Went Wandering in Colorado


Spotted a couple to my right making their way to the top
And simply decided to follow their tracks, using them to pace myself
Bad idea, because they seem particularly fit
With my own steps seemingly lost in the sand that they have set loose

My aching legs and overall fatigue then conspired with my photographic mind
To let them get ahead and take them when they were at the top of the ridgeline
I stopped, leaning forward to prevent myself from slipping down
And in seeming nonchalance, took long hard swigs from my near emptying bottle
My other hand fiddling with the dials and controls

Bringing it up to my eye, she suddenly plopped down ... and started removing her footwear!
Tipping them over, little mounds of sand appeared in a stream, Pig Pen from Peanuts
Oh now, both of them turning back to look around, eyes trained on me I'm sure,
those sunshades hiding furrowed brows and dagger stares

Bury my head in the sand indeed, there wasn't much I could do but wait
for an endless series of moments, seconds turned into minutes,
rivulets of sweat build up merge to gush down
A half-hearted breathless whistling tune escaping from between my lips
I wanted to yell, Oh c'mon, get a move on

She finally scrambled up to her feet and I took a quick snap
Both them and I, back on our own ways

 

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I really love all your B&W shots... #45 is super super cool and amazing composition. It really says a lot about walking the distance... must learn from you..:)
Thanks and I enjoyed..:)
 

Thanks Manita, still experimenting for the right b&w 'look'
As for the couple, about 20mins later they were already up to the peak on the next dune ;p
Had a Flickr friend who went to the Death Valley ... then the Great Sand Dunes NP after viewing my photostream
You should check out his series, mind-blowing and puts mine to shame: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zboumeester/
 

Love #33.. but some of the BW conversion don't work for me.
 

Thanks, may I know which in particular? ... or all?!
They're all a lil' different from another, trying out various conversion styles and such. Haven't quite settled on one distinct workflow
 

Zichar said:
Thanks Manita, still experimenting for the right b&w 'look'
As for the couple, about 20mins later they were already up to the peak on the next dune ;p
Had a Flickr friend who went to the Death Valley ... then the Great Sand Dunes NP after viewing my photostream
You should check out his series, mind-blowing and puts mine to shame: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zboumeester/
Click to expand...

Thanks for link...:)
 

Makes me want to go there too. Is there a possibility of wild camping at the sand dunes? That would be an awesome feat.
 

Yes, most do if they want to catch first light, I was advised to but wussed out
Bloody cold I'm told, but the mountain lions rarely if ever foray into the desert so it's relatively safe; expect showers, stay away from peaks in case of lightning strikes
A permit is required too I would suppose
Some simply enter in the middle of the night since there's no gate anyway, just a small outpost with no gantry, i.e. no fees too
mycolorado.org got me started on the dunes, lots of info there, helpful too because Darren's an avid camper
But do check out Stan Rose's gallery, http://www.stanroseimages.com/ for superb night shots of the dunes
 

the last two is so beautiful especially #48.. maybe thats one way I like to look at b&w.
Thanks again for sharing..:)
More please.........
 

Hey Zichar, nice scenery captured! Love #50 Great opportunity with abstracts.

Your b&ws can use a bit more contrast as they're rather flat now. Try to keep this simple table in mind when processing the images. It's the zone scale from Ansel Adam's zone system. Zone System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Following the base image, identify the zonal scale to the specific elements in the image, you'll have a better understanding how dark or bright certain parts of the image should be then. Other than your normal channels/3rd party conversion techniques, learn how to dodge & burn highlights & shadows to add just that bit more ooomph to the image.

Your friend Zach Boumeester does it well, he has emphasis on contrast (stronger blacks & whites). You don't have to follow him, I see a lot of tonality (greys) so shouldn't lose too much of that for contrast. Try to balance tonality and contrast. There is no same treatment for each image unless they belong in a short series. Some images lack zones I, II, XIII, IX where they need it. Some do not especially abstracts (#48). Sometimes it's as little as being slightly more brighter or darker, to make the image stronger. Sit down with the photograph, sip your favourite beverage or listen to your favourite tunes and slowly massage the potential out of them. B&W is an art of love.
 

Hi foxtwo, thanks for dropping by. I was actually playing around with creating low contrast images, saved a couple of actions for those. Not sure if my thoughts are right - but did that so the textures on the sand don't show up? Or at least, just enough of it. Wanted the feel of rolling dunes and undulating sands, for the lack of a better description.
But so far it's a hit-and-miss. Same for having a theme, i.e. had wanted all the gsdnp images as a series but I gave up midway :embrass: Just experiment and end up with whatever feels right has been the process so far fbofw. I haven't tried dodge and burn on the images, that I will have to. <50> does look like a good candidate for that. Have to not go overboard, right?

