old building

[Renee27]

I am still very new at this, so I was out taking pics of this and that. I thought this building was interesting. I did convert to black and white and played with some other settings in Photoshop. I was going for sort of a textured/grainy look.
What do you think of the composition? Do you like the editing or did I really mess it up?

Camera Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/5.0
Focal Length 34 mm
ISO Speed 800

[Tito87]

Do you like the editing or did I really mess it up?

Do you like what you see? If you like it, you didn't mess it up. I like it; I think the composition is fine.

[Doug Sundseth]

I'd like a bit more breathing space on the right side of the building and the greenish tone of the B&W/split tone conversion wouldn't have been my choice. That said, I don't think either is more than a minor annoyance. Very nice photo.

[Renee27]

Doug....Thanks for the input. When you convert to B&W do you usually change much? Are there things you typically do, or does it always vary from photo to photo?

Tito87.....I do like what I see, but I'm sure I could improve on it. I value what you all have to say and Photoshop is pretty overwhelming, so I know I can learn from others suggestions. Thanks for your input!

[Doug Sundseth]

I tend to drift toward sepia if I'm split-toning, but I probably do most of my conversions to straight B&W. For that, I usually use a B&W adjustment layer in Photoshop or use the direct conversion tools in Lightroom or Camera Raw.

In monochrome all you have to work with is contrast, so I'll usually tweak the sliders to make the contrast more interesting to me. (Sometimes this works better than other times, but there you go.) It tends to be something of a trial and error thing, but it gets easier with more errors.

FWIW, I like the level of contrast you've achieved with this photo if you're going for a calm, reflective mood. If you want something more dramatic, you'll want to push up the highlights and push down the shadows.

Something I just noticed now is that it looks to me like the building is leaning to the right. This could be a lens artifact, a slightly tilted camera, or a leaning building. It's not necessarily wrong, and it might well be intentional, but it does change the mood of the photo just a bit.

HTH

[Tito87]

Originally Posted by Renee27

Tito87.....I do like what I see, but I'm sure I could improve on it. I value what you all have to say and Photoshop is pretty overwhelming, so I know I can learn from others suggestions. Thanks for your input!

Of course, any picture can be improved in one way or another, but at some point you have to decide that you've done enough editing: that point, for me, is when I like the image. You're right: Photoshop is a handful; I've been studying Photoshop for almost a year now, and I still consider myself a newbie. Just be patient and spend time learning it: you'll get there.
BTW, i did some HDR toning on your image, and I think it came out ok. I tried to post it yesterday for you to see it, but unfortunately I'm still not very good at posting pictures on the forum--sometimes they show and sometimes they don't. I don't know why that happens: needless to say, yours didn't show.
Keep practicing.[IMG]http://[/IMG] It looks like it showed after all.

[Renee27]

Thanks you all for your input. It really helps to know what others are doing. I LOVE this website!

[Tito87]

Originally Posted by Renee27

Thanks you all for your input. It really helps to know what others are doing. I LOVE this website!

Don't mention it. Just happy to help.

[NilsRagnar]

Nice motive. Perhaps a bit more space as said above or a bit more work on the lines, if possible. What's the real colour of the bricks? Everything looks greenish on my screen and perhaps that's just what you want. I'd probably try and have it a bit brownish - old phote style, you know.
Good work.

[Renee27]

Thanks for the input. The original color is your typical red brick. I didn't even try a sepia, so maybe I will go back and try that. I see everyone's point on having more space on the right, but the road is there and I was worried about cars passing.