Continuing in my quest to improve my black and white photography, I went to Crescent Park in Riverside for today's shot. I wanted to take advantage of a grey, misty day and there are a lot of spots in this small park that have interesting contrasting lines.This particular angle was selected to offer contrast with the sky, but also to include a hint of the Bay in the background, seen through the gazebo. It was also selected to avoid having too many trees providing the background since there wouldn't be enough contrast between the gazebo and the foliage. The conversion is better than yesterday, for sure. There's pure white in this image, and there's also pure black in the legs of the gazebo. The underside of the gazebo is also black but provides just enough hint of shadow to give it depth. It's an improvement.
Post processing started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W Effects. I adjusted the adaptive exposure, contrast, boost black, boost white, and brightness sliders. I also adjusted the color sensitivity sliders to reduce the tones in the sky and to improve the emphasis on the green top of the gazebo. In PSE I added a levels adjustment and a slight brightness/contrast adjustment. The top layer is a sepia photo filter.
