Dramatic Rapids B&W

Gallery: LandscapePosted June 22, 2013252 views13 comments

Hi everyone. I have revisited another one of my images, this time one that I originally rendered in color. The brown water didn't seem popular, and upon further inspection I felt that all of the colors didn't mesh well together.

During this visit to Great Falls park, I ventured out right to the most violent area I could access. I didn't last long before park rangers angrily removed me from the area. I do appreciate them doing their job.

Canon 5dm2, Nikon 14-24, f/14, .3 sec, ISO 50

As I do not regularly convert to B&W, your C&C is appreciated. Thanks for looking.

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Daniel Rappaport on June 22, 2013 at 4:25 PM

Beautful black and white tones. Love the way both the water and clouds are coming at me.

Registered on September 9, 2009, 294 Posts, 2006 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Hilton on June 22, 2013 at 7:18 PM

Navin, was that you down there on the rocks of the VA side last Sunday morning?
Great image, you get to and capture remarkable images in our part of the world...
Great capture and processing... like the B&W treatment.
I love this shot!!

Registered on September 19, 2011, 68 Posts, 668 Comments

Comment posted by Chet Dowell on June 22, 2013 at 8:41 PM

Wonderful point of view and a very dramatic image of the falls. Power and grace in a very good bw conversion. Chet

Registered on December 3, 2012, 237 Posts, 1171 Comments

Comment posted by David Edwards on June 23, 2013 at 6:42 AM

Fabulous water action Navin. Great textures there and I like the big fg rock anchoring the comp. Perhaps the sky feels like it's competing too strongly with the water for attention, so a small crop off the top may help keep my focus on the water. Just a thought. Lovely image none the less.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 142 Posts, 2623 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on June 23, 2013 at 10:41 AM

Exceptional drama in both the water and sky, Navin. The B&W conversion looks flawless with a nice range of tones and the SS choice has left some nice textures in the water. I could also see this working with just a small crop from the top. Either way this is a beauty.

Ed

Registered on February 7, 2004, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on June 23, 2013 at 4:45 PM

A great looking b&w image, Navin! The water motion looks fantastic and this pov adds some nice drama to the scene. You also have some great clouds that add an extra nice touch here. I do think David's thought about a little crop of the sky makes this even better. Very nice work here!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Jared Warren on June 23, 2013 at 11:05 PM

Navin, I really like this B&W version - I much prefer it to the earlier versions. I like the comp/cropping as is, but I could see increasing the contrast somewhat in the clouds. It did seem the earlier versions had more contrast in the clouds. Great work- well worth revisiting/reprocessing.

Registered on May 11, 2012, 84 Posts, 931 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on June 24, 2013 at 9:13 AM

I like this a lot Navin. Your chosen shutter speed looks perfect and your B &W conversion looks very good as well. The only constructive critique I can offer there is that I might increase the blacks just a wee bit but I'm also looking at this on an uncalibrated work monitor so take that with a grain of salt. Overall, I think this is excellent.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on June 24, 2013 at 9:58 AM

This looks great in b&w, Navin. I really like the "reflection" of the water flow in the clouds, the two make for a picture with ton's of movement and then there's the big solid rock on the left to stabilize it all. Very well done.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by John Mumaw on June 24, 2013 at 8:19 PM

I agree with all other comments. This is a superb b&w image! Much better than the original color, and one reason is that you included more water in the foreground. The boulder does indeed provide a perfect anchor amidst the chaos. Excellent work!

Registered on September 9, 2005, 62 Posts, 2289 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Leggett on June 25, 2013 at 8:04 PM

Terrific comp, Navin, and very dramatic in B&W. Good use of shutter speed for the water. Compared to the color image, I like how you down-framed this to keep the horizon out of the middle. Nice work.

Registered on July 21, 2004, 706 Posts, 3233 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on June 25, 2013 at 10:25 PM

Definitely like the B&W interpretation. Wonderful clouds to go with the wonderful water.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Navin Sarma on June 27, 2013 at 11:25 AM

Thanks everyone. I played with a crop and a little boost in contrast in the clouds. Ultimately left it pretty much the same except for some darkening in the water in the BG. I think while the sky and water "mirror" each other, they also compete which makes this a sort of chaotic image. Still something I think is pretty different from the area so I'll keep it in the books for now.

@Tom - this was the fall of 2011

Thanks again for your thoughts!

Registered on July 17, 2011, 233 Posts, 1373 Comments