Timeless Steam

[ST1]

In a recent post of mine (Link) Dave brainwashed me with his use of the term "B&W and timeless". Donald added to the brainwashing with his B&W conversion of an image in that thread.
B&W conversion isn't really an area of post processing that I feel comfortable with, so I slept on this one prior to posting it here.
This morning I cropped a little off the right hand side to make more of the subject rather than the scene. Here we have the same subject but a different image and composition to the one Donald kindly converted for me. I chose an image from my damp wet and cloudy day images to convert as there were no togs in the frame and I thought it more atmospheric than the sunny day images. This one does show the engine and all of its carriages with a little bit of the environment thrown in rather than have the subject hovering just above the lower edge of the frame.
I would welcome your thoughts on this conversion

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Peter,

The conversion looks OK to me, but then I'm as experienced in making them as you are (or were).

I do have a thought on the composition though - if mine, I would not have that much foreground (fg) - I'd crop half way between your name (on left) and the lowest visible edge of the wall (on right), by eye, I'd say that's 10-12% off the image height.

Don't get me wrong, I like that there is more fg here than in the original 'damp day' shot, but in this, the dark toned bit below rail level is (by eye) almost 45% of the frame, which I feel contains less of interest (and context) than the sky with steam, which is only some 30% of frame area.

I am glad that in all these images, you have not fallen for the 'trap' of over processing the steam in the sky - this looks natural to me.

Well done, Dave

[AlwaysOnAuto]

I'd agree with Dave here on the fg being a tad too much.
I like this shot/conversion a bit more than Donald's too. Reason being, the smoke on the other shot doesn't seem to be emanating from the stack like this one since the ridge line in the background of the other shot is right at the top of the stack. The heat signature is lost in that ridge line/stack interface. Here it's not.

I can't help thinking of the time when we were camping in Yosemite and my dad and I had taken a little hike together. We were overlooking a valley and things were very quiet. Off in the distance we could here a steam locomotive and its forlorn whistle echoing in the hills. My dad said "Listen, hear that? You may never get to hear something like that again." It was a shared moment I'll never forget.

[Kaye Leggett]

Nymr ???

[Shadowman]

Nice conversion but its lacking something; perhaps bring out the leading lines some.

[ST1]

Nymr ???

It is Kaye

Moorsgate for which the NGR = SE84604 99347

[ST1]

Thanks Kaye, Alan, John and Dave for taking time to look and comment. I shall try Dave's crop suggestion as just by scrolling. The image down the suggestion works and it also IMO strengthens a leading line created by the drystone wall emanating from the bottom right corner. Thanks again everyone

[Kaye Leggett]

If you're cropping the bottom, I would also lose some off the RHS and keep the photo ratio as is. I don't think it works in the 16:9 format.