Looking out

[mudskipper1]

Camera Nikon D3000
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/7.1
Focal Length 22 mm
Focal Length 21.8 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV

What do you think of the composition, exposure, B&W conversion? Other comments?



DSC_0082 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Hoping that posting technique works.

Thanks for looking!

[Vernian]

I think this really works as a black and white conversion, I suspect in colour it would loose its impact. To me it invokes a feel of loneliness or separation.

I'm torn in two as to whether this needs more definition. On the one hand, as you have it now it give a misty feel to the photo, but it also feels quite flat. And as your main subject is the person sitting on the rocks I think he's getting a little lost in the greyness of it all. I wish he was just a little more there.

On the other hand, if you give it too much contrast you loose the idea of mist and it makes you wonder what exactly is not being shown in the photo. Maybe play with curves a little to bring out the figure a bit more. If you've shot this in RAW you could do quite a bit with it.

Very nice use of white space though and I like how the lines lead your eye to the person sitting there.

[mudskipper1]

Thanks for the comment! I can definitely see where you are coming from. Unfortunately, this wasn't shot in RAW, I was running out of card space at the time, so I was just shooting .jpeg

This was the best version I could come up with just in iphoto, since that is the only editing software I have currently.

Do you think the photo would be better or worse with the trees that you can just barely see more visible? I say it would detract from the feel, but my brother feels it would add something.

[HermanVonPetri]

I love the stillness and isolation in this photo. A great capture.

There is something you should be careful of though if you try to increase the contrast, besides possibly losing some of that lovely misty quality. There is already some banding happening throughout the gradient of the mist. This often happens when an image is compressed, contrast is increased, or noise reduction goes too far.

If you find that you can't get the adjustments you want without the banding showing up then there is another possible solution. A tiny bit of fine grained noise added to the photo can usually break up this pattern and mask its effect. Fortunately, on B&W photos a little bit of grain can be pleasing to certain tastes if you want to try it.

[milosh]

I also like this concept and the b&w conversion. I wanted to mention the banding but Herman already pointed you to it.

I think there is too much uninteresting space beneath the boy. It would be better if you cropped it to a landscape orientation while retaining this image width and placing the boy in the upper third. I would still have that sense of solitude and isolation, but the eye wouldn't be travelling down that rock.

[mudskipper1]

Yea, I had noticed the banding, and I was unsure how to fix it using the minimal photo processing software/experience I have. I gave it a shot here, and also tried the landscape crop, but I don't think I like it as much, as it loses the "epic" feel that the strong vertical component gives it, at least in my opinion.





Thanks again for the comments! I really appreciate it!

[SwissJon]

To be honest, I like the vertical crop, because the height is what's important in this photo,, not the space ahead of the person, but I would crop much tighter to the person so they are sitting at the top right third intersection.. Putting them so high in the picture loses the focus on them, and you wonder what the subject is.

I would also increas the contrast.. I like the misty feel, and think you should endevour to keep that, but the photo is a bit flat because of it.. Increasing the contrast will hopefully add a bit of depth to the picture.

[mudskipper1]

If someone is willing, could you give the PP a shot, this is the highest I can take the contrast, and I don't like any other way I crop it.

Appreciate all the help!

[HermanVonPetri]

I tried a few tries myself but I still think your processing works just as well or better than anything I did. Do you have available the original unprocessed shot from the camera to work on? It would be better for any of us to work from the original if possible.

I really do think that it's nitpicking at this point though. It's a good photo with just a couple of nagging challenges. As for the alignment of the crop, I really do like the towering verticality. I appreciate that much of the interest comes from him dangling over the edge of what is obviously a huge cliff. This suits my personal taste.

While the banding is unfortunate, and may still be minimized, it is not overwhelmingly obvious in the full size rendering. I would be proud of this photo!

[Gulf Coast Girl]

Originally Posted by mudskipper1

What do you think of the composition, exposure, B&W conversion? Other comments?

Personally I LOVE the first crop over the second one. The first one showing the height gives me that "Holy crap.... are you nuts, get down from there!!" feeling.

I don't know enough to make suggestions as to the exposure or other such things.... but IMO the composition is FANTASTIC!