Weathervane

[mswebb]

Another shot from the rural, black & white day. I've tried various crops on this shot but can't find anything better that the somewhat dull original composition.

Any suggestions?

[Ronald S. Jr.]

I don't know about everyone else, but I like it. I think it could use a bit more contrast to dramatize the sky, but there's something about it I just love. I'd like to see it in a big print. 13x19 is nice. 8)

[mswebb]

Thanks. I haven't really played with the levels and such yet but I'm not the best at it anyway.

I try to get the best possible composition out of the camera but sometimes the crop makes all the difference.

13 by 19, eh? Can anyone recommend a good, large-format printer?

[timtam]

I agree with Ron... the pic is lovely and would look awesome blown up (not literally of course)... but perhaps a touch more contrast would really bring it out..

There doesn't really need any cropping from my point of view... I've had a play with it (but PS is playing up) and I can't crop it any other way anyhoo... it looks good how it is. Centered and all! lol

[Ronald S. Jr.]

13 by 19, eh? Can anyone recommend a good, large-format printer?

I used a Canon i9900 for some time (couple years), and it always did fine. Just "upgraded" to the Epson R1800, and I'm blown away at the difference in equally priced printers. Phenomenal.

[mommymomo]

Simply stunning. Not all photos need to have conventional subjects. I like it. I think I would play with the curves a bit. Looking good mswebb.

[mswebb]

Thanks everyone. Once I get the curves adjusted I might send this one off to a printing service like MPIX to see how they manage it. Hopefully, there aren't big costs associated with shipping to Canada.

Eventually I am going to invest in a large format printer, but for now it isn't a necessity.

[Ronald S. Jr.]

PFt...send me the file and gimme enough to cover cost, and I'll print it for ya! 13x19 on Ilford Smooth Pearl, baby! Yeaaahhh! LOL

Seriously, though..don't you have a local store that'll do big prints? I've got like 3.

Somewhat related, I've been wondering...where does one buy those tubes for mailing? I've had people want prints of my stuff (big), but I don't have a way to send them. Just office supply store?

Sorry to hijack, webby.

[mswebb]

No problem. You should be able to find tubes at a UPS Store, Mail Boxes Plus, etc. I don't know who you'd have in your area. Maybe Kinkos and possibly someone like Office Depot.

There are probably some local shops but to be honest I haven't looked yet. A lot of the local places just do small scale, plain paper stuff. There is a place down in the city that did some canvas prints for me last year but they are very expensive for small scale jobs.

I'd like to take you up on your offer, can you pm me with file delivery details?

I was thinking of grabbing a large format printer and was going to offer at-cost printing to anyone here on FF. Someday my prints will come.

[mswebb]

Here is the adjusted version. Levels, unsharp mask and desaturate. I'm not really sure how to manage curves though. Looks a little harsh to me...

[savona]

I also love the shot, I had a couple things I would have done a bit different but it is a great shot. Here is what I would have had in mind for it.

[mswebb]

I tried cropping over to that side as well but thought it was little to "by-the-book". I think I liked it with the left hand trees as their slope somewhat mirrored the slope of the right-hand hill.

Your levels/curves look much better than mine though. Maybe I should try to find some online tutorials for good conversion workflows.

[savona]

I tried cropping over to that side as well but thought it was little to "by-the-book". I think I liked it with the left hand trees as their slope somewhat mirrored the slope of the right-hand hill.

Your levels/curves look much better than mine though. Maybe I should try to find some online tutorials for good conversion workflows.

My simple key to a good B&W conversion is all about shades. I try to make as many shades through the image as possible. The basic way I do it is to get the shadows close to black without losing details and highlights close to whites without losing detail. Simple, you want as many shades of grey in the photo as possible.