B&W Conversion

[jax314]

Does the sky take away from the beauty of this shot? It is one of my favorites (in black and white) but it was a cloudy day and am not sure if the sky is taking away from the shot. Any other critique or comments are welcome as well.

Thanks!


Camera Nikon D5000
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 180 mm
ISO Speed 200

[SusanH1970]

Jaxon, I think what's bugging me is the snow looks so unnaturally bright and white against such a dark grey sky; the snow wouldn't look so bright under dark skies. Do you have a SOOC you can post so we can see the original?

[jax314]

Well, what I did was use the RAW file and I guess Pseudo-HDR (adjusting exposure and re-saving, then combining in Photomatix). That's why the snow is like that, I'm sure. I thought it was neat for some reason, except for the sky. But sorry, right now I don't have the original to put up...I will try to a little later. Thanks for the feedback.

[jax314]

Is this better? It seems a bit less dramatic to me, but that's why I'm on here getting help!

[wal]

I like the second post better, the scene overall is brighter and probably less dramatic than the first, but still the horses do stand out better with the rest of the scene.. (which is the point in focus here. am i right?). which makes this picture work for me.

[Eileen D]

I agree that the second is much better. The light is more natural and even, the result being that the viewer is drawn to the horses rather than the dark sky and building. Even the details of the horses themselves are clearer in the second.

It can be difficult to evaluate your own image with objective eyes but I have found that listening to lots of comments on this site has definitely helped me to get a clearer perspective on my own work.