critical hats on please for new B&W gallery

I have just uploaded a new gallery of Black and White photos. If a few of these look familiar it's because I have posted them here before. Most of them are new.

I was hoping to get some solid constructive criticism of these. I realize there are a lot of photos here and I don't expect you to look at every one. But of those that you do look at it would really help me if you could give specific feedback.

As for methods used... One of the photos was shot with a hoya infrared filter. All the others were shot in color and then converted in photoshop in the post processing. I heavily relied on the channel mixer and also "glick efx" Infrared photoshop filter. I did use Fred Miranda's Infrared action on one or two. Some of them were also converted to duotones if I thought the B&W effect needed a little extra punch.

Thanks in advance for looking...
the whole gallery can be found at:
http://www.lizawallis.com/BW
liza
and here is one image to get you started:
http://www.lizawallis.com/BW/images/horse_farm.jpg--www.lizawallis.com
http://www.lizawallis.com/photography

Liza,

I really like the fence shots.

To me, I really feel that a B&W shot should be very contrasty. I think the look better that way. Some of the shots you took have no "punch" to them and I think it is due to there low contrast. IMHO

Couldn't get pased tree_shadows_1 as the next page is all white... I will try another way... Never mind! I saw them. But it looks like tree_ 2 is not working.

I am not the best person to ask about these shots, they are just my opinion. You do have some very nice shots there though.

Paul R.

©azil said:

I have just uploaded a new gallery of Black and White photos. If a
few of these look familiar it's because I have posted them here
before. Most of them are new.

I was hoping to get some solid constructive criticism of these. I
realize there are a lot of photos here and I don't expect you to
look at every one. But of those that you do look at it would
really help me if you could give specific feedback.

As for methods used... One of the photos was shot with a hoya
infrared filter. All the others were shot in color and then
converted in photoshop in the post processing. I heavily relied on
the channel mixer and also "glick efx" Infrared photoshop filter.
I did use Fred Miranda's Infrared action on one or two. Some of
them were also converted to duotones if I thought the B&W effect
needed a little extra punch.

Thanks in advance for looking...
the whole gallery can be found at:
http://www.lizawallis.com/BW
liza
and here is one image to get you started:



--
http://www.lizawallis.com
http://www.lizawallis.com/photography

Click to expand...

Paul R said:

Liza,

I really like the fence shots.

Click to expand...

Thank you

Paul R said:

To me, I really feel that a B&W shot should be very contrasty. I
think the look better that way. Some of the shots you took have no
"punch" to them and I think it is due to there low contrast. IMHO

Click to expand...

You know Paul, that's my thought too and that's a large part of the reason that I wanted other opinions on these. I can't quite decide if B&W HAS to be high contrast or whether I just really like the high contrast shots. I know a big draw for me of B&W is the mood conveyed. I am trying to figure out how to convey that mood and wondering whether I have to have high contrast to achieve it.

Paul R said:

Couldn't get pased tree_shadows_1 as the next page is all white...
I will try another way... Never mind! I saw them. But it looks like
tree_ 2 is not working.

Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing this out... it should be working now. I have been having trouble all day with my FTP connection.

Paul R said:

I am not the best person to ask about these shots, they are just my
opinion. You do have some very nice shots there though.

Click to expand...

Really appreciate that you took the time to look and comment.
liza

Paul R said:

Paul R.

©azil said:

I have just uploaded a new gallery of Black and White photos. If a
few of these look familiar it's because I have posted them here
before. Most of them are new.

I was hoping to get some solid constructive criticism of these. I
realize there are a lot of photos here and I don't expect you to
look at every one. But of those that you do look at it would
really help me if you could give specific feedback.

As for methods used... One of the photos was shot with a hoya
infrared filter. All the others were shot in color and then
converted in photoshop in the post processing. I heavily relied on
the channel mixer and also "glick efx" Infrared photoshop filter.
I did use Fred Miranda's Infrared action on one or two. Some of
them were also converted to duotones if I thought the B&W effect
needed a little extra punch.

Thanks in advance for looking...
the whole gallery can be found at:
http://www.lizawallis.com/BW
liza
and here is one image to get you started:



--
http://www.lizawallis.com
http://www.lizawallis.com/photography

Click to expand...

--

Click to expand...

--www.lizawallis.comwww.lizawallis.com/photography

Liza - I have just looked at the one that appeared on the screen so far. It is wonderful. I love how you captured the deepest darks and the lightest of lights. And the shadows. Also the feeling of movement along the way.

©azil said:

I have just uploaded a new gallery of Black and White photos. If a
few of these look familiar it's because I have posted them here
before. Most of them are new.

