Spooky old tree

[Richard Unsworth]

A Black wing Kite rests from hunting on a rather imposing tree close to my place here in Portugal
Crop to fit and turned black and white as there pretty much no colour OOC
7D 100-400 F 8 IS0400 1/1250 ME

[Dennis Bishop]

I like the tree and the way you composed the image. I think, though, that the wonderful texture of the tree could be emphasized with a different conversion to black & white.

[Richard Unsworth]

Hi

I am all ears Dennis can you advise on that different method please

[Dennis Bishop]

Hi

I am all ears Dennis can you advise on that different method please

The method would depend on what you have available. I'd use Nik Silver Efex because of all the presets and the opportunities to mold them to my purposes. However, I decided to see what I could do using a couple Photoshop adjustment layers. In Levels, I moved the black slider a bit to the right to get more blacks and sent the white slider fairly far to the left. I also moved the midtone slider to the left for some more lightening. That achieved most of the change. To get just a bit more detail, I used a black-to-white Gradient Map.

I often (almost always, maybe) use a black & white Fractalius layer at Multiply blend mode to add detail. It would add black to the edges of what you see, here.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Richard, I like your concept and composition. Dennis has a good idea, not sure I would go quite as far with the lightening but its all subjective. I was thinking that a b&w HDR treatment might work well.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Richard, I love the composition and placement of the kite. Maybe a rendering in between the two images? Do you have Nik Silver Efex or Topaz B&W>

[Richard Unsworth]

Thanks all

I will investigate the program and pp suggestions put forward

[Richard Unsworth]

Hours of fun!

Used multiply and dodge layers, sel colour for neutrals/blacks
while I invest in some plugin magic

[Dennis Bishop]

Good show. The greater range of tones makes a difference.

[Kerry Perkins]

Richard, I like the repost a lot! The image now has taken on the look of a block print. Very nice! If you find yourself staying up way too late at night, you know you are hooked.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Richard, good work on the repost

[Christopher Miller]

Very nice subject and composition, Richard. I actually prefer the original image because it emphasizes the shapes and negative spaces created by the branches more.

[gary ellwein]

I like the composition and favor the first image

[Anita Bower]

Each image has a look that I like. Each one brings out something a little different in the image. Here is another version for your consideration. I used brightness/contrast to increase the brighteness, and unsharp mask to sharpen it a bit. Glad you had a good time playing with editing.

[Richard Unsworth]

Hi Anita

thanks, that brought out some great details.
Yes its fun; probably have more to post soon...