The cross and cockerel

This is my first attempt at black & white conversion. The lens used was my 50mm F1.7 A.

[IMG]http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad254/weldingblues/CarltonChurchBW2.jpg[/IMG]

C& C please
Taken on a cold and dull Saturday morning.

Hi Colin,

My $0.20 worth of C&C as requested

I've just checked out your exif from this pic: f1.7 at 1/4000 of a second.

If this was correct, that means you had some room to move with a much slower shutter speed, while stopping down to a better (smaller) aperture setting. That will give you a. better sharpness overall, and b. increased depth of field. That way, more of your building would have been in focus (notice that sharpness decreases as you move towards the gable end with the cross).

Not sure what part of the image you based your exposure on - can you recall? How were you metering?

Thanks for the C&C I was focusing on the cockerel, and spot metering (I did forget to change the aperture ooops:blush

I remembered when I looked at them on the computer.

Regards

Colin,

If you used spot metering on the cockerel, your camera may have been in two minds about whether to expose for the sky, or for the structure. I did see that the sky has some shades (darker to the left), so it is not totally 'blown'. At the same time, the building could have been a little lighter / more exposed. If you can revisit the church, perhaps try metering on the tower wall, then recompose your shot and have another go (with a smaller aperture!)

A different time of day might also reduce the dynamic range 'stretch' your sensor is attempting to perform, trying to accommodate the shadows as well as the highlights in a shot such as yours.

If you manage to get back there for a second shot, you could post it for a comparison!

Hi Colin,

I'd crop much more tightly (that lovely 10 megapixel sensor in the K 10 will easily stand it). I'd concentrate solely on the two crosses and the weather cock, eliminating the large expanse of stone wall at the bottom, much of the featureless sky and the distracting dark shape on the right.

But that's just me: sometimes less is, indeed, more!

Andrew

Hi Colin,
I agree with i-Berg and Andrew, I would be inclined to stop down a bit for a shot where you wish to bring both subjects into focus and also crop a tighter.
Just a personal preference but I would also be inclined to recover some highlighting to bring up some atmosphere in the sky to add to the starkness of the day.

I think your image certainly has potential in all these areas