I also flickr mailed Zach about his processing (I don't have Silver Efex though) but after being frustrated a couple of times, have convinced myself that he just went at a different light and that there's no way (or maybe I can't) possible to mimic that in PP... can it?
 

Photoshop is magic, with the right composition even with a low contrast image can be turned high contrast, how long it takes is only the question. It would be good for you to experiment between both styles and decide which you like. Or learn both so as to switch as required. However, I advocate the old school method, think with the intended processing in mind before shooting. I've glanced through your posted images, some can be processed the same way as Zach's, others lack strong compositions and inherit lack of high key lighting thus will not work as well nor look natural. Learn to identify that and the processing gets a lot easier when you can make guesses which images can be worked and which not.

I don't see the correlation between low contrast = low texture. I can see why you would think that way, but when you view it on your monitor larger than web size you know you can see detail/texture regardless. Absolute whites or blacks is what destroys detail, high contrast images is where detail is easily lost, which is not something you might want all the time.

When I first started B&W my preference was for high contrast because that was easiest, with darkroom printing strong blacks & whites one doesn't need to spend as much time with the grey tonality. As time passed with photoshop I learned to appreciate finer detail and low key processing. Now I can shoot to suit the need. So you need to do your own evolving, figure a style for yourself.


Gaussian blurring or low opacity cloning can reduce detail if that's what you need. Silver Efex is nice to have but not essential, you just need a better grasp of tonality. These are closest to done in my book: 12, 21, 24, 33, 35, 36, 38, 39, 48. Personally I'll do a bit more but not by much. Try to analyse the differences between these and the rest, I tried to best to sort via processing and not composition but we can't really judge the two separately.

Here's a good before and after that shows what gets lost in conversion. Both looks good in it's own right. The B&W looks great for commercial work, for personal the coloured version tops because that is real.
Abstract Great Sand Dunes - Colorado | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Use a big feathered brush lightly when doing dodge and burn. If you're doing it for the first few times you will not know when you've gone overboard unless you already have a strong mental idea of the after-image. Do one stoke, mull over it, then do another stroke and mull over it. I think one should stop by 3 strokes, go take a break away (5min/24hrs) from the monitor, then come back to the image and decide if more needs to be done. It should look natural, not a hot spot if dodging or black splotches for burning. http://www.flickr.com/photos/zboumeester/6211419651/in/photostream
 

Ah you chose the nicer ones :) You're absolutely right, those which I pre-visualise turn out for the better
I wish I could say that happens often but the Muse visits when she wants to and disregards the rest
Though I would like to cultivate thinking before triggering the shutter (and chimp in my mind) I'm definitely guilty of being compelled to take the shot, or shoot and hope for the best in PS :embrass:

I remember reading about moving black and white points to the limits and that's what I usually do. But that didn't seem right here(?)
That's rather perceptive, i.e. I'm still making my guesses now about which images can or cannot.
I've wasted a fair bit of time on images that just don't look right and gets trashed in the end... which is a shame since I have only a finite amount of time per night to do this. Hopefully all that somehow gets planted subconsciously as a lesson...

Every great b&w photo that I've encountered online seems to be processed with Silver Efex; it's that good huh?
Looking back I've dodged the tops of the mountain, to make the snow brighter. Feels like cheating ;p

>>

Reworked

 

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Zichar said:
Ah you chose the nicer ones :) You're absolutely right, those which I pre-visualise turn out for the better
I wish I could say that happens often but the Muse visits when she wants to and disregards the rest
Though I would like to cultivate thinking before triggering the shutter (and chimp in my mind) I'm definitely guilty of being compelled to take the shot, or shoot and hope for the best in PS :embrass:

I remember reading about moving black and white points to the limits and that's what I usually do. But that didn't seem right here(?)
That's rather perceptive, i.e. I'm still making my guesses now about which images can or cannot.
I've wasted a fair bit of time on images that just don't look right and gets trashed in the end... which is a shame since I have only a finite amount of time per night to do this. Hopefully all that somehow gets planted subconsciously as a lesson...

Every great b&w photo that I've encountered online seems to be processed with Silver Efex; it's that good huh?
Looking back I've dodged the tops of the mountain, to make the snow brighter. Feels like cheating ;p

>>

Too light?

<51>

​
Click to expand...

Hmm we've been doing B&W conversions way before Silver Efex came about, it's useful depending on the image and vision. In #51 I tried with Silver Efex Pro 2 first, but the image was too flat so did normal PS processing to correct.
http://gallery.clubsnap.com/data/750/Zichar_Colorado_normal.jpg

Then I passed it through a selenium toner in SEP2 plus a slight crop. All the other default presets didn't yield anything useful.
http://gallery.clubsnap.com/data/750/Zichar_Colorado_51_SilverEfex.jpg

It feels really weird because it looks as though I'm dealing with a (film) negative image. Maybe you can post or pm a link to your original file, let me play with it then share with you how I processed it? :)
 

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