Need some input

[Pappy]

Back in my film days, me and Black and White were best friends. It has taken me almost 2 years to find a process of editing my B&W shots and conversions that I actually liked.

Whats your take on these, just from a viewing stand point. I personally am looking at the representation of the B&W tone more so then photo content...but would like some other opinions.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/2477777718_c03e2ebaa9_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2177/2476975791_5c98ec1e8f_o.jpg

[Quad18star]

The pictures look good ... but could you make the white ( light colors) stand out just a tad bit more ??

[Pappy]

If there where whites to whiten:p The bricks were from the foundation of a house built in the 1700's and the mortar was a pale grey. Nick told me it burnt down a few weeks back:(

There wasnt any whites in the dog shot either, just the rim light from the sun on his ear

[Quad18star]

Originally posted by Pappy
If there where whites to whiten:p The bricks were from the foundation of a house built in the 1700's and the mortar was a pale grey. Nick told me it burnt down a few weeks back:(

There wasnt any whites in the dog shot either, just the rim light from the sun on his ear

Well if that's the case ... then good job . :p

The pictures do look awesome... but to me there's just something that doesn't seem right .

Maybe if the darks were a little darker ?!?!:confused: ( in the first picture) . The 2nd picture looks great .

I'm guessing the 1st picture is of your chocolate lab ... and that could be what's throwing it off. If he's anything like mine , he's probably got lighter brown hair which is throwing the color off . Find a black lab and do the same shot lol . ;)

Oh and by the way Ken , the detail in those shots is amazing . I can sount every damn hair that dog has on it's head. Talk about High Definition. LOL . You for hire to do weddings when my time comes around ??? :p

[Pappy]

I think that was a Chessy, wasnt my pup:p He was a dirty yellow.

I will try and work up a few others, but I do appreciate the input!

[Quad18star]

Originally posted by Pappy
I think that was a Chessy, wasnt my pup:p He was a dirty yellow.

I will try and work up a few others, but I do appreciate the input!

I figured it out ... the dog is blending in with the background a little too much . Because of the light colors of the basket and the dog's head you're not getting a "true" defining line of where his head shapes.

But who knows .. it's 1:30 am , I just finished doing my girlfriend's computer sciences homework for her and I'm dead tired ... my eyes could be playing tricks on me.

[nosliw]

i think B&W look artsy-fartsy.

there's a stigma that reminds me of an old girlfriend who saw "beauty" in everything. it makes everything look like it has some kind of nostalgia that it doesn't.

my $0.02

cute dog though

[Pappy]

Nope, I see what your saying about it blending. They were pretty close in the same color range (dog and the camo material)

Here is one with some white in it for you:p These are just some snap shots I took on a hunting trip and were not set up to be B&W (I am learning on the conversions now, and should have some true B&W out of the camera soon) I would have used a tripod and made sure everything was sharp in this picture from front to back but I was more interested in putting a deer in teh freezer...lol

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3155/2477077249_08665bae28_o.jpg

[Quad18star]

I like that picture . The white really stands out . It's awesome because you can make out all the little defects in the paint ... everything from the weathering to the paint chipping.

Have you started a website for all these styles of pictures yet? I like checking out the racing pictures , but to me , these are the true art pictures. I'm sure if you had the pictures more exposed you could make a good bit of money selling off prints of these types of scenes. Stuff like that would look amazing in my mom and dad's log home.

[Pappy]

Well, not sure about the nostalgia part of it, but photography is subjective. People either like it or they dont sometimes:p

Now this one I did last year, and to me it was just to bland.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1236/1247921569_e2e4430b77_b.jpg

And this was right out of the camera as a B&W with some black added. The mist was rolling through the trees pretty good when I took it:p

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1105/1244421885_112d602678_b.jpg

[Benjithx]

I am with you Pappy,

Leaves look kind of flat and blah, but the trees have great depth and contrast. I imagine if you altered it too much you would lose the washed out feel that the mist presents.

I really like the tree photo. Did you use anything other than the fish eye?

