oranges on the pilings. I see what you are saying about tonal range and I'll give it a shot. Thanks so much for the help!

[Matt Lerer]

Hey Dave,

Thanks for the comments and help too! The camera was about 6" off of the sand in this shot and I have found that I really like this perspective when shooting wide angle with a clean foreground. I'll do some tweaking!

[Robert Amoruso]

Nice job Matt. Roman's comments were right on.

[Matt Lerer]

Thanks Robert...I worked on it with my dad and there is indeed a night and day difference when the tonal range is really used to it's fullest. Great advice and thanks!