Car wheels on a gravel road

[jdam023]

I took this with a friend's Nikon D3000 (though I recently jumped ship and bought a Canon 600D). Used the 18-55 kit lens, close to 18mm for the shot. I wasn't happy with the color version, so I converted to B&W in Lightroom and then split toned using yellow for the highlights and blue for the shadows.

I chose the title as a nod to the seminal Lucinda Williams album of the same name. It reminds me why I love living in the Midwest and how I almost got killed right before this shot dodging an oncoming semi (who knew anyone actually used country roads!)...

[jdam023]

So I'm wondering...

- Is the road too far off to the left (or, alternately, is there too little on the right side of the frame)?
- Because it was uninteresting in color, does it mean that it's "cheating" to render it in B & W? I believe a photo is interesting...if it is interesting, and that whether it's in color, B & W, infrared, etc. etc. doesn't really matter. I guess what I'm wondering is if there are exceptions to this rule? In this instance, I liked the B&W (and later split-toning) because it helped me focus the composition on the desolation to the right and the dusty road jutting off into the horizon to the left. The sky was minimized because it was a rather nondescript blue with no interesting clouds. I felt that having it in color was too blah, that nothing stood out. Converting it at least focused the eye onto a few sparse elements.

Am I on to something, or am I just trying to salvage a boring photo?

[Zeke Menuar]

You're overthinking it a bit.

Some images look so-so in color and really pop in B&W.
There is no hard and fast rule. If lt looks good to you then go with it.

Your image looks great just the way it is. I might brighten it a bit, other than that it's fine.

[Jonbar18]

Originally Posted by Zeke Menuar

You're overthinking it a bit.

Some images look so-so in color and really pop in B&W.
There is no hard and fast rule. If lt looks good to you then go with it.

Your image looks great just the way it is. I might brighten it a bit, other than that it's fine.

QFT.

Also, I would consider cropping a little bit off the right side, because
-negative space (its not exactly negative in this case, but same idea) is good. Too much of it is not.
-There is a vignette in the top right that is driving me nuts. If its intentional, it might be better to just remove it rather than cropping. Otherwise, consider taking it out, or taking the time to lighten/blend it with the rest of the pic.

[jdam023]

Thanks everyone for the comments---they helped make a much-improved image!


Car wheels on a gravel road III by jadammel, on Flickr

Also, EXIF info:
Exposure: 0.02 sec (1/50)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal length: 18mm
ISO: 100
Exposure Bias: -1/3 EV

[Krusty79]

You've got several leading lines in your image, but with the current composition, I don't know which one you are emphasizing. If it is the road, then it does feel cut off. I wouldn't worry about the color/B&W thing - a shot that looks good in color may not look that good in B&W and vice versa.

I'm not a fan of the vignetting. I don't know if that was intentional. I think you have a decent shot now, but having a focal point in the image would help.