I was hoping to get some solid constructive criticism of these. I
realize there are a lot of photos here and I don't expect you to
look at every one. But of those that you do look at it would
really help me if you could give specific feedback.

As for methods used... One of the photos was shot with a hoya
infrared filter. All the others were shot in color and then
converted in photoshop in the post processing. I heavily relied on
the channel mixer and also "glick efx" Infrared photoshop filter.
I did use Fred Miranda's Infrared action on one or two. Some of
them were also converted to duotones if I thought the B&W effect
needed a little extra punch.

Thanks in advance for looking...
the whole gallery can be found at:
http://www.lizawallis.com/BW
liza
and here is one image to get you started:



--
http://www.lizawallis.com
http://www.lizawallis.com/photography

Click to expand...

--Susan

©azil said:

Paul R said:

Liza,

I really like the fence shots.

Click to expand...

Thank you

liza wallis said:

To me, I really feel that a B&W shot should be very contrasty. I
think the look better that way. Some of the shots you took have no
"punch" to them and I think it is due to there low contrast. IMHO

Click to expand...

You know Paul, that's my thought too and that's a large part of the
reason that I wanted other opinions on these. I can't quite decide
if B&W HAS to be high contrast or whether I just really like the
high contrast shots. I know a big draw for me of B&W is the mood
conveyed. I am trying to figure out how to convey that mood and
wondering whether I have to have high contrast to achieve it.

Click to expand...

Liza...

No specific comments on your B&W's, but I was wondering what is(are) the mood(s) that you are trying to convey? My first reaction to B&W photos is "the past"...old, nostalgic, but depending upon the subject my moods can become gloomy, apprehensive, maybe even a little scared?

Mainly I feel nostalgic and remember old photos of my childhood in the late 40's, 50's, and 60's? When did color photography become mainstream? Anyhow, I really liked the photo that you posted...very good contrast with the fence shadows on the road. But I would love to see that same scene in the Summer/Fall...in color!!

Nice work...Jack

liza wallis said:

liza wallis said:

Couldn't get pased tree_shadows_1 as the next page is all white...
I will try another way... Never mind! I saw them. But it looks like
tree_ 2 is not working.

Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing this out... it should be working now. I have
been having trouble all day with my FTP connection.

liza wallis said:

I am not the best person to ask about these shots, they are just my
opinion. You do have some very nice shots there though.

Click to expand...

Really appreciate that you took the time to look and comment.
liza

liza wallis said:

Paul R.

©azil said:

I have just uploaded a new gallery of Black and White photos. If a
few of these look familiar it's because I have posted them here
before. Most of them are new.

I was hoping to get some solid constructive criticism of these. I
realize there are a lot of photos here and I don't expect you to
look at every one. But of those that you do look at it would
really help me if you could give specific feedback.

As for methods used... One of the photos was shot with a hoya
infrared filter. All the others were shot in color and then
converted in photoshop in the post processing. I heavily relied on
the channel mixer and also "glick efx" Infrared photoshop filter.
I did use Fred Miranda's Infrared action on one or two. Some of
them were also converted to duotones if I thought the B&W effect
needed a little extra punch.

Thanks in advance for looking...
the whole gallery can be found at:
http://www.lizawallis.com/BW
liza
and here is one image to get you started:



--
http://www.lizawallis.com
http://www.lizawallis.com/photography

Click to expand...

--

Click to expand...

--
http://www.lizawallis.com
http://www.lizawallis.com/photography

Click to expand...

Liza
great shots

I have seen a great improvement in your work over the past few months. For me, you have managed to tell a story in just about every picture. You certainly have a very good eye and I wish I could do so much with my own photography.

As for the contrast etc.. I would probably go for stark contrast with any black and white work and perhaps even lose shadow detail. I have been told that keeping shadow details is the most important thing in photography so I suppose you have done the right thing.

The most important thing imo, is that you have inspired me to 'see' better in future and of course take more photographs!
thanks!
Peter--www.irishstreet.com

©azil said:

and here is one image to get you started:

Click to expand...

This is a great photo Liza, so moody... wonderful!

I haven't looked at all others, just picked out a few (my ftp is slowing things down, some weirdo asked me for a 7mb file

Besides the above one I think 'fence_crossing', fence_shadow' and 'horse_farm' are also great. You have such a keen eye for these moody shots. I agree with what was said in this thread, these photo's require the high contrast that you gave them.
Really nice,
Mark
-- http://community.webshots.com/user/marksfinepix

©azil said:

I have just uploaded a new gallery of Black and White photos. If a
few of these look familiar it's because I have posted them here
before. Most of them are new.

