Balthazar Covered Bridge Canada

[barabe]

Hello,

This is the Balthazar Covered bridge, built in 1932. It is one of the few covered bridge that still exist in the province of Quebec, Canada. By the way all covered bridges around here have names. I posted the shots i took of this bridge on Flickr about a week ago and a few of you guy's that roam around on Flickr suggested a BW conversion of this shot so here it is. The original and a few more are on my Flickr.

What do you think about the BW conversion?
Should I stick with colored versions? Personally i enjoy color more.
What do you think about the comcomposition of the shot?
Is there anything i should have done to make it a better shot asside from a different time of day, I will try it when ever i get a chance to be in the area early or late.
Any other comments are more than welcome.



Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 27 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

[AlphaBjerke]

Hmm, not exactly sure what you could have done different, but it seems like something is missing to me. The side of the bridge and most of the water in the foreground is exactly the same shade and that makes it a bit boring. I am not an expert (nor do I play one on TV or DPS), but often people suggest more contrast for B&W conversions. But I think if you did that, it would just make the roof way to white. There is contrast, just not a good range of tones in between the white of the roof and the dark gray of the sides of the bridge and the water.

Also, you probably also tried this from multiple angles, but I was wondering if there was another place to shoot were there would be more interest in the foreground. There is that big expanse of water that is broken up somewhat by the reflection, but other than that, down the sides of the frame of the shot and the rest of the water is lacking in detail and dynamic range. I don't know if playing with the conversion fixes this or not.

[AoxoA]

Looking at the original in color, while this is probably the best shot of the bridge itself, it's a bit of a DR issue, and what you've been left with in this conversion is a lot of dark shadow on large areas of little detail (the surface of the water, the side of the bridge).

If you have access to filters, or working with channels in a PS like software will give you a less dark, more detailed conversion.

AoxoA

[barabe]

Thank you for your honest response, it is what i was thinking too but i had to guive it a try because it was asked. I will try something different later.

[ebeard2802]

Martin,

I think I actually like the color version better for this shot, but I think the black and white has potential as well. I think I agree with the contrast issue, and I also think it would make this stand out a little better if you added some sepia color or some artistic effect. The monochromatic conversion just seems to be missing something.

Eric

[tvoelcker]

I think the problem here is that the side of the building has lost all of it's texture probably due to the fact it's a bit dark. Perhaps try a sepia and that might brighten a bit and bring out some of the texture .
As far as the composition goes I honestly can't find anything to nick-pick...

[barabe]

Thank you Tom For the comment,

I just finished a bit of PP on it,
I turned it into sepia and put a red filter effect on. i also brightened it up a bit.

What do you think of it now?

[tvoelcker]

I like the brightnest of it but too sure about the red tone. I do now see the glimpse of foilage in the foreground on the left corner and I think that adds a nice touch.
In picasa there is a one click option to add a soft glow to a picture. Does gimp have something simialer? If so, you might tone tone the red down a bit and a soft glow to the picture.

[barabe]

Originally Posted by tvoelcker

I like the brightnest of it but too sure about the red tone. I do now see the glimpse of foilage in the foreground on the left corner and I think that adds a nice touch.
In picasa there is a one click option to add a soft glow to a picture. Does gimp have something simialer? If so, you might tone tone the red down a bit and a soft glow to the picture.

Actuall i used the Canon photo proffesional RAW editor to do the conversion, all the effects are available on the original picture file so i just have to remove the Red filter and it becomes a new picture. I have not played arround with GIMP enough to know if the effect you are talking about exists but it must, it is pretty much a copy of photoshop.