[acoufap]

Color or Back & White - which one Do you prefer?





K5 - DFA100WR - Capture One Pro processed.

Thank's for your opinions in advance.

---

Last edited by acoufap; 08-02-2015 at 05:00 AM.

[seventhdr]

Colour. The black and white has just too much highlights in the background for one to focus on the flower. In the colour version these highlights are more subdued by the presence of colour.

Regards

Chris

[johnhilvert]

I lean towards the color. The tonal range of the greens is easy on the eye and the warmer brown leaf works for me. The black & white is a little busy for my taste with no subject to really grab my eye. Perhaps more contrast in the processing and, dare I say, some vignetting might have worked better.

My main issue is I am unclear what you are trying to convey here. Is there some insect/spider that is hiding behind flower?

Nice bokeh, though.

[Giklab]

TBH, it's misfocused regardless of later processing.

[6BQ5]

You essentially have a monochome image to begin with. The green is pretty but it's the only color. This makes it hard for the flower to stand out. Since you don't have a wide array of color I suggest emphasizing the structure with luminance and contrast adjustments. Brush in a local adjustment to darken the background and soften it even more. Add another local adjustment to brighten the flower just a bit more and add a sprinkle more contrast to the little petals. Don't worry about blowing out highlights and losing shadow detail. Focus on the structure and natural arrangement of the flower. You'll have a completely different photograph!

The downside to all of this is you lose the idea of a moist, lush, environment. Now the image will look dry, arid, and coming from a desert. Maybe that's OK. Sometimes it's good to end up somewhere different from where you started.

[acoufap]

Nice Tipps - thank you!

... The black & white is a little busy for my taste with no subject to really grab my eye. ...

My main issue is I am unclear what you are trying to convey here. Is there some insect/spider that is hiding behind flower?

Nice bokeh, though.

John, I think you are right. No subject to really grab the eye. No I didn't see a insect/spider hiding behind flower. . Good question. There must have been a reason why I took this image. Now I remember. The main point was, some time before it rained and drops were caught by this little plant. Unfortunately due to the light conditions the capture doesn't show it the way I saw / remember it.

So the first thing I did now is to show this. I did a little local adjustment on the drop on the base of the faded blossom.

TBH, it's misfocused regardless of later processing.

Giklab, I understand that you think it's misfocused. Reason is that the center of the faded blossom is in front of the focus point. When taking the photograph I wanted maximal bokeh and I wanted to get the drop at the base of the faded blossom and some of the "leaves" sharp. This is clearly visible in the image. I set the aperture 4 (fully open) on the TC DA1.4x/DA100WR-Combo. Lacking of depth of view leads to the unsharpness of the blossom's front.

Colour. The black and white has just too much highlights in the background for one to focus on the flower.

I know that the eye follows contrast. I think you're right. There are too much highlights in the background. Thank you Chris!

You essentially have a monochome image to begin with. The green is pretty but it's the only color. This makes it hard for the flower to stand out. Since you don't have a wide array of color I suggest emphasizing the structure with luminance and contrast adjustments. Brush in a local adjustment to darken the background and soften it even more. Add another local adjustment to brighten the flower just a bit more and add a sprinkle more contrast to the little petals. Don't worry about blowing out highlights and losing shadow detail. Focus on the structure and natural arrangement of the flower. You'll have a completely different photograph!

The downside to all of this is you lose the idea of a moist, lush, environment. Now the image will look dry, arid, and coming from a desert. Maybe that's OK. Sometimes it's good to end up somewhere different from where you started.

Boris, thank you for these interesting ideas! Using different techniques we can get a lot out of such an image. But time is restricted.

Now I'd like to show you where your advices took the image. There are three versions. Surely not everybody's taste but hopefully not for trash. All with mega bokeh.

No. 1
Color, important drop focused, background dampened.



No. 2
Black & White, small drop get's attention, background dampened.


No. 3
Color, monochrome character preserved, eye catching drop, unreal, crazy

Edit: Title of image: Tear of a fading blossom.

I had fun to try out things based on your feedback. Thank you all very much for your ideas to get more out of this image!

Regards, Uwe

[fs999]

Shouldn't this thread be in the K5 section ? Or is it a film shot ?

[beachgardener]

I like these types of images, for these I am leaning toward the colour image.

[acoufap]

Shouldn't this thread be in the K5 section ? Or is it a film shot ?

It's a K5-Shot that's right. And it's done with the TC1.4x - DFA100WR combo.

Most of the time there are more than one thread where you can put your post because you always use a camera and a lens.

But this doesn't nessasarily give you the images you're comfortable with. You nearly always can get better results using cutting, burn & dodge, color adjustments etc. This is another important topic besides thinking about and taking a photograph. I think you know this from your own nice work.

As a compromise I'll post the color image in the K5 section and the black & white in the black & white thread. Ok?

---------- Post added 2015-08-04 at 05:30 ----------

I like these types of images, for these I am leaning toward the colour image.

Thank you very much for your vote!

[fs999]

As a compromise I'll post the color image in the K5 section and the black & white in the black & white thread. Ok?

But you are here in the "Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom"...

[acoufap]

But you are here in the "Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom"...

oops, didn't realize that - thank you! In the evening I'll move it into the digital processing area if possible.

[redcat]

Lacking of depth of view leads to the unsharpness of the blossom's front

the focus should be on the blossom's front IMHO @_@ or if you want both the front and the middle focused, you can "stack focus" as many macro shooters use : one shot focuses on the front, one shot focuses on the middle, then use layers in photoshop to make all the subject "in focus" while keeping the background beautifully blurred

[acoufap]

the focus should be on the blossom's front IMHO @_@ or if you want both the front and the middle focused, you can "stack focus" as many macro shooters use : one shot focuses on the front, one shot focuses on the middle, then use layers in photoshop to make all the subject "in focus" while keeping the background beautifully blurred

Since I own a macro rail, tripod and ballhead this would have been a viable choice. The only problem is to keep the wind away. As software I'd use my licensed Helicon Focus. Until now I'm not a photoshop guy. Next time I should try it this way. Thank you!

[acoufap]

Checked the image serie of the session. Here are two versions that I initially didn't pay attention.

First one with more depth of field and changed focus. Second one a completely other image. Maybe you like that one.


f/6.3, in my opinion more boring than the one I worked at and not that special bokeh circles.


f/6.3, not that bad in my opinion.