Click to expand...

Hi Liza

Your shots are super, full of mood and atmosphere. I actually like photos which can convey a sense of brooding or aprehension (as mentioned above). Not all photos should be happy, pretty pictures. To me, photography is not just about capturing moments in time. It is also about being "artistic" and creative, which you have surely done.

On a separate point, one thing I did note, however, was that you were using Photoshop album creator. I started down this route with my web site and found that even though I had already re-sized and compressed for web using the save for web option (Imageready), when Photoshop came to create the album (and I ticked the ooption for no compression/resize, some of my images had actually increased in size and the quality had gone down considerably. I scrapped the album apart from keeping the thumbnails it had created, and went and did my own thing using the save for web option. Mind you, it took me the three evenings of work to get my web site up!! Maybe I have too much time on my hands but I ust thought I'd pass on this observation.

Thank you for sharing the photgraphs. Must get back out there with the camera. Once again you've inspired me.

Best wishes

Liz--www.libtib.org.uk6900 UK

©azil said:

I have just uploaded a new gallery of Black and White photos. If a
few of these look familiar it's because I have posted them here
before. Most of them are new.

I was hoping to get some solid constructive criticism of these. I
realize there are a lot of photos here and I don't expect you to
look at every one. But of those that you do look at it would
really help me if you could give specific feedback.

Click to expand...

So Liza you wanted honest critique, here we go. I have looked through them all and these are the ones that got my attention, good or bad. I will not talk about the technical aspects of the pictures as I am not really qualified to do so, I am only a budding amateur at the moment. What I can comment on is what looks good to me and what does not.

The two pictures fenced field and horse farm are great compositions and have great detail. Looks for all the world like Yorkshire or the English lake District (where my folks live) Are these in New ENGLAND by any chance?

The three dogs, triplets is again great composition, but was this really posed or a manipulation in post processing. I guess these are your dogs. If so you must have quite a menagerie.

Farmretouch_bw has nothing that really grabs my eye. There is not enough contrast here to do anything for the picture. Lighthouse was similar in this respect.

Lighthouse and playland baths were pictures I though maybe would be better in colour. Tree was another one that got me thinking about the use of B&W versus colour. In tree, I loved the detail and the composition, but would really like to see the original colour image next the B&W one. That way I could decided which had the greater impact.

Fence crossing and fence shadow both have lots of contrast and brilliant composition, together making a picture with lots of interest and detail. The shadows really add to the impact of the picture.

Field, two trees2 are really wonderful moody photos. In two trees2 and field the sky is fantastic. Did you do any further post processing to get these real moody skies or is that how the sky really looked? The contrast again for me plays a really big role in the overall makeup of these pictures. These are excellent examples of pictures that really do look better in B&W. Also stevie shore is another really moody shot, but in this picture the ripples and reflections on the water make the photo really interesting. Also the dog in silhouette is striking. Again, though, I would like to see this one in colour.

Finally, the two that had the greatest impact on me were frosted farm, the overall composition and the addition of the birds looks wonderful, really artistic. This would make a really striking wall hanging with the right décor.

My favourite is probably picnic. Here the whole composition of the weeping willow, the upturned tables and the reflections in the water really “paint” a wonderful picture. Note the use of the word “picture” not “photo”. In this case, the lack of contrast and less sharp focus really work well to create, in my view anyway the best picture of them all.

Although I really did look at every image, the rest did not really do anything that either made me think yeah, great or nah, don’t like that.

So there you go. Great work Liza, you are really an inspiration to us all. Please keep up the good work and keep sharing your pictures with us. At least you are add a bit of seriousness to the forum to complement my silly cat pictures.
--Duncan Birmingham, England

©azil said:

I have just uploaded a new gallery of Black and White photos. If a
few of these look familiar it's because I have posted them here
before. Most of them are new.

I was hoping to get some solid constructive criticism of these. I
realize there are a lot of photos here and I don't expect you to
look at every one. But of those that you do look at it would
really help me if you could give specific feedback.

As for methods used... One of the photos was shot with a hoya
infrared filter. All the others were shot in color and then
converted in photoshop in the post processing. I heavily relied on
the channel mixer and also "glick efx" Infrared photoshop filter.
I did use Fred Miranda's Infrared action on one or two. Some of
them were also converted to duotones if I thought the B&W effect
needed a little extra punch.

Thanks in advance for looking...
the whole gallery can be found at:
http://www.lizawallis.com/BW
liza
and here is one image to get you started:



--
http://www.lizawallis.com
http://www.lizawallis.com/photography

Click to expand...

