Diggin' the changes (BW) to the tonal values of the subject and leaf ... maybe reduced to around 80-90% to take some edge off the contrast.
Version 2, it's leanin a bit much like it was shot on a "plain black" bg. Prefer tonal values much closer to version one in the bg/oof areas.
Petal edges might be a bit "too sharp" for the overall vibe. Color is still ahead, but its lead is slipping ... I can see the BW making it's move to take over the lead en route to excellence.
I like both, with maybe an edge to color. The leaf is a concern, I'm not crazy about it's color. If it was less yellow I think it would fit into the overall color scheme better. Now, if we only knew a PS wiz who could take care of that...
Now we're gettin' somewhere ... I think it looks like the BW has made it's move and has a slight lead. Toss a classic frame around the BW and I'm thinking it's checkered flag time. Not quite sure what you could do with the color (softer vibe maybe) ... which is very nice also btw ... to surpass the BW. Two winners, just depends on mood.
These are beautiful, Karen. Fine art!
I lean towards the BW's and to those variations where the leaf is less bright. In the last I would brighten the leaf just a tad. Lighting, textures, processing is excellent!
The lighting was strobe plus ambient. To diffuse the 550 EX Canon Speedlite and broaden the source, I taped a piece of copier paper as a loop over the flash head, using the strobe for the primary light and the sun as fill.
AuntiPode wrote:
Ok, re-edited the images. Still prefer the color?
if you take the two images in this post, layer a flat version of the b/w over the color image, then set that layer's blending mode to luminosity... then play with the opacity of that layer.. maybe ~50%... you'll get some of the nice texture and modeling/depth that you have in the b/w version but still keep the bold color of the color version. just something to try - you may not like it.
lemurofdoom wrote:
if you take the two images in this post, layer a flat version of the b/w over the color image, then set that layer's blending mode to luminosity... then play with the opacity of that layer.. maybe ~50%... you'll get some of the nice texture and modeling/depth that you have in the b/w version but still keep the bold color of the color version. just something to try - you may not like it.
+1 ... I was gonna mention that as a possibility for the color, but figured I'd give it a go once I got my system back up ... which btw, will hopefully be later this evening.
