D70 colour image B&W conversion in photoshop, advice / critique wanted.

Here is a dull image I took recenltym when I first got my D70 in January.



I stole a sky from an image I took of the same scene, (but I had exposed for the sky). Was tricky to match and merge the two images, as I didn't use tripod (hence underexposed), and they didn't have quite the same framing (never do that again - lesson well learnt). Bbut with some playing around with selections and feathers in PS I got it to work (I hope). Did quite a lot of work to it, mainly using lots of selections (with feathers) and adjusting levels), and of coruse conversion to tones. Followed by noise reduction in Noise ninja, and some sharpening. I think the NN has made it a bit soft, but I can correct that later. I am mainly concerend with the overal tonal adjustments and direction of the image etc.

Be really helpful to get some feedback, I been working on it for 8 hours, done it from fresh three times already, I think I am getting a bit blind to it!?



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Nick

London, UK

http://www.pbase.com/nickclarke

I like it! Great job. The B/W version is WAY better than the original color. I'm impressed!

-- Rob

The left side of the image (trees) still looks underexposed to me. However the image itself looks to have a lot of potential if you can bring out some more detail on that side.

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http://www.pbase.com/x24702

How is this?

good job

yah much more detail now on the left side, nice work.
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http://www.pbase.com/x24702

I think you did a great job. The colour doesn't do the image or composition justice............... in B and W it looks great. You've done a lovely job of getting the tones and levels spot on.

If you've got Photoshop CS, check out the Photostitch function- it can really help to put pictures together, automatically find the matching sections. If it has troubles, you can drop one pic on top of the otehr, near the match, and it will "snap-to" to the right place. Might make the merge process easier. Also, if you're not using them already, masks will really help with guiding your adjustments. I really like the result, it's a great job in PS!

Jeremy

Shades of Bill Brandt I would say Nick. It's good.
Jules

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Should I buy the Nikon or the Canon???? Doh.

Thanks for the feedback guys, I wasn't just doing it to fuel my ego, but I am considering entering this in a photography mag competition, the prize is Canon 300D (straight on ebay), which will pay for an SB800, and a decent monitor with calibrator!

Sometimes the more I work on an image the less sure I am about the direction, as there are so many different turns an image could make along the way.

I am really happy with it, it took me nearly 8 hours off and on last night, I ended up staying zoned in on it till 4am, so it WANTS to be good he he!

My only concern is that it might be a little too stark, (even though I dind't adjust contrast at all), other than in colour mixer when I converted to tones. The adjustments were all made using levels and selected areas. For example I wonder whether the blacks in the sky are a bit too much, and likewise around the rest of the frame.

Generally I am happy, and I think it's at least as good as other winning entries, so fingers crossed.

Many thanks guys,

Nick
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Nick

London, UK

http://www.pbase.com/nickclarke

Tremendous improvement! Turns a boring photo into a dramatic one. Should be on the cover of a Stephen King novel.
Good job!
Phil