# Bodie Ghost Town and Grand Canyon



## keithg (Jan 20, 2008)

Some pictures I took last year at Bodie and a few years ago at the Grand Canyon.  Please critique.  Sorry for the watermarks, but I don't want anyone to jack my stuff.

By the way, I shoot with a Canon Rebel XTi and stock 18-55 lens and process my images (desaturate, adjust contrast) with Apple's Aperture, if anyone was wondering.


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## That One Guy (Jan 21, 2008)

watermarks are fine, but if you are posting here for critique it would be best to remove them. no one here will "jack your stuff".


The compositions are fine, but i have to say that the post work done could be better.

most people will tell you that one of the best ways to turn a color photo into b&w is to use a channel mixer. 

desat tends to make the photo gray.

#1 & #2 have some detail loss and this could be due to the post work. maybe a bit too much contrast.

#3 is probably my fav and with a different b&w technique, it could be an awesome photo.

now for the good- i think you have a good eye and as i stated before, the compositions are fine. maybe just different post work is needed.

keep shooting and i would like to see more of your work.


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## plentygood (Jan 21, 2008)

Wow.  WAY too much middle gray for my tastes.  I'd adjust some tones/curves to bring out highlights and shadows.


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## Jeff Canes (Jan 21, 2008)

plentygood said:


> Wow. WAY too much middle gray for my tastes. I'd adjust some tones/curves to bring out highlights and shadows.


same for me, more zone would be nice


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## mylegacy412 (Jan 21, 2008)

+1 for more contrast

too much gray


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## plentygood (Jan 22, 2008)

Forgot to mention, I like all the shots, especially #3.


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## Chris of Arabia (Jan 22, 2008)

+1 more on the contrast.

I can understand the watermark approach on a larger image size, but it seems rather overdone at this resolution.


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## Mesoam (Jan 22, 2008)

i normally just ignore water marks like that but holy moley...

needs more saturation...


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## keithg (Jan 22, 2008)

I wasn't implying that anyone here would steal my images, but it would be easy for any random forum browser to save to desktop, etc. 

I never thought to use the channel mixer since I'm red/green colorblind and two of the three colors are red and green. I tried it out, though, by first desaturating and then using the channel mixer. Seems to work somewhat better than just desaturating and adjusting contrast. Now I see what you mean about the gray. I'll post a couple more images later when I get home.

And I'm just curious how certian photographs, such as this photograph titled "bell spur" by Douglass Kent Hall, are sold for $1,200 for an 11x14 limited edition print. No offense, but I don't get it. It's just a cowboy boot. What makes it worth $1,200?
http://www.photographersgallery.com/photo.asp?id=1379

http://www.photographersgallery.com/i/full/bellspur.jpg


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## keithg (Jan 22, 2008)

. . . I mean besides the fact that Douglas Kent Hall is famous and all, is there anything besides the fact that he is famous that makes his "bell spur" photograph extraordinary??


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## That One Guy (Jan 22, 2008)

keithg said:


> . . . I mean besides the fact that Douglas Kent Hall is famous and all, is there anything besides the fact that he is famous that makes his "bell spur" photograph extraordinary??




beauty is in the eye of the beholder i guess.

on your software......under channel mixer......does it have a place called monochrome?


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## craig (Jan 23, 2008)

keithg said:


> . . . I mean besides the fact that Douglas Kent Hall is famous and all, is there anything besides the fact that he is famous that makes his "bell spur" photograph extraordinary??



He captured a mood of the American West. Doug Hall has been a strong photographer for years. Not my style, but he deserves the utmost respect.

As for your original post; I like the compositions, but I have a hard time seeing them in b&w.

Love & Bass


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## keithg (Jan 23, 2008)

Ok so I was messing around with the channel mixer.  The first two  are from Zion.  The last one is from the Ancient Bristlecone forest.


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## keithg (Jan 23, 2008)

That One Guy said:


> beauty is in the eye of the beholder i guess.
> 
> on your software......under channel mixer......does it have a place called monochrome?




I have nothing that says monochrome.


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## keithg (Jan 23, 2008)

ok, so i was just comparing the images as they are posted in the forum to how they appear in aperture on my computer, and there is a substantial difference.   they appear dull here. i link these from my photobucket account.  it's also true for my mpix gallery.  does anyone have the same experience?  suggestions?  

for example, in this picture i took of my car in Joshua Tree National Park,  the clouds seem to become a uniform bland shade of gray, while on my desktop, they retain their puffy cloudy appearance with light on top and shadows underneath.


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