Lurker coming out of the closet. B&W Feedback please

Paul1959
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Lurker coming out of the closet. B&W Feedback please

I took this Saturday at a local ranch rodeo. It was a cool rainy day with flat light. I shot this in color but B&W seemed to suit it better. Shot with a D850 and Sigma 70-200 f2.8 Sport. Processed in LR and Silver Efex Pro 3. Color version added for comparison
Thank you

Riding in Style

NIKON D850 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8 lens 135mm f/4.0 1/1000s 1400 ISO 0.0 EV

Jun 20, 2022 at 04:14 PM

Shasoc
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Lurker coming out of the closet. B&W Feedback please

Welcome to the PC Forum, Paul.
This is a very nice and cool capture. The rider is showing a lot of confidence riding with the jacket and the cigarette in his mouth

Let’s see what can I suggest to improve this already nice shot.

One thing that I see on my monitor is that the image looks a bit too "contrasty", which make it a bit rough to the eyes. Try reducing the contrast and see how you like it. Nik Software offers a lot of adjustments to create a look that fits your taste.

The second thing I noticed is your choice of a square crop. Nothing wrong with that, but those type of crops make the image look static because the crop has no direction. I would suggest to try a vert crop to add a bit of drama and to enhance the subject by eliminating some distractions at the same time. See how you like it.

Another thing that would help enhance the subject is to have the people in the BG more blurred . That can be done in PS depending on how far you want to go to improve the image.

Too bad the rider was looking down so he is not showing the eyes. Maybe brightening the face would help.

For the rest the photo looks fine, judging from the color version. The exposure looks good, detail are sharp enough and the pose shows some great timing. Just needed some anticlockwise rotation.

I did a quick re-edit to better show my suggestions (I also used Silver Effects). I am not telling you to do the same. Just some for you to consider when you make your final creation.

Socrate

Jun 20, 2022 at 05:48 PM

EverLearning
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Lurker coming out of the closet. B&W Feedback please

Paul1959, the colour image nicely presents the action and your timing was great. Having said that, I find the B&W far more eye catching. It just seems more dramatic and more artistic. Perhaps it is more dramatic because the eye isn't distracted by "eye candy" (colour) and spends more time looking at the action - the kicking horse, the rider and his demeanour (as Socrate pointed out, coat and cigarette). I would be happy with the colour image but the B&W is just that much better.

There is not much left to critique after the great job Socrate did. I am going to do the "three bears" shtick here though. I think the first (yours) B&W is too contrasty, the second (Socrate's) is not contrasty enough (but closer to my personal taste) so the third one will be juuuuuust right.

Understanding of course that this is all a matter of personal taste and it is your photo so you have to find your own "happy place" in this regard.

Don

Jun 21, 2022 at 10:19 AM

Paul1959
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Lurker coming out of the closet. B&W Feedback please

Thank you both very much for very helpful critique. I'm working on door number 3 Juuuuust right

Jun 21, 2022 at 12:04 PM

UncleVanya
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Lurker coming out of the closet. B&W Feedback please

Paul1959 wrote:
Thank you both very much for very helpful critique. I'm working on door number 3 Juuuuust right

What did you end up with?

Jul 10, 2022 at 11:04 PM

Nikonshooter24
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Lurker coming out of the closet. B&W Feedback please

What a capture!!

Jul 14, 2022 at 02:36 PM

Melor

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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Lurker coming out of the closet. B&W Feedback please

The crop is the only thing I would change. The background is out of focus enough. There is good visual separation between the subject and the background. You don't need to blur the back to show the viewer what the subject is in this image.

I like the contrast AND sharpness. I think the edit reduced contrast and sharpness. . This works well being sharp enough to cut your finger on.

Crop it and call it art. I like the edit crop but might leave a tiny bit more space on the right side of the image. The hoof is getting pretty close considering how much breathing room there is on the other sides.

I don't mind the rider not looking at the camera. Dude is on the job and not sitting on a parade float. Him focusing on his ride is part of the story.

Paul

Jul 16, 2022 at 06:38 PM


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