[Boon]

from inside the chesterfield church:


thank you

[Jonny]

It's got all the properties of a good photo, it just seems a bit flat to me and maybe too bright If you don't mind i had a play, and came up with this

[Boon]

like it better, funny that, the actual colour shot is darker, but i thought it was too dark and lightened it up.
thanks

[Venomator]

Hope you said your prayers first Stev ?

Nice composition ... does need to be a lot more contrasty to make it in B & W ... imo ! Even the re-work by Jonny prob needs a bit more processing ?

TFS ...

[Boon]

came up with this after another fiddle

[GfK]

Dunno... I think Jonny's modification of it is pretty much there. The one you've posted directly above this post is way too contrasty for me. All of the detail in the dark areas across the bottom of the pic, and around the top of the window has all been lost.

[CT]

What you should be looking for in a mono shot is a good black, a good white, and a nice range of tones in between. Jonny has improved it no end, but lacks the black, while Steve has overcooked it and lost the shadow detail.

You really need to be looking at maintaining detail in the shadows while squeezing more contrast and punch out of the shot, and a good place to use in this shot is that wall surrounding the top window. If you can just make out some detail there then you've technically probably got it as good as you're going to as it's a deep shadow area, so if you maintain detail there it should be OK in other shadow areas.

I had a quick go at it and this looks about right on my monitor.

[Boon]

Great CT, looks really good on my monitor too. Even using photoshop, i find it difficult to strike the right balance without going dark everywhere. I for one would like to know what tool/s you used to darken the whole picture, but still kept the shadow detail, as you have noticed, i failed.
TFS

[Venomator]

Agree with CT ... it is just about right on my screen too !

Looks a really lovely shot now ... all down to getting the info on sensor in the first place. Well done Stev and great tweaks CT !

[CT]

Originally Posted by Boon

Great CT, looks really good on my monitor too. Even using photoshop, i find it difficult to strike the right balance without going dark everywhere. I for one would like to know what tool/s you used to darken the whole picture, but still kept the shadow detail, as you have noticed, i failed.
TFS

Well the first thing that struck me about your original shot is that it looked OK but was just too light overall, so the first thing I did was just reduce the gamma, keeping an eye on the shadow area around that top window till it looked about right. Then re-assessed the shot and thought it needed a little more contrast, so very slightly increased the contrast to bring out the textures in the stone and woodwork. Finally I gave it a quick sharpen.

I have a hidden album I use for hosting members pics and for some reason it insists on re-sizing shots to 600 pixels, and this one has lost sharpness in the process, the version still on my desktop looks better.

I rarely do much more than this anyway. If you adjust for the shadows as best you can, it's as good a barometer as you can use. If you still have problems e.g. highlights, then it's time to start messing with the histogram, curves, layers etc. The main thing is to take it a step at a time and don't forget you've always got the 'Undo' button after each step.

[Boon]

useful info there CT, noted down and ready to be used in my next mono project. Gamma eh! never adjusted that before, hmm interesting, i am going to go and have a shot at another image.
Thanks CT, gratefully received.