Lionheart & Parliament

Richard the Lionheart outside the Houses of Parliament.

[IMG]http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j159/paulyrichard/parliamentcontrastmediumdeepenedlow.jpg[/IMG]

Nice shot, but the sytatue starts to get lost against the strong verticles of the windows.

What's it like in colour?

I personally think its OK. While convertin' it I did try to keep the background slightly lighter to prevent this.

Here is the uncorrected colour version.

[IMG]http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j159/paulyrichard/Picture578.jpg[/IMG]

I actually like the strong pattern of verticals and I like the colour version too.

Thanks Dark'.

I prefer the colour version, the statue is more prominent.

The problem is a lot of variations of this shot appear across the web, I know why you wanted to convert it to B&W.

If the statue came forward a bit more in mono then it would be better.

Still, on second looks, a nice shot.

Here is my full processin' of the colour image.

I kind of like the colour image over the B&W now too. I like the coolness of the windows breakin' the rich warmth of the stone masonry.

As a footnote, I think the B&W may look better toned.

[IMG]http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j159/paulyrichard/lionheartparliamentcolourdeepenedlo.jpg[/IMG]

I like em both Paul. I hope he is there to kick some corrupt politician's butts!

Funny....I was thinking the same. A slight warm bronze for the background, and a minor blue for the statue.
Would look fantastic.(I tried it :wink

Martin.

Thanks Karl, in the current climate he could be forgiven for lookin' the way he does and in the direction too, with his sword arm upraised, eh?

Richard the Lionheart, I remember learnin' about him in school. I know his accomplishments on the battlefield were great but this is what irks me about this statue bein' where it is:

He was in fact French, his mother was Eleanor of Aquitane, his father Henry II. He ruled England for ten years and in that time he was only ever in England for about six months. He gave more care and attention to his european lands and states he controlled.

When he was tryin' to gather money to pay for the third crusade, he sold all his land and property in England, and was quoted in sayin' that if he had the chance he would have sold London in its entirety too.

He didn't care for England much at all. Does this ring any bells?!


Martin, post it on here if you still have it.

Ok, here you go.




Is this what you had in mind?

Martin.

Thats lovely Martin! I like that.

Now I have thought of somethin' else. Maybe a touch of green could be added to the blue tone on the statue to suggest some verdigris, maybe that would look cool too.

What software have you used for these effects?

Just GIMP, using some masks and different blending modes.
Basicly you copy the background layer, use channel mixer to convert to B & W.
Than tone the entire image with the warm bronze tone.
Than add a layer mask and paint back the statue. Set opacity of mask to 50% to bring down the blue a bit. That's all.

Martin.