Stage Stop - BW conversion help

[Infinite Monkey]

I shot this yesterday. I'd like to get some overall critiques of the composition but I'm still mainly interested in critiques of the BW conversion and what might be done better with that.

As always, thanks in advance for any time and thought you give this.






Camera Nikon D80
Exposure 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 22 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias 0 EV

[shruggy63]

Very nice. Crop right into building?

[zona5101]

nice shot...might want to try and get the whites "whiter" by adding some contrast or another tool at your disposal...and that may not be possible with out throwing something else into deep shadow...You'd kinda have to play a bit. Tools like Silver FX Pro 2 allow you localized control so you could get in and just adjust the highlights and leave and not mess with the shadows...

[Infinite Monkey]

Thanks, Zona. Somebody else mentioned Silver Efex Pro 2 as well. I'll check it out.

[Infinite Monkey]

I'll play with the crop. Are you suggesting getting rid of everything other than the main building? That might be a little extreme although I agree that losing the house on the left side wouldn't hurt. Thanks for the suggestion.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by Infinite Monkey

I'll play with the crop. Are you suggesting getting rid of everything other than the main building? That might be a little extreme although I agree that losing the house on the left side wouldn't hurt. Thanks for the suggestion.

I don't think you can crop this easily without losing some key parts of the image. I played a little with it in photoshop with a levels adjustment layer and masked back the area to be maintained as is...do you edit in PS?

[autofocus]

let me clear up my crop comment above...you can crop it, but you may not be able to maintain a standard aspect ratio for printing. And BTW, I think it's fine with the current crop

[Infinite Monkey]

Thanks, Autofocus. I edit in Aperture although I'm starting to see that I'll have to bite the bullet and learn PS, too. I've played with the crop some since posting but wound up coming back to what I already had. As you noted, I can change the crop if I change the aspect ratio but I think it loses something when I give up more space. I'd be curious to see what you did with the levels in PS.

[autofocus]

here you go...a little more contrast gives it a little more punch


stagestop by vmontalbano, on Flickr

[Infinite Monkey]

Nice. I like what you've done.

BTW, I love all your car shots. Where did you take them?