First black and white.

[steve ward]

Hi everyone, this shot was on the way back from a not so successful sunrise shoot over a lake, I thought it would be a good photo to try my hand at a bit more pp.

I've used dodge and burn in CS2 with some adjustments to contrast and exposure in the RAW file.

This is my first black and white, I'm reasonably happy with it, I liked the way the light was coming through the path making it look like a gothic arch so I tried to enhance that a bit with but some pp, any C&C is very welcome. Thankyou.

[Donald]

And a very good first B & W it is. What you find with B & W, Steve, is that you can really push things much further than if you were working in colour. For example, you could have, if you wished, gone even further with the contrast between light and shade on the trees - making the lighter parts even brighter. I think the image could still have taken this.

Not sure if you're into using layer masks, but if so you could have put cranked up the lights area with a curve on this, put a layer mask on it and then revealed just the trees along the avenue, so leaving the rest of the image as we see it here.

All of that might have given those trees more 'pop' than they have at the moment - if that is what you wanted.

In compositional terms, I wonder (and it is a wonder, because I don't know) what difference to the image there would have been if you had gone for total symmetry on that track; i.e.you had stood in the middle of the track and had both sides in balance?

[steve ward]

Thank you Donald, that means a lot considering those beautiful B & W shots I've seen of yours.

I agree with you on giving the trees more pop, that is the type of image I had in mind when I first saw it, just wasn't sure how far I could push things...so glad you said I could go a bit further.

As for masks, yes that looks like the way to go, I'll give it a shot and see what I can come up with.

I was so involved with the light coming through that I didn't give enough thought to the composition...stuck in the moment I guess, or just a bit slack! You're right though, I think it would look better if it was symmetrical and I plan on visiting this spot again as it's not far from home, so I will put a bit more thought into it.

Thanks again Donald for taking the time, you've been a great help.