Glacier Park, any comments/critique/advice welcome

John!

Senior Member
I don't generally do a lot of Black & White so I'd like your opinion of this image, am I anywhere close to getting it?
_nd31753.jpg


Nikon D300
18-70mm AFS F3.5-4.5
55mm
F9
1/30
ISO 200
 
Last edited:

Joseph Bautsch

New member
Oh yea your more than close. Love the depth, detail, excellent tonal range. Good composition. The half moon over the rock is a nice touch. The only thing I would change is make the trees in the foreground a little less dominating.
 

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
I think Joseph's comments about the foreground are solid. I think I would slightly crop the trees on the left edge so that the moon isn't exactly in the middle of the top third of the image. I think it tends to be the first thing noticed, not the mountain. GREAT exposure. Can you post the EXIF info?
 

Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
I also like the composition of the photo, love the contrast of the rocks, trees, clouds etc. As far as cropping, just pulling the right side over and the bottom up a bit will make the rock jump out more. Nice shot, I love B&W, must be an old darkroom hangover.
 

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
Thank guys, appreciated.

EXIF
Nikon D300
18-70mm @ 55mm
F9
1/30
ISO 200

I gave my brother my 18-70 (along with my D70s) when I upgraded to the D300. What a great and underappreciated lens! You put it to good use!
 

fotojack

Senior Member
I think you have it spot on there, bud. :) Great shot. I also agree with the others on the cropping suggestions. Other than that, I love the shot. Nice work. :)
 

John!

Senior Member
Ok, I have heard crop the right and crop the left, I have posted both versions, which is better?
Thanks

Ver. 2.0


Ver. 2.1
 

Browncoat

Senior Member
I think your original composition is just fine. Perhaps a little trimming off the top, but I think that cropping off the bottom and/or left makes the image lose depth and perspective.

What this black and white photo lacks is...black and white. There needs to be values of pure black (#000000) and pure white (#FFFFFF) in this image, and then I think you will have something spectacular on your hands. To me at least, this photo looks very gray.

I'm not sure what kind of post-processing software you have, but the tonal range and contrast here needs to be expanded.
 

John!

Senior Member
I think your original composition is just fine. Perhaps a little trimming off the top, but I think that cropping off the bottom and/or left makes the image lose depth and perspective.

What this black and white photo lacks is...black and white. There needs to be values of pure black (#000000) and pure white (#FFFFFF) in this image, and then I think you will have something spectacular on your hands. To me at least, this photo looks very gray.

I'm not sure what kind of post-processing software you have, but the tonal range and contrast here needs to be expanded.

Is it possible your monitor may be off? I am using LightRoom 2 and according to the histogram that is what I have. Some pure black in the shadows in the trees and some pure white in the clouds. In fact I was thinking the clouds may be too washed out. I could be wrong. Is there a way to add more contrast without losing detail in the highlights/shadows?
 

ohkphoto

Snow White
Actually, John, I have a little different take on this. I looked at all three versions for quite a while, and kept being drawn back to the original. I like the way the tree tops on both sides slope down to the lower third of the picture. It helps to guide the eye toward the rock. If you crop out left or right, you lose that. I like the feeling you get when you follow those treetop lines to the rock . . . kind of like that mountain is a surprise (like walking through a valley and having "shangri-la" suddenly appear before you.)

I also agree with Anthony that you need a little more drama --I would play withe the tone curve to put in a little more contrast without blowing out the highlights.

You can see how many different opinions (and "photographer eyes") there are. In the end, it's what YOU want and what vision you want to express.

Great shot, in any case, John!

Best Regards
 
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