First up - some really good shots here. Several have that inate 'rightness' which take you past what are simply OK pictures. I agree with other posters that BW thrives on contrast and texture. Fence Crossing and Fence shadow show these characteristics to best advantage. BW or colour, your composition skills make these two work best for me. Fence Shadow edges it simply because of the snow. Bridge BW is third, fore/mid/background give a real depth to this shot. IR doesn't do anything for me, the trickery is too upfront to allow a balanced judgement on the picture. Finally, I like BW with Statue. I saw the work you did earlier on that, but BW pulls the rubble reflection into shot better. The flag, although technically well achieved, makes the symbolism heavy handed. I'd take it out, and tip the viewer with a suitable title. BW is a favourite medium for me - I remember my Dad developing Ilford films in our cellar when I was a kid. I like the graininesss associated with c.1965 photos. Your work is evocative of that time. Thanks for giving us such enjoyable work to undertake!--Kev G

My wife and I just finished looking at your pictures....you are very gifted. My wife is a painter and she wants to pass on you have good balance and contrast in most of your shots. We would love to have a few of your shots hanging in our house!!

Sandy's favourite is your fence crossing and mine is horse farm with many coming in tied for second.

Thanks for sharing.
--Earl

©azil said:

I have just uploaded a new gallery of Black and White photos. If a
few of these look familiar it's because I have posted them here
before. Most of them are new.

I was hoping to get some solid constructive criticism of these. I
realize there are a lot of photos here and I don't expect you to
look at every one. But of those that you do look at it would
really help me if you could give specific feedback.

As for methods used... One of the photos was shot with a hoya
infrared filter. All the others were shot in color and then
converted in photoshop in the post processing. I heavily relied on
the channel mixer and also "glick efx" Infrared photoshop filter.
I did use Fred Miranda's Infrared action on one or two. Some of
them were also converted to duotones if I thought the B&W effect
needed a little extra punch.

Thanks in advance for looking...
the whole gallery can be found at:
http://www.lizawallis.com/BW
liza
and here is one image to get you started:



--
http://www.lizawallis.com
http://www.lizawallis.com/photography

Click to expand...

All of the rumors and reports of the demise of B&W have ceased for after seeing these I can state B&W is alive and well and has peaked my interest [again].

IMHO the best is the one you posted here 10 on 10 scale. The only one I did not rate as high as all of the others is "Frosted" [probably too many years in the dark with 4X5 negatives]. The remainder get a 8.5 to 9.5 on same scale! Glad I don't have to compete with you.

Now I'll read the rest of the comments (I try to do it this way so my opinion is not influenced by others).
--RayRJNedimyer

Earl Bishop said:

My wife and I just finished looking at your pictures....you are
very gifted. My wife is a painter and she wants to pass on you
have good balance and contrast in most of your shots. We would
love to have a few of your shots hanging in our house!!
Sandy's favourite is your fence crossing and mine is horse farm
with many coming in tied for second.

Thanks for sharing.

--
Earl

Click to expand...

Earl,
I thought I complemented her. Yours is a full fledged proper salute!

I would say the same thing but my wife has so many things hanging on the walls now they would collapse [she and her mother are both artistic and into crafts and neither believe that a photograph is ever as good as hand created artwork {unless it's a photo of their child (grandchild)}].
--RayRJNedimyer

wonderful!

what do you use to 'frame' the pics?

r--robertNative Eye Photographymitakuye oyasin('we are all related'. Lakota language)www.pbase.com/nativeeye

Jack G Heckler said:

Liza...
No specific comments on your B&W's, but I was wondering what
is(are) the mood(s) that you are trying to convey? My first
reaction to B&W photos is "the past"...old, nostalgic, but
depending upon the subject my moods can become gloomy,
apprehensive, maybe even a little scared?

Click to expand...

Ha ha... well, I guess I like to use it to convey different moods... all the ones you listed are fine with me if my photography can communicate them.

Jack G Heckler said:

Mainly I feel nostalgic and remember old photos of my childhood in
the late 40's, 50's, and 60's? When did color photography become
mainstream? Anyhow, I really liked the photo that you
posted...very good contrast with the fence shadows on the road.
But I would love to see that same scene in the Summer/Fall...in
color!!

Click to expand...

I will try to post that with color some day... I don't expect I will get the same shadows though in the other seasons... too many trees to block the sun.

Jack G Heckler said:

Nice work...Jack

Click to expand...

