Three shots I'd like comments on

[wlewisiii]

I have a thread started at RFF with three shots I took earlier today with my Speed Graphic and it's 127/4.7 Ektar. I'd appreciate it if anyone here would take a look and be willing to comment on composition and also offer any advice about how to handle them in Photoshop.

"Summer's End" http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=128266

Thank you,

William

[Tom Hildreth]

Interesting place. I like the framing of the first one with the silo on the left and tree on the right. But there seems to be something wrong with the focus-only the very near objects (like the tree) are in focus. Needs more DOF or something.

[connealy]

You've made a good start by shooting an over-all establishing scene and then moving progressively closer.  I would say the next step would be to go back and continue that to get a lot closer yet.  Getting to 5ft. or less would really take advantage of the Graphic's capability to reveal fine grained textures and telling details.  Some experimenting with the angle of view might also reveal interesting contrasts, patterns and juxtapositions.  Put the camera on a tripod and shoot at the minimum aperture.
    The images look a bit flat.  In PS I usually start by trying auto-contrast and auto-levels; that always takes things too far, but it gives me an idea of the image's limits so I can go back to manual adjustment of those parameters.  I also think there are very few images that don't need some dodging and burning to exploit the full tonal spectrum that is available in the negative.  I always grayscale my b&w images because you are otherwise just saving three layers of identical information.  Also, that is a prerequisite for doing any duotone work which can also be helpful in realizing the tonal potential of the image.