I use LR3 aswell and as you are not getting much response I hope I can provide a few helpful comments. I generally use Photoshop more, but I do most of my B+W conversions in Lightroom. However, I mainly start off with a preset, of which I have built up a bit of a collection just by googling for free presets. These include presets that mimic certain films. I then adjust after applying the preset using the sliders.

This picture looks very grey to me, it could perhaps do with some more contrast and boosting the blacks a bit. I have taken the liberty of tweaking it a bit in LR3, without using any presets. A quick run down of the adjustments, which took a couple of minutes:

Recovery 7, Fill light 10, Blacks 21, Contrast +17, Clarity +26





I'm not sure if there's much improvement, I hope o, and I hope this has been at least a little helpful.

Rgds, Jon

Congratulations Glyn and I-Beg, and thanks for the joint second place, Rob.

My picture was taken south of the island of Java, from an aircraft, at 35000 feet.

Developing a distinctive style and/or subject matter is by no means a "rut" Andrew. By all means broaden your scope/subject matter but you are producing work of a very high calibre IMHO, and I hope we continue to see your studies of decay and delapidation for a long time to come.

Another great set Andrew, they just keep getting better! The second one is trademark Bwichmawr, the fourth one is gorgeous (strange word to describe studies of ancient rusted machinery, I know), though I can't work out what it is. The second last one is amazing! It's so sharp and has so much detail and colour that it's hard to believe you don't have a secret collection of Ltd. lenses. What lens(es) did you use on these shots?

Lovely set. My favourites are read, wander, closely followed by look and swim, but they are all very good.

A pity to see so few entries (so far?) but luckily I had a shot I took during the period of the competition that I think fits.

I've always been fascinated by thunderstorms (while doing my best to avoid them professionally). At school I once sketched a power station driven by a captured storm. In an average thunderstorm, the energy released amounts to about 10,000,000 kilowatt-hours, which is equivalent to a 20-kiloton nuclear bomb. A large thunderstorm is 10 to 100 times more powerful, and can release energy equivalent to a thermonuclear device in the megaton range. The answer to our energy needs? All you need is water and heat.

Cumulo Nimbus





Taken 01/11/10
Pentax K7
Sigma 18-250
ISO 200
f22
1/60

Lovely graphic image, really suits the processing.

Nicely put together and shot. I agree with the comments about the foreground apple but it's a very nice shot anyway.

Lovely shot, the lighting is amazing.