Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: scotto on October 04, 2017, 09:14:02 pm

Title: Clouds and Prairie
Post by: scotto on October 04, 2017, 09:14:02 pm
This image is from a recent hike in a park near my home. The prairie grass along the trail was eye-level height, and I couldn't see much else but sky. I thought the clouds would make a nice subject for a b&w conversion.

Always welcome thoughts on what's good and bad, general impressions... Thanks for looking.

Best regards

D7000 12-24mm at 12mm f/16 1/250sec ISO100
Lightroom and Topaz B&W Effects
Title: Re: Clouds and Prairie
Post by: pcgpcg on October 04, 2017, 09:43:17 pm
My first impression is that I wish you were a foot taller. Well maybe that’s a bit extreme. I wish you’d been standing on a footstool so that i could see more than a glimmer of land in the background. My brain wants to see what’s there.  :)
Title: Re: Clouds and Prairie
Post by: BobDavid on October 05, 2017, 10:50:00 am
Looks like you used a "red filter" when you did the conversion to black and white. I like the photo fine. It looks like the picture could have been taken in the high plains of Colorado.
Title: Re: Clouds and Prairie
Post by: JNB_Rare on October 05, 2017, 11:48:08 am
At first I was uncertain about the sunburst, especially the placement. But I don't think it would be near so interesting a picture without it.
Title: Re: Clouds and Prairie
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on October 05, 2017, 12:34:41 pm
At first I was uncertain about the sunburst, especially the placement. But I don't think it would be near so interesting a picture without it.
I thought about that, too, and I came to the same conclusion.
Title: Re: Clouds and Prairie
Post by: scotto on October 05, 2017, 05:08:48 pm
... I wish you’d been standing on a footstool so that i could see more than a glimmer of land in the background...
I actually did consider taking a shot holding the camera over my head. There weren't any high places or tree stumps to stand on.
Title: Re: Clouds and Prairie
Post by: scotto on October 05, 2017, 05:10:59 pm
Looks like you used a "red filter" when you did the conversion to black and white.
I used Topaz B&W Effects for the conversion and made use of the color sensitivity sliders. Seemed to do a nice job on the sky, including bringing out the details of the sunburst rays.
Title: Re: Clouds and Prairie
Post by: scotto on October 05, 2017, 05:47:14 pm
I did crop a little off the top to position the sunburst a little higher in the final frame. As I worked on the image, I liked the contrast that developed across the image between the sunburst and the dark sky on the right.
Title: Re: Clouds and Prairie
Post by: John R on October 10, 2017, 01:01:12 pm
Lovely. Makes you want to run through the fields and chase the clouds, just like when we were kids. Where do those clouds go? I will ask Joni Mitchel. Maybe she knows.

JR