Low Contrast B&W. C&C welcome

[VWJETTACOUPE]

I shot this out at Port Mahon in Delaware. The water was mud Brown and the sky was hazy grey which was not all that appealing when I looked at it later so I thought B&W would be a better choice. I am just getting into B&W and find it fascinating. so any CC is very much welcomed. Thank you


350 Z (Low Contrast B&W) by cmike_77, on Flickr

[yel0wsn0]

That's low contrast? Yeesh.

Composition is way off, exposure is pretty good tho.

[VWJETTACOUPE]

That's low contrast? Yeesh.

I thought it was based on the background. The car being very dark and taking up much of the photo I thought created a false sense of High Contrast, however it was probably me just getting a false sense of Low Contrast. as I mentioned I am just getting into B&W photography.

The composition was pretty much on spot with how I wanted it. I did not want to go with the rule of thirds and actually shot it with a telephoto lens to create the illusion that the waves in the background are much larger then they were. (I was trying to think outside the box to make a rather dismal spot look more appealing)

[yel0wsn0]

Rule of thirds does not a good composition make. However, the car has more negative space behind it than in front, something that 99% of the time will make an automotive shot less pleasing to look at. You also shot at roughly eye level. Again something that 99% of the time could have been done better. Certain things work at eye level, others from a birds eye, and still more from the POV of an ant. Cars are not one of the ones that work at eye level. We stare at cars from about that height all day long. It is also the angle that the people who wander around at car shows snapping 1000s of pictures of everything look at. So naturally, when someone will see a shot at that point of view it is "blah".

Finally, contrast refers to the entire scene. If you really want to get technical you can start discussing micro-contrast, localized contrast, and others. If low-contrast referred to only the background then all those shots I've taken with a white backdrop are low contrast

[VWJETTACOUPE]

thanks, that was actually the type of feedback that I enjoy and hopefully will get me to take more appealing photos. I pretty much understand everything you said and it makes perfect sense. Sorry about the low angle though it was the only way I could figure out how to make the splash from the wave larger... which probably inadvertently caused me to create more negative backspace. Once again Thanks for all the feedback.

[sonicGLI]

Rule of thirds does not a good composition make. However, the car has more negative space behind it than in front, something that 99% of the time will make an automotive shot less pleasing to look at. You also shot at roughly eye level. Again something that 99% of the time could have been done better. Certain things work at eye level, others from a birds eye, and still more from the POV of an ant. Cars are not one of the ones that work at eye level. We stare at cars from about that height all day long. It is also the angle that the people who wander around at car shows snapping 1000s of pictures of everything look at. So naturally, when someone will see a shot at that point of view it is "blah".

Finally, contrast refers to the entire scene. If you really want to get technical you can start discussing micro-contrast, localized contrast, and others. If low-contrast referred to only the background then all those shots I've taken with a white backdrop are low contrast

This is basically what I was going to say. Especially with cars, you usually want more negative space in front of the car rather than behind it (there are certainly exceptions) because a car moves forward you expect to see where it's going. The brain actually looks at a photo like this and notices the poor composition, even if you're not a photographer. And yeah, the eye level stuff, bend your knees, get on your knees, get up on a ladder... something to make the eye level stuff go bye bye.

Otherwise, I like the contrast levels. I would consider the scene as a whole, medium contrast, not light.

[VWJETTACOUPE]

Fortunately I took a few more shots while I was out there. so hopefully this addresses and remedies the composition issue I was having. so let me know your thoughts on this one versus the first one posted.

Thanks guys


Nissan 350z B&W by cmike_77, on Flickr

[sonicGLI]

I like it, unfortunately the scene is less interesting. I'd also like to see the car a little closer cropped to the bottom. Keep trying, you'll get it