Rework 1 - Took the yellow cast out of the block of ice & worked on the features that are embedded in the ice to make it look more like they’re embedded than cut off as suggested by @Merv@Shirley_Freeman
In winter I like to walk the Cayuga Lake shoreline. The county begins lowering the lake to protect the boat docks in Nov. It takes about a month for it to reach the lowest level and that comes in early winter. I find a lot of interesting rock and ice formations during the winter. The high winds that come off this lake in the winter generally blows feathers away, but some get caught in ice or between stones. I found this scene as is. I haven’t processed much B&W so I’m not great at it, but this image screamed B&W.
Specific Feedback Requested
I processed this a couple of times trying to get the look I wanted. I like B&W and would like to start processing more images in it. Any help with my processing would be appreciated. I’ll also take help with the composition.
Technical Details
Sony a7r iv 24-70mm @59mm
f/14
ss/1/25
ISO 100
ACR for toning
Photoshop - cleanup and lots of D&B
Nik CEP5 for contrast
I really like this, a lot.
The scene and the composition is spot on in my opinion.
The tonal range is great with what seems like the perfect amount of soft shadows, really subtle highlights and the details are awesome.
Even the particles on the flat round rock seem like they belong there to me.
The tones are near perfect for a straight up B&W.
The only thing that I am having trouble with is the ice?, I assume that’s ice covering the rocks on the left? The texture makes it look like ice and it looks like parts of the feather are locked into it.
Anyway, it may be my monitors but the image looks too warm for ice, if it isn’t my monitors, I’d lower the white balance to make it a little colder looking, it needs some blue in it.
See what others say about the color temperature because it could just be my monitors.
Really nicely done!
P.S. Maybe mask the ice and lower the temperature on that part only?
Donna, what a great find and capture. The tonal range looks good on my monitor. I agree with @Merv about the “ice”. If it is possible to get the ice so that we can see the feather through the ice, I think that would be good too. It just looks like the feather is cut off by not seeing it through the ice. Just a thought. I would be pleased to call this shot mine.
Hi Donna,
I hope you don’t mind me posting a comparison example of what I feel could improve the interpretation of the ice. I may have overdone it a little, I applied a mask on the ice and included the parts of the barbs that are locked in the ice but not the parts that appear to be in open air, then I lowered the temperature by -7 n Lr.
Concerning the feather, I think @Shirley_Freeman said it much better than I did.
To me, the temperature adjustment didn’t seem to change it to blue as I mentioned before but it does seem to be “Less Warm or Cooler”?
Obviously I’m no expert with B&W by any means, my experience is limited to having shot with B&W film which was nothing more than pressing the shutter release, so for me, it’s just personal perception. I have a lot to learn about B&W.
The quill and the barbs being in the ice really adds to the scene in my opinion.
This is an attention grabbing image to me, thank you
@Merv@Shirley_Freeman Thank you so much for your suggestions. I’ll play around with this today and see if I can clean it up. I’ll let you know when I repost it. Shirley, the feather wasn’t showing through the ice in the original photo. It was really buried in there. I don’t know how I could get it to show. Maybe I can get it be more obvious that it’s buried. Thanks again.
@Merv@Shirley_Freeman I reposted the feather image. I think I made it better. The chunk of ice was pretty ugly at the end. I tried to make it look as nice as I know how. Nature being nature, have to learn to accept. Thanks again to both of you for your guidance.
Donna, I see what you are saying about the ice obstructing the view of the portions of the feather that is under it. You are right, we have to accept what nature offers sometimes. I think you did well with what it offered you.
Striking composition and a wonderful find! The rest of the image is so strong, I didn’t even notice the tips of the vanes (?) lost in the ice. I think it’s gorgeous and love the monotone treatment!
Very nice Donna. To me, it is a lovely small scene and the tonal range is good. I actually prefer your original that looks like a nicely toned mono image. It just seems a wee bit jarring when the ice is shown in a cooler tint. Cheers.
@Diane_Miller Thank you so much, Diane. I had a heck of a time processing this one. Couldn’t get the tones right. I kind of knew what I wanted, but getting there was difficult.
@Phil_G I’m with you on the original. I wanted to try the suggestions, because you never know what will improve a photo. The ice block wasn’t pretty and the whiter tone does attract the eye more to it. I’m glad you liked this one.
Hi Donna, I think that this looks great and I do like the repost a little bit more. You did a great job with this - both compositionally and in terms of processing.
I love the composition, Donna. The B&W really brought out the contrast and sharpness if the feather. You did a nice job post processing on this photo image.
Donna, this is a fine “still life” with your b&w treatment showing off the details in the different textures beautifully. The extra processing helps separate the ice from the feather edge and shows better that the bits of feather are captured.
@Dan_Kearl@Tom_Nevesely Sorry for the delay in thanking you for your response on this image. I didn’t see them come in. Thank you.
@Mark_Seaver Thanks, Mark. One of the reasons I love this photography group is that I’m told about things I missed in my processing. I think you look at the photo so long, you don’t pick up on small details that can be improved. I always let finished photos sit awhile and then go back to see what needs improvement, but sometimes I still miss things. Glad you liked this one.
