|
Photo posted by gary phillips in the Landscape gallery on 11/16/16 at 10:55 pm EST
Registered on 10/24/13, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments
|
|
Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on 11/16/16 at 11:16 pm EST
Registered on 11/01/03, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments
This is, quite simply, superb! 
--P
|
|
|
|  |
|
Preston Birdwell
Columbia, California, USA
NPN 429 | California Nature Photographers (CANP) Moderator | 'NPN Discussion' Moderator
“If you want nice fresh oats, you have to pay a fair price. If you can be satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse, well, that comes a little cheaper" Author Unknown |
|
|
|
|
|
Comment posted by Jeffrey Sipress on 11/17/16 at 12:03 am EST
Registered on 02/17/04, 236 Posts, 1197 Comments
|
|  |
|
| Jeffrey Sipress, Santa Barbara, CA |
|
|
|
|
|
Comment posted by Lon Overacker on 11/17/16 at 12:38 am EST
Registered on 11/24/06, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments
Gary,
What a grand and spectacular scene! And this scene renders quite appropriately in b&w. The contrasts really show off "autumn" - especially with the prominent tree up front.
As glorious a scene as this is, I think the processing is just a tad on the heavy side. I'm not quite sure how to describe it - especially since I'm no b&w expert. This may be a terrible analogy, but akin to a color hdr image that's a little too hdr and less natural - only in b&w. Wish I could express it better - especially after your kind words on my commenting! ;-)
Lon
|
|
|
|  |
|
To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It's at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy. -Henri Cartier-Bresson
|
|
|
Comment posted by Ana on 11/17/16 at 08:43 am EST
Registered on 02/10/04, 191 Posts, 1446 Comments
Comment last edited by Ana on 11/17/16 at 08:46 am EST
|
I really like how the few bright trees stand in contrast to the more somber trees on the hill behind them. It's a great capture of that time in the fall when things are almost too blindingly colorful to really appreciate. The textures that I enjoy most here are the foreground trees and bare ground they are standing on, and also the trees with foliage halfway up the hill and into the distance; the dark triangle and bare trees just in front of it are holding my eye a bit when I would really like to enjoy the bright trees. That might be due to compression making those bare trees look a bit grainy or maybe it's the abrupt line between light and dark so close to the top of the bright tree. I can see the darkness is necessary; the image wouldn't be as successful without that darker area for contrast, it's just something I noticed.
|
|
|
|
Comment posted by Paul Breitkreuz on 11/17/16 at 09:11 am EST
Registered on 02/25/06, 525 Posts, 8448 Comments
A really stunning look here in B&W, Gary. No thoughts for change at all. I can only praise the outcome overall.....
|
|
|
|  |
|
Paul Breitkreuz
Corona, California
Trailimages.com
NPN 2326
"Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care."
- Theodore Roosevelt - |
|
|
|
|
|
Comment posted by Nick Bristol on 11/17/16 at 09:36 am EST
Registered on 02/01/04, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments
Comment last edited by Nick Bristol on 11/17/16 at 10:32 am EST
Gary, Excellent work with the comp here and the light looks wonderful. It is a very cool image to look at for sure. It does seem to have a bit of a grainy overall look and I'm not really sure what that is. Maybe just contrast or web sharpening and compression. I think I'm seeing the same thing as Lon did but not sure what it is. Still a b&w scene that I quite enjoy. Nick
Came back for another look. Actually I think the background is fine so just the foreground land mostly and front trees seem to be the issue. I believe it might be from the contrast between the dark and lights, so I think I agree with Harley.
|
|
|
|
Comment posted by John Williams on 11/17/16 at 09:39 am EST
Registered on 09/06/07, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments
I have no problem with making a colorful photo into a BW. I think many, myself included, don't do that often because it's hard to visualize.
The foreground group set out from the background works well Gary. The dark center spot competes with them a bit though. I'm not sure what I'd do differently though. Maybe play with reducing the background contrast some???
|
|
|
|  |
|
John Williams
www.tranquilviews.com
Battle Ground, WA |
|
|
I often have wandered in deep contemplation, It seems that the mind runs wild when you're all alone. -John Denver
|
|
|
Comment posted by Harley Goldman on 11/17/16 at 10:21 am EST
Registered on 11/19/03, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments
|
Very sweet, Gary! This works beautifully in B&W. I am getting a slight feeling of what Lon what saying and I am having trouble figuring out exactly what is giving me that impression. It might be the highlights in the ground cover in the very foreground. because everything else looks spot on. Back off those highs just a bit and see what happens? Pretty minor stuff, though. It is a beauty just the way it is.
|
|
|
|  |
|
"You were born an original. Don't die a copy."
