Bridge by the Lake - C&C Welcome

Scott_Quier

Just a small bridge over a very small creek that feeds into the Otter Peak Lake, VA.

I thought the color was nice, then I thought, "Why not do a B&W conversion?" Now, I'm confused (like that's news :wink) and don't know which I like better. So, how about you - which works best (assuming either works at all)?

1.


2.

kdog

Color wins by a country mile. Nice soothing scene of a place where I might like to spend some time. The BW one looks harsh and uninviting.

Cheers,
-joel

hawkeye978

+1 for the color. BW is losing a lot of definition in the leaves and the water.

junglejim

another vote
well, I think this makes it 2 1/2 to 1 for the color. I am the half vote as a half assed photographer.

I really likes the color version. the black and white looks too much like an IR version.

question:

Is it really a creek or could the path just go around the water??http://www.dgrin.com/images/smilies/headscratch.gif

Robbug

Definitely color for this. The subtle shades of green and the water in the background need the color. In the B&W version it is really difficult to see that the bridge does have water underneath it. Also your contrasting colors add a bit right below the tree to the left. In the B&W version that subtle detail is lost.

Rob

dlplumer

Color for sure. Very nice.

Scott_Quier

Well, I guess color has it and I really appreciate all the comments. I really like B&W, but I have to agree with some of the comments about this conversion. Project for tomorrow - see if I can get the calm and quite feel of the color to come out in a new B&W image.

As for the "creek", yes, you are right - it's just a place where the water from the lake crept in on the land a bit and the path really could have just gone around it a bit. I like the bridge better through.

dseidman

Nice shot. I agree on the color as well. If you're using Photoshop, I think this could use a little highlight recover to bring back some detail in the water.

Chris H

Hope you don't mind but I had a quick go at a mono conversion, I used a bit more of the blue channel to give some oomph to the foliage and retain the detail in the water beyond. I think it works ok. I had to resize to get it to upload, so it's a bit on the small side.

Chris
596931403_DXXNJ-L.jpg

Scott_Quier

Chris H wrote:

Hope you don't mind but I had a quick go at a mono conversion, I used a bit more of the blue channel to give some oomph to the foliage and retain the detail in the water beyond. I think it works ok. I had to resize to get it to upload, so it's a bit on the small side.

Chris
596931403_DXXNJ-L.jpg

Oh, yeah - I'm soooo offended - NOT!!

Thanks for that. It shows that it can be done, I just need to work it in a fashion a bit better than I have above.

Again - love the work and the effort you took to show me a better path.:D

Chris H

No problem. With colour to mono conversions I always start by looking at the channels in photoshop. Click on each of them individually, the red was looking a bit washed out, blue very dark and punchy, green somewhere in the middle. So in this case I used channel mixer and went for R44 G-30 B86 to bring in the blue but retain the contrast with the red.

Hope that makes sense...

I also played with the levels and curves a bit, I think there were 7-8 adjustment layers in total.

NeilL

Sweet shot, Scott. Makes me think of Devonshire Tea and doilies (and hobbits!).

I think the color has the goodies!

I think B&W should only be used if you have a pretty d*mned good excuse.

There's too much B&W in the world and not enough color (a little gratuitous philosophical aside!).

Best.

Neil

thapamd

Color for me too. What a beautiful place. I'd love to read my Kindle by that bridge.

Chris H

NeilL wrote:

I think B&W should only be used if you have a pretty d*mned good excuse.

A fairly sweeping statement!

NeilL

Chris H wrote:

A fairly sweeping statement!

B&W is a carpet for sweeping a lot of stuff under, including most of reality.

Chris H

NeilL wrote:

B&W is a carpet for sweeping a lot of stuff under, including most of reality.

Can't argue with that. Though I would note that there's nothing wrong with losing contact with reality when producing photographs. That's what I love most about it.