Thank you Jack.

liza

--www.lizawallis.comwww.lizawallis.com/photography

Susan S. said:

Liza - I have just looked at the one that appeared on the screen so
far. It is wonderful. I love how you captured the deepest darks and
the lightest of lights. And the shadows. Also the feeling of
movement along the way.

Click to expand...

Thank you Susan... the one I posted here is one of my favorites -- I figured I should post one that I felt confident about before subjecting myself to the scrutiny of the ones I had less confidence in! Always scary to open up one's experiments to the eyes of others, but I always also appreciate the feedback so it is well worth it.

Regards...
liza--www.lizawallis.comwww.lizawallis.com/photography

oTToMaTTic said:

Liza
great shots

Click to expand...

Thank you Peter

oTToMaTTic said:

I have seen a great improvement in your work over the past few
months. For me, you have managed to tell a story in just about
every picture. You certainly have a very good eye and I wish I
could do so much with my own photography.

Click to expand...

Wow... what nice compliments. I really am trying to both experiment and grow with my photos. I appreciate your saying that you have seen improvement. This is what I come to this forum for... I learn so much and get to try things out in my own work.

oTToMaTTic said:

As for the contrast etc.. I would probably go for stark contrast
with any black and white work and perhaps even lose shadow detail.
I have been told that keeping shadow details is the most important
thing in photography so I suppose you have done the right thing.
The most important thing imo, is that you have inspired me to 'see'
better in future and of course take more photographs!

Click to expand...

Wow again... thank you so much for these kind words.... I really appreciate them. I look forward to seeing more of your work. What I have seen so far shows a darn good eye already.

oTToMaTTic said:

thanks!
Peter

Click to expand...

Thank you
liza

oTToMaTTic said:

--
http://www.irishstreet.com

Click to expand...

--www.lizawallis.comwww.lizawallis.com/photography

Hi Liza,

The fence shot is great. However, when I go to visit you're B/W gallery, I get 404's on all of the other pictures. Will try again a bit later.

©azil said:

I have just uploaded a new gallery of Black and White photos. If a
few of these look familiar it's because I have posted them here
before. Most of them are new.

I was hoping to get some solid constructive criticism of these. I
realize there are a lot of photos here and I don't expect you to
look at every one. But of those that you do look at it would
really help me if you could give specific feedback.

As for methods used... One of the photos was shot with a hoya
infrared filter. All the others were shot in color and then
converted in photoshop in the post processing. I heavily relied on
the channel mixer and also "glick efx" Infrared photoshop filter.
I did use Fred Miranda's Infrared action on one or two. Some of
them were also converted to duotones if I thought the B&W effect
needed a little extra punch.

Thanks in advance for looking...
the whole gallery can be found at:
http://www.lizawallis.com/BW
liza
and here is one image to get you started:



--
http://www.lizawallis.com
http://www.lizawallis.com/photography

Click to expand...

--Best Regards,Todd MedleyRedmond, WA http://public.fotki.com/wagatorfan/

Todd, I had the same problem, and when I remembered you are a Mac user I began to wonder.

The problem is in the url Liza used for her pictures - at least I guess that's what happened. The linked pictures have the slash backwards, hence " " is "\". The browsers on Windows must be made to handle it either way, but my two Mac browsers don't like it. Just load the url for each picture and manually change the slash and you'll be fine. Maybe Liza can change them when she gets a chance.

David

4900'r Mark said:

This is a great photo Liza, so moody... wonderful!

Click to expand...

Thank you... this one was one of my favorites

Mark (nl) said:

I haven't looked at all others, just picked out a few (my ftp is
slowing things down, some weirdo asked me for a 7mb file

Click to expand...

You better be careful what weirdos you hang out with online... next thing you know they may well show up in your living room and just have their way with the place... not to mention what they could do to those 10 cats you have

Mark (nl) said:

Besides the above one I think 'fence_crossing', fence_shadow' and
'horse_farm' are also great. You have such a keen eye for these
moody shots. I agree with what was said in this thread, these
photo's require the high contrast that you gave them.

Click to expand...

Mark, thank you. But you know, you could have told me what you don't like and I would not have taken any offense at all. As I have said, I am experimenting with the B&W conversion and some of the experiments don't work quite as well. It has been interesting to read people's comments and the conflicting ideas on what works and what doesn't

Mark (nl) said:

Really nice,

Click to expand...

Thank you thank you....

Mark (nl) said:

Mark

Click to expand...

I can't believe duck is that old... She looks great by the way.

cheers
liza

Mark (nl) said:

--
http://community.webshots.com/user/marksfinepix

Click to expand...

--www.lizawallis.comwww.lizawallis.com/photography