Scarred, beaten and old

[cristen]

A discarded wooden beam with an old, bent nail. My first attempt at B&W. Set the camera on Monochrome and took this shot. I have a problem with focusing so please tell me if I have made a good effort on this one. I tried also to use the rule of thirds (adequately, I hope). Have I given justice to the title? What about the settings? I am afraid the ISO is very high. Thanks in advance for your critiques.

Gear: Canon EOS 500D
Mode: Manual, no flash
Shutter Speed: 6
F-stop: f/11
Aperture: 7
Exposure: 1/60
Focal length: 51 mm
ISO: 1250

[Photologyst]

It is a good first attempt. Great idea!

The tones are a bit too evenly grey IMHO. The nail is not particularly sharp, but you could probably improve both via processing.

Next time take the photo in colour and then convert to B & W in PS processing. You will have more control.

[cristen]

hi,photologyst.. thank you for your time to critique my shot. i've always read your comments on other photos, as well, and your inputs are truly interesting and informative.

my skills in PS are still very limited to cropping and auto-adjustments. got to learn more about layering and everything. hopefully, in time, i can share shots here with dramatic improvements.... in time...

[Photologyst]

Originally Posted by cristen

hi,photologyst.. thank you for your time to critique my shot. i've always read your comments on other photos, as well, and your inputs are truly interesting and informative.

Thanks, Cristen. I try to be helpful if I can.

my skills in PS are still very limited to cropping and auto-adjustments. got to learn more about layering and everything. hopefully, in time, i can share shots here with dramatic improvements.... in time...

On my monitor the wood above the nail appears sharper. Can you take this photo again in color, focusing directly on the nail and post? Then I and others could guide you through adjustments.

Perhaps our resident Photoshop expert Ed Bayani will show.