Landscape B&W

[nickjohnson]

Experimenting with SEP v2 applied to landscapes / gardens. Any Good? Thanks for looking.

[katynoelle]

Oh, well, Nick, I think that you're better at landscapes than I am and at B&W AND at editing, too, for that matter.

I just have an observation. It makes perfect sense with all of the different shapes and textures of the different greens to turn this into B&W but I am craving it in color. I am positive that the designer of the garden chose those shrubs to display a tapestry of different colors and textures in that way and I crave the green. Then, again, it could just be because it's so gray and dreary outside and green and growing is a looooong ways away for us, here.

Such a beautiful scene....sigh!

Well, forgive me. I think the request was really for input on your SEP conversion.

Does it look oversharpened, perhaps, or is it the highlights, too bright? The leaves on the ground, forward, left are just so bright.

[nickjohnson]

Well .... It may be overdone. Just to be going on with - here is the colour version, prior to the square crop and conversion. This is overdone with the colour, so as to give the conversion something to bit on.

There - crave colour no more!

[jeroenk]

Hi Nick,

For me you did well on the processing in SEP2 but to be honest I think a BW treatment doesn't suit this initial image. The colours do an nice job in separating the image into interesting parts: beautiful green grass with a nice red wall against it and a gentle blue sky. (I mostly find a combination of primary colours does work well in photography.) On the other hand the BW version has for example rather similar lighter tones in the wall, the leaves, some of the grass and the center tree. Overall there is less separation which (could) lead to a more interesting image.

What do you think of that? Which version do you prefer and why?

[katynoelle]

Ooooo! Jeroen said it really well!

Ahhhh! Thanks, Nick! The colors are a shock after dwelling on a monochrome page in the dark for over half and hour. A wonderfully happy shock of summer!

[nickjohnson]

Jeroen, Katy, Thanks for your comments.

I prefer the B&W. This was taken in winter (no leaves on the trees Katy! ) and it is the time of year when you can get to grips with the structural part of a garden / landscape. I find that the B&W helps with that. Of course it may be that the B&W is “new” to me since I'm very familiar with the location, whereas both versions are equally unfamiliar to you two.