The original is here:
Hi Craig, I love scenes like this. I like the water movement and the texture in the rock. I don’t know much about b&w processing so just sharing my thoughts. The blacks in the frame are strong and appealing howerver in the ur corner behind the tall bush I would like to see a little detail. Maybe it’s there and its just my computer.
Cheers
Craig, for someone who doesn’t do a lot of B&W, this is a good effort at going outside your comfort zone. I thought the color version of this image was a good B&W candidate due to the dark water, and the interesting shapes and textures of the background, especially the big lichen patch on the boulder. The composition here is very graphic with strong lines and shapes, which usually leads to good B&W images.
I like the way the water looks, interestingly this water here is slightly different than your original color post, but I actually prefer the way the water looks in this image. To my taste, the background looks a little dark and I would prefer to see more detail in some of the vegetation. I did a rework to illustrate, I started from your color image, and in my conversion increased the yellow and green luminosity. At that point, I realized the water was different, and I simply masked in the water from your B&W post here. This is where I ended up.
I think very well considered, you should move to the woods. The combination of shapes and textures and their placement is working well for me. The shapes of the white water mimicking that of the liken on the big rock…buy yourself a lobster.
Top left corner maybe gaining to much attention, maybe clone something out. The detail on the stream bottom seen in the color version may look good here. It may be here, B+W subtleties get lost in the monitor contrast setting differences between viewers. Should make a very nice big print.
Thanks for posting.
This one works well in B&W, but the shadows are looking blocked up to my eye (seems to echo the thoughts of others). I would rework this one to bring out more back there. I like where Ed is heading.
I like the B & W version just fine, though I could maybe see trying to dodge some of the highlights in the plants to the left of the bit rock lighter. Overall, this seems a bit dark to me, but I wouldn’t necessarily increase exposure. Instead, I’d think about dodging some of the grays to lighter values.
This is real nice, Craig. Went back and compared it to the color version and I think I prefer BW. I find it helps simplify the scene. I think Ed’s repost looks great.
Thanks all for the comments. This was a new thing for me, so I’m glad to hear I got it close. I’ll work on the comments made.
@Ed_McGuirk, thanks for the re-work. The increased luminosity in the bushes works well.
