I know what you're thinking. "Ron, why the heck did you take a very colorful image and turn it into a black and white?" Several years ago, I took a series of digital photography workshops, and the photographer that provided most of the instruction kept emphasizing one point. If you want your photograph to be noticed, you must present the subject in a way the viewer has not seen. With that in mind, I chose to present three colorful pinwheels spinning in the wind from ground level done as a charcoal toned black and white. It's definitely unique, and, to be honest, I liked the monochrome result much better than the color version. I also find it quite fascinating that two out of the three pinwheels are spinning, while the third is perfectly still. It does spin... Several of the shots I took have all three of them going. I chose this one precisely because that third wheel was NOT spinning.
It's interesting to note that this was not my planned shot for the day. I received a tip from a friend yesterday that there was a good photo opportunity with a Queen Anne style house and some blooming trees in front of it, so that's where I was heading. These pinwheels caught my eye along the way, and as I've been saying all along, you take the shot when it presents itself. Not knowing if the owner would keep them here for long, or if I'd find another day with this type of wind and lighting, I turned around and went for this shot.
The black and white processing was done using a technique I found online. I started with a copy of the background layer, and then desaturated it. I also changed the blend mode to hue. Next, between the original and the desaturated layer, I added a hue and saturation adjustment. Playing with the hue and saturation sliders dramatically changes the black and white tones, so I kept adjusting them until I found the contrast I wanted. Next, I duplicated the original background again, and applied a lighting adjustment to the shadows, midtone contrast, and the highlights. Duplicating that layer, I went into Topaz Adjust and used a Dramatic II filter. That was applied using a soft light blend mode with a high pass filter at 8 pixels. (That's a very effective sharpening technique.) I did a slight levels adjustment and a slight brightness / contrast adjustment before topping it off with a warming filter. The overall effect suggests (at least to me) a graphite or charcoal render, especially in the center pinwheel and on the fence. I'll be trying to do more with this technique over the coming months.
"If you want your photograph to be noticed, you must present the subject in a way the viewer has not seen." was sound advice. This shot works very well in b&w. Good job!
It is interesting. I took some shots of our wheels a while ago for my science class - the rainbow colours really did combine to make white once the wheel was spinning fast enough.
I like that they appear to be spinning at different speeds also - the front one is spinning faster than the next and then the last just isn't spinning. Well done.
@cromwell Thanks, Cromwell. Following Luka's black and white shots has been quite inspirational. @melissapike Thanks, Melissa! Interesting how all three were rarely spinning at the same time. @janets Thanks, Janet! @corymbia Thanks, Amanda! Yes, it's something to watch if done right. As I recall, you can get the interference patterns to appear, as well. @honeybees Thanks, Rebecca! @bkbinthecity Thanks, Bkb @sewsharyn Thanks, Sharyn. I think that's what caught my attention driving past this spot, actually.
@melissapike Thanks, Melissa! Interesting how all three were rarely spinning at the same time.
@janets Thanks, Janet!
@corymbia Thanks, Amanda! Yes, it's something to watch if done right. As I recall, you can get the interference patterns to appear, as well.
@honeybees Thanks, Rebecca!
@bkbinthecity Thanks, Bkb
@sewsharyn Thanks, Sharyn. I think that's what caught my attention driving past this spot, actually.