An old baot

[alfbranch]

What do you think of this B&W shot. I took it with B&W in mind as I new it would be cluttered in colour but I cant seem to get the blance right with. Maybe its just too busy.

What do you think?
You can be harsh BTW.


Rotting boat by alfred.branch, on Flickr

[Drew Smith]

Hi Alf - nice pic.

For me it's the lack of a backdrop behind the boat that hurts my eyes most. Especially on this forum's white background.

Have you tried reworking it and putting a greater tonal range back in (you shot in colour, right?) and seeing if you can get some contrast back in that sky?

Drew

[DigiDiva]

Your whites seem a bit too white. There's proably a correct term for this, but I'm still learning myself. I had similar problems with this busy B&W shot but with a little help from the guys here, I loved the end result

[silversnapper1]

Hi Alf,

I have been coming back and fore to this one for a couple of days now trying to formulate an opinion.

I think that the subject is a cracker and has loads of potential. I like the angle from which it has been taken as it shows loads of detail and the ongoing decay of the boat.

I agree with Drew though about the background showing no definition. If you have shot this in RAW and use the latest version of ACR, then there is a graduated filter there that may help you to tone this down a little.

The biggest thing that distracts me about this shot though is that long white ( very white) bit that sticks out at the rear of the boat. Unfortunately for me that takes a huge amount away from the image.

This, of course, is only what I can see in the image and I do not profess to be an expert so please do not take any offence. I hope that I have given a balanced opinion and that it helps.

[pburness]

Hi Alf,
I have to agree with silversnapper1, the brightness of the white's distracts too much from the boat, is it possible to post the un-converted image?

Phil

[alfbranch]

Thanks for the comments guys and no offence taken
The comments about the glaring whites and the building (not sky) in the background are all understood and are just why I have doubts about the conversion. It is from Raw here it is.


PC242320 by alfred.branch, on Flickr

[James Blonde]

My first critique, so sorry...! The whites are blown out and I think its perhaps too contrasty in the B&W conversion, but whites aren't blown out too much (except perhaps in parts of the snow on the left) in the original, so I think you've got a good base picture to work on and experiment further with, and the B&W conversion does show potential if its toned back a bit?

What are you using to process it?

[pburness]

Hi Alf,
An interesting challenge...
I think the image itself is slightly over exposed, and while there is some detail in the background the left of the picture is blown (might be recoverable from the RAW file). It's hard to tell where the light source is coming from (angle) but I'll guess it's directly behind the boat, although there is little in the way of shadows to confirm this.

What are you hoping to portray with this image? and why the conversion to Black and White?

Phil

[alfbranch]

The Image was not overexposed when I looked the raw file I had added about +1 stop exposure compensation.
Anyway I tried again but bear in mind the original was done a year ago and I have picked up a bit since then.

Here is another go.


derelict boat v4 by alfred.branch, on Flickr

And a mad go for fun on another shot.


derelict boat v3 by alfred.branch, on Flickr

[pburness]

The v4 shows a lot more texture, try adding a mild vignette, it may pull the boat out of the busy background.

Phil