[Pappy]

Nope, just the fisheye, I just stood up in my Ranger and took the pic through the roll cage. If you stare at the damn thing it will make you dizzy:p

[Benjithx]

Good photos evoke emotion...and that can sometimes be nausea :-)

[toomeyshee87]

that picture of the trees is amazing!

it would be sweet to have it blown up huge and put it on your ceiling in a bedroom or something hahaha

[<DRS>GPF]

i love the b&w.. they make for nice, calm "ambiance"..

do you have any with an old barn or large shed being overgrown?

[bwamos]

They look great.

I wonder what it is, that makes it so hard to reproduce the quality of old B&W film on digital. Perhaps it's just the way we shoot for shots. With color we'll shoot for vibrance, color contrast, etc.. with B&W we probably would have conciously, or subconciously shot for tone contrast.

[Pappy]

Originally posted by bwamos
They look great.

I wonder what it is, that makes it so hard to reproduce the quality of old B&W film on digital. Perhaps it's just the way we shoot for shots. With color we'll shoot for vibrance, color contrast, etc.. with B&W we probably would have conciously, or subconciously shot for tone contrast.

Your quite correct, and digital lacks the range of tonal stops that film does, atleast on a moinitor. I have shots printed that showed chomatic aberration(funny colors around say tree limbs in a shot woith a mainly white sky) that dont show up in prints but look horrible on my monitor but not always.

DRS-no barns in decay but as this year rolls on I plan on expanding my stockpile and there isnt much better shooting then around an old farm or buildings!

[Quad18star]

Originally posted by Pappy
[B]Well, not sure about the nostalgia part of it, but photography is subjective. People either like it or they dont sometimes:p

Now this one I did last year, and to me it was just to bland.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1236/1247921569_e2e4430b77_b.jpg


What would make this picture awesome, is if the outside edges weren't blurried . If the whole picture was clear it would make for a great picture.

Paps , do you have all these pictures posted on an image hosting site or do you just upload them off your computer and onto the site when you want to post them? I'd love to check out the rest of your work . I'm a picture freak if you haven't figured it out yet... I love the black and white pictures and the relaxing settings ... I've got all sorts of these pictures on the walls in our home. :)

[Pappy]

Greg, the pic of the plant was taken with a 50mm 1.4 and I was playing with how shallow the depth of field is etc.

Another from that series

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1212/1245628588_b1dc72b78b_b.jpg


I just upload them as I want to share them. Race pics go to the link in my sig, the majority of the rest (like a few posted here) are sold to stock agency's. I am actually packing up to go to Ohio to cover a national, but am leaving early so I can take the scenic route just to take pictures along the way:p

[Quad18star]

I'm sure you'll be able to get some awesome shots in Ohio if you can come across some of the nice big farms. If you go to Unidilla for the nationals , there's some great spots to take pictures. Hell right in the spectator parking lot there's an old graveyard with old tombstones which I think would be picture perfect in black and white.

My girlfriend says your pictures are beautiful. She loves photography and keeps bugging me to buy her a camera ... apparently our Canon PowerShot A530 just isn't good enough. :confused: :rolleyes:

[Pappy]

I will be at Dilla twice this year covering races.

She is correct, you need to get away from the Point and Shoot cameras if you want to take more then snap shots but they are getting much better. The Canon G9 is a decent stepping stone to a slr but like all others has its limits

[Quad18star]

It's too bad Unadilla is so early this year . If it would have been in July or something I'd have went since the girlfriend wants to go watch another race . Maybe I'll have to hit up Red Bud instead.

What's a decent price for a good quality camera ?? I'm no camera person so I have no clue as to what is what .

[Pappy]

You can buy a used set up, for around $1500 that will do as well as any set up on the market.

If its just a step up, look to spend around $500 or so. I actually want the canon G9 just for a pocket camera as it offers full manual functions and will support off camera flash:p

[Robin Hood]

B&W photos seem to look more professional in my POV. A good B&W photo should fall under the saying that "a picture is worth a thousand words."

None of your pictures fall short of that. :p

[jherbie28]

B&W for some reason i was expecting a car:p im an idiot:ermm:

pics look good as always