You see the world in black and white... no colour or light.
Looks best viewed large on black!
My get pushed challenge from Northy was to take a picture and convert it to B&W plus to edit it in Lightroom, so I get used to the software :)
I usually shoot 95% in colour and watch out for pictures that look good in bright colour, so it was difficult for me to find a subject that also looks fine without colour :)
I went to the nearest playground where I found this carousel. I turned more shots into B&W but this one came out best... I'll try more tomorrow :)
Although the sepia color is a little too strong for my taste; not sure if pure B&W looks better, but I'd reduce the saturation of the filter (split toning?) just a little. This looks like 40 percent saturation or more - you could try around half of that and see how it looks. :)
nicely done... sepia tends to create a yesteryear effect and that kind of works for this shot... the roundabout that's abandoned for winter... i might be tempted to play with contrast a bit more - altho' that may be a matter of taste...
You found a very good subject for a b&w conversion. There's a good amount of contrast between the leaves and the carousel (which we call a "Merry-go-Round" in Rhode Island) and the building in the background has enough white in it to make the photo work.
I agree about the sepia being a bit too strong. When I do b&w, I have four different stages of sepia that i tend to use: 1) No sepia at all, which produces a pure b&w image. That's my predominant style. 2) A 25% opacity sepia filter that is used only to tone down the silvery effect of a pure image. Sometimes that silvery effect is a bit too harsh, and I use the sepia to dampen it. 3) A 60% opacity sepia filter when I'm trying to age the photo. 4) A 100% sepia gradient map when I want the image to take on a sepia monochrome effect. I'm not convinced that style fits in the b&w category, though.
I also agree with Northy on the contrast, although as he says, that's a matter of taste. I like to have some pure black in my b&w photos to set the scale in the viewers eye. Of course, there are just as many folks out there that don't like the very high contrast images I do, so it really comes down to what YOU like!
B&W can be very addictive, btw! I'm glad to see you starting down this path. It will be a lot of fun to watch how your b&w images progress as you explore various conversion techniques and as you develop your own unique style.
Although the sepia color is a little too strong for my taste; not sure if pure B&W looks better, but I'd reduce the saturation of the filter (split toning?) just a little. This looks like 40 percent saturation or more - you could try around half of that and see how it looks. :)
I agree about the sepia being a bit too strong. When I do b&w, I have four different stages of sepia that i tend to use: 1) No sepia at all, which produces a pure b&w image. That's my predominant style. 2) A 25% opacity sepia filter that is used only to tone down the silvery effect of a pure image. Sometimes that silvery effect is a bit too harsh, and I use the sepia to dampen it. 3) A 60% opacity sepia filter when I'm trying to age the photo. 4) A 100% sepia gradient map when I want the image to take on a sepia monochrome effect. I'm not convinced that style fits in the b&w category, though.
I also agree with Northy on the contrast, although as he says, that's a matter of taste. I like to have some pure black in my b&w photos to set the scale in the viewers eye. Of course, there are just as many folks out there that don't like the very high contrast images I do, so it really comes down to what YOU like!
B&W can be very addictive, btw! I'm glad to see you starting down this path. It will be a lot of fun to watch how your b&w images progress as you explore various conversion techniques and as you develop your own unique style.
Wait?! Why do so many trees still have leaves on them!? :-P Being this far north is not so much fun. hihihi
And thanks, I like Lightroom very much :)