Silent Witness + reworked

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
,
1

Silent Witness + reworked x 2 B&W

Cross +reworked x2 WEB
Cross +reworked x2 WEB1641×2050 667 KB

Silent Witness +reworked in color

Cross +reworked WEB
Cross +reworked WEB1640×2050 654 KB

Original in B&W

Silent Witness WEB.jpg
Silent Witness WEB.jpg1640×2050 475 KB

Critique Style Requested: Initial Reaction

Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.

Questions to guide your feedback

Does this image work as a B & W photo?
Does it bring any feelings to mind?
Is the composition (crop) effective?

Other Information

Please leave your feedback before viewing the blurred information below, once you have replied, click to reveal the text and see if your assessment aligns with the photographer. Remember, this if for their benefit to learn what your unbiased reaction is.

Image Description

I am currently taking an online B & W photography class. This week, we have been challenged to present an image taken in the fog. The photo I have chosen was taken on a cold, windy day during a photo workshop in Patagonia. I am aiming to create a somber and reflective mood without making it too dark and bleak.

Technical Details

Taken with a Sony DSC-RX200m6. Handheld. ISO 100, f/11, 1/200 sec. 21 mm.
Processed in LR & PS using luminosity masking from the TK9 plugin. The B & W conversion was done in Nic Silver Efex Pro 3.

Specific Feedback

Technical and emotional feedback is greatly appreciated in addition to any other thoughts.

Critique Template

Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.

  • Vision and Purpose:
  • Conceptual:
  • Emotional Impact and Mood:
  • Composition:
  • Balance and Visual Weight:
  • Depth and Dimension:
  • Color:
  • Lighting:
  • Processing:
  • Technical:

I appreciate the feedback related to the B&W rendition of this shot, @SandyR-B, @Igor_Doncov, and @Diane_Miller. However, I am responding to Diane’s challenge to show more of the base of the cross. The reworked image does that. I then decided to leave it in the original color because I do not think this image is stronger in B&W due to the complexity of the textures. So, what do you all think now, B&W or color?

@Diane_Miller Here is the image in B&W as you suggested. I let Silver Efex Pro 3 handle most of the conversion using the Low Key2 filter with a few tweaks. I left the LRC alone. I’m not sure I wanted that much AI in the shot. I am torn on how much AI is too much.

1 Like
2

I like this a lot!
Yes, very effective in B&W
Crop works well
Yes, brings feelings up (personal) :slight_smile:
Nice work!

3

I like this as well. We don’t often get images with a conceptual element to them but this is one. The cross obviously suggests Christianity or salvation of some sort.

4

The B/W works well and I like the varied light on the posts, but I long to see more on the bottom. Detailed elements just pop up from the bottom of the frame, but their weight and visual importance, for me, needs to come from a substantial dark base. The hint of FG grass in the LR corner is a very nice base and there is a splash of lovely light on it. I long to see that carried across the base of the image.

5

The post with more room on the bottom works for me, but I think you found some wonderful tonal structure in the B/W and would love to see that treatment with the RP! I would be sorely tempted to use content-aware fill to add just a bit more to the bottom.

6

Barbara, I prefer the color version. I think the subtle colors in the distance and sky add some gentleness and depth that contrasts well with the starkness of the cross and fence. I also think that the extra room at the bottom “feels” better. In the end, such choices are all about the story that you want the picture to tell.

7

I agree with you, Mark, about the color version. The challenge was to try B & W for the class I am taking. There is a certain mood that it sets that I like. It depends on the moment as to which I would prefer to sit with for a while.

8

I like the colour version a bit more, but your re-works of the B&W (for your clasee) is very compelling.
Congrats on a fine EP!

9

I just saw the reworked B/W and I love it!! For me, it is so much more visually compelling than the color, and the B/W also fits the story it tells. Congratulations on a well-deserved EP!

10

Thanks to both of you, @SandyR-B and @Diane_Miller your comments are much appreciated.

11

I really like the mood this evokes Barbara. You did a really nice job with the reworks in both color and B&W. I think the B&W brings out more mood for me though. Congrats on the well deserved EP.

12

The reworked b&w is a winner in my book.

13

@Ed_Williams and @Igor_Doncov, I have been out of town at a photo workshop in the Grand Canyon and am late in saying thank you for your encouraging remarks.

14

I think what you want to viewer to appreciate depends on whether you use the black and white or the color. IN this composition there are two main competing elements of equal value, the cross and the fence, the mountains in the background. I think the color emphasizes the mountains more, but the black and white shows the cross as the main subject. imo I think the black and white is a stronger image, with a story, which says to me although the mountains are beautiful they can also be dangerous.

15

Thanks @lorretta for being so clear on the different messages. I think the color is beautiful, but the B & W has a deep message that can resonate with me. The idea of hope versus danger, challenges, despair.

16

Black and White !!! You captured the soul and tone in black and white. Really nice image. !!!

17

Thanks, @Gill_Vanderlip for your feedback.