Exotica I

Jim: Striking shot! I'm pretty challenged when it comes to B&W but to my eye the tonal range here really complements the comp and subject. I like this a lot. >=))>

Interesting take on the subject. The graphic nature of this bloom lends itself well to B&W. I look forward to seeing more

Beautiful comp in B&W. Fascinating to study.

Intriguing image, and sounds like a fascinating project.

This is a beautiful B&W image, Jim. I like how the lighter leaves/petals in the background help to show off the edges of the front flower. I still can't help but wish to see the colors in this though.

Jim, Tonality is great and so is the overall conversion for my tastes. The criss crossing white petals in the background take my attention away from the main bloom in the front (which has interesting textures and shapes) a little bit but I guess its only me.

Beautiful B&W Jim , I agree with Ram about the little bit of distraction of white pedals in the BG but this is only a minor nit !

Thanks for the excellent comments. You have all hit pretty accurately on the various points I considered in processing this one. The structure of this particular bloom really lent itself to a stark, graphic approach and I felt that would be the strong suit here. The 'split decision' on the white petals in the background mirrors my own thoughts - the 'rules' say that the white will distract, but as Carolyn observed, it can also serve to further highlight the graphic sweep of the petals in the foreground. I considered 'burning down' the white, but it became too much a of a grey muddle and the graphic nature of the image suffered, so I ended up leaving it 'as is', with only a very subtle toning down of the highlights.

Nancy and Daniel - It is really a very interesting project. I will post more as time allows. Thank you very much for your interest.

I like how dramatic the b&w treatment creates and the sharp pointed leaves add to that. I find the sharp flower (maybe a bud) segment in the urc distracting.

Jim, normally I would agree with the comments about the bg being distracting, but I think it works very well in this instance. It makes a nice contrasting element to the main fg flower. Great job with the b&w conversion.

It works for me, Jim ! I think there is such an extemsive tonal range here it makes for a good b & w image, if perhaps the dynamic play of the high whites is just a bit distracting. There is also to me the sense of a vignette, which I like.

Jim:
This is beautiful work. I find B&W difficult but having only monochrome to work with in xray, I am beginning to find them very rewarding when all the elements come together. You have good tonal range and nice lines in the image. At first I find the bright bg a little disorientating but after a while I kind of think it works well. I might make the upper most bright blob go away of dimmed. The vignette works well as well. Look forward to seen more of this interesting project.