- John Mason
|
|
|
Comment posted by scott lanz on 11/17/16 at 11:06 am EST
Registered on 11/14/03, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments
|
I recognize as one of Harley's hot spots, but you made this uniquely your own, Gary. The comp, light and detail are all exceptional.
|
|
|
| |
|
scott lanz
Youngstown, Ohio
www.lanzscape.com |
|
|
|
|
|
Comment posted by Mark James Ford on 11/17/16 at 1:12 pm EST
Registered on 01/16/15, 60 Posts, 430 Comments
|
Hi Gary, a great BW rendition and a good eye to spot this considering the colours that must have been there. I agree with just making the foreground grass ever so slightly less contrasty and I might lighten the bottom left corner ever so slightly so that the cross over to the grass is not so strong. Very minor points in an excellent image!
|
|
|
|
Comment posted by Mark Seaver on 11/17/16 at 5:15 pm EST
Registered on 01/23/11, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments
The various degrees of "glow" work well here, Gary...I guess I'll forgive your blasphemy for going b&w...  Those foreground trees stand out very well while your b&w treatment emphasizes nicely the shapes and textures of the trees climbing the mountain. Overall, I'd say this is quite different and quite dramatic.
|
|
|
|  |
|
Mark Seaver
Burtonsville, MD & Emigrant, MT
seaverphotos.com
Weekly Challenge Moderator
Macro/Close Up Moderator |
|
|
|
|
|
Comment posted by Igor Doncov on 11/17/16 at 5:48 pm EST
Registered on 11/22/14, 189 Posts, 2733 Comments
|
The large version brings out the tonal richness of this images, particularly those wonderful stands of trees in the distance. I have some issues with the main foreground trees. Rather than look like fall they look ghostly to me. I would tone down those whites so that they 'fit' better with the rest of it. Incidentally, they look fine the way they are if you're trying for a more surreal composition, but I don't think that's the goal. That's just my view of things. I think it's really an incredible image otherwise.
|
|
|
| |
|
"If you want to make more interesting pictures, become a more interesting person" - Jay Maisel. |
|
|
Comment posted by Vance Gese on 11/17/16 at 6:33 pm EST
Registered on 11/13/08, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments
|
Stunning image, Gary. The luminosity of those foreground trees really makes this image; the somewhat darker background trees and hillside further adds to that glow. Incredible, masterful, black and white photographic art in my opinion.
|
|
|
|  |
|
Vance Gese
Vance Gese Photography
Quilcene, Washington |
|
|
I was merely there, a small, puny, awestruck man,
praising Almighty God, with camera in hand.
Make a few images, well.
|
|
|
Comment posted by David Schoen on 11/17/16 at 8:04 pm EST
Registered on 11/06/06, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments
|
I think this is really pleasant. The layering of the trees with respect to shape and tonality works very well as a black-and-white. Who needs color anyway?
|
|
|
|
Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on 11/17/16 at 11:08 pm EST
Registered on 11/01/03, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments
|
Monochrome is the foundation of photography, IMO, and getting back to it is paying homage to the roots of the art. This does a particularly good job of that. I can't imagine this looking better in color.
|
|
|
|
Comment posted by Ed Lowe on 11/18/16 at 12:42 pm EST
Registered on 02/07/04, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments
This is cool; almost looks like an IR image, Gary. The luminosity of the FG trees compliment the darker ones in the BG beautifully. There is something just a tad off for me and I can not quite figure out what it is. Maybe try Harley's suggestion of the FG highlights. Either way I like what you came up with.
Ed
|
|
|
|
Comment posted by Alberto Patiño on 11/18/16 at 10:57 pm EST
Registered on 12/02/14, 278 Posts, 1736 Comments
|
B&W works for me - great image! The leaves on the closest aspen are a bit too bright for me, and tend to distract from the beautiful groves in the background.
|
|
|
|  |
|
Alberto Patiño Douce
Athens, GA, USA
Four Billion Years Website
Four Billion Years Blog
We have faith that future generations will know that here, in the middle of the twentieth century, there came a time when men of good will found a way to unite and fight to destroy the forces of ignorance and intolerance.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, February 12, 1943
Sic transit gloria mundi |
|
|
|
|
|
Comment posted by Jim Jirka on 11/20/16 at 4:01 pm EST
Registered on 11/01/03, 254 Posts, 1620 Comments
|
Wonderful eye to recognize this and make it into a B&W. Just looks a tad crunchy.
|
|
|
|  |
|
Jim Jirka
Auburn, Washington
NPN 1052 |
|
|
|
|
