New England Slot Canyon

[slothead]

I found this old slot canyon near Pittsfield, Mass on a millstream now preserved as a local park (sorry, I can't remember the name of the park).  It's obviously been here a lot longer than the mill was.

[luxborealis]

Any chance of seeing this in B&W? Great texture and shapes.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Wow! I wouldn't have expected that in Massachusetts. If you remember the name of the park or can pin down the location a bit, I'd love to try to find it. Send me a PM or post here.

Fine shot. I'd like to see it in B&W, too.

[francois]

I love the composition but, initially, the colors seemed weird. Probably because we're so used to either the reds of the South-West or the gray granites. This mineral world seems like a perfect candidate for B&W, though.

[slothead]

Excellent comments guys!   This was an experiment and I was trying to emulate the slots of the southwest.  I didn't think the contrast would be right for a B&W.  But it is not as drab as I expected it would be.  I did crank up the contrast a bit.  It is difficult however to identify the water at the bottom with the B&W (at least in this composition).

[stamper]

The "problem" with the image is that there isn't enough separation between the central part and the walls to begin with and no amount of separating them with contrast will work imo. This image is therefore a near miss?

[SanderKikkert]

I like the shot as well yet I'm also with the preference for a B/W.
Looking at the coloured version where there is indeed little regular contrast between the central part and the walls I'd personally give coloured filters a go, either pushing or toning down the reds/oranges may yield the kind of contrast needed.
Regards, Sander

[EricV]

Very nice.  Maybe some selective dodging and burning to increase visual separation between the various planes?  Rather than high local contrast, which is a bit distracting.  For example, the top arch could be darkened to help frame the rest of the image.  But these are all minor suggestions; it is a great image as is.

[NancyP]

Re: difference between slot and walls - what might have helped at the time of shooting would have been a polarizer to darken (remove reflection) the water.
Nonetheless, I like both the color and the B&W of this image. The color is of interest because of the green moss and algae on the wet rock. The black and white is more abstract and one doesn't really think as much about the "what is it" as about the shapes.

[maddogmurph]

Without the original image to work with I can't really be certain, but I think it might help to bump up the highlights a bit, and counter balance by taking down the color adjustment and the tone.  You could also look at bumping up the saturation and down the vibrancy.  The black and white conversion could use some more texturing in the conversion.  I like the overall feel and look.

[luxborealis]

Very nice.  Maybe some selective dodging and burning to increase visual separation between the various planes?  Rather than high local contrast, which is a bit distracting.  For example, the top arch could be darkened to help frame the rest of the image.  But these are all minor suggestions; it is a great image as is.

This would help, certainly. Also consider raising the Clarity (in LR/ACR). There is more potential than what first met the eye.

[davidh202]

This is a great spot and capture, but in an effort to balance the exposure and open the shadows, I believe you have actually flattened the tonality on both the color and B&W, and softened them too much. They need a little crunch. Terry has the right idea.
I played with both and to my eye they both need about the same correction to make them pop. More clarity and contrast, lowered highlight,   shadows, and blacks, and slightly added highlights. The color version needs lower saturation and added vibrance
David