Trying for Black and White

[2ndjetty]

Here are a couple from this weekend. The second is out of focus but seems to work. Curious to see what everyone else thinks. Thanks!

[bvanant]

I like the second one a lot, but if you flip it (see below) I think it works better.
Bill

[dons13]

to me is seems you are using a soft filter on the 2nd pict..
very nice, i like the 2nd pict also...

[2ndjetty]

Thanks Bill and Don! I forgot to post the exif info, which is: ISO80, f/8, 1/500 for both of these.

[seekncritters]

Brent, I like the subjects you're choosing for B&W. I like the first photo better than the 2nd. Great idea to do soft focus on the kelp photo, but I personally would prefer a little more focus. And I like the suggestion Bill gave of flipping the kelp photo. Do you like the flipped version or the original better? Just curious.

-Dana

[bvanant]

This one will get me in trouble with Dana, but back when I was doing lots of B&W printing, we did lots of solarization. Here is number one solarized a bit.
Bill

[seekncritters]

Pretty interesting effect (solarisation). I learned something new today. Thanks Bill (guru)!



-Dana

[2ndjetty]

The solarization does look pretty wild Bill! I imagine people love it or hate it. I'm not sure I like it here but can see it being really cool with the right subject. I'll definitely learn how to apply the effect.

Dana - thanks for the note. I wasn't sure about Bill's idea to flip the photo at first because it seemed more natural in the original orientation, but I looked at both for a while and decided I do like the flipped version because my eye drifts down to the bottom left corner but then always wants to come back to the center of the photo (instead of staying in the bottom right in the original).

[smb2]

This may be old news to the real post processing pros but if you are looking for a great B&W plug-in try Nik Software Silver Efex Pro.
You can start with a trial down load. It' s a pretty nice addition to whatever program you are working with.
(It has a solarization setting.)

[Salil Sahani]

Yep the Flipped Image Looks Better than the Original