Brownwood at night
 

Walked around Brownwood Square a little while last night and snapped a few shots. Totally new to B&W, so any suggestions on these would be greatly appreciated.

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Wonderful shots...

Where was everyone?

What time did you take the shots?

I don't know anything about the technique of photography, but I love to see black and white shots. There is something about b&w that always gets my attention. Thank you.

Someone I know did a grouping of b&w photos of TV for a wall above a hall table in her foyer. She used simple, inexpensive frames and wide matting. There was something elegant about the display. Guests always seemed to notice and stop for a closer look. Those photos in the entry hall often started conversations.

Boomer

Great photos. Nice job.

There were a few people around, not many. I was there around 9:30 to 10:30 PM.

A different way to see Brownwood. For example, I really thought the cowboy was doing something else ... given the expression on his face.

All are good, however there are 4 that stand out for me. 2-Cowboy, 6-street, 7-street, 8-Sales ofc.

Lovely shots! Thank you for posting.

Must be difficult to get the color out ?:pray:

I'm impressed!!!! Thanks for sharing!

Stunning pics!

Great photos. Thanks for sharing

Great shots. Thanks for sharing

Very nice for a Grumpy Old Man.

Nice shots. Remember, the viewer’s eye will always be drawn to the item or content that is noticeably brighter than the rest of the composition. Try “flipping” your photograph from front to back and see where your eye is initially drawn. If it’s not the part of your scene that you intended the viewer to be drawn to, then you need to reconsider composition.

The contrast of these shots exceeds the range of your camera. Extreme bights and darks are washed out. There is a technique where you can use several exposures to grab detail at both ends and combine them for a better result..

I think they look great!!!!

Great pictures

Not a photographer but live B&W and viewed these multiple times. Beautiful.

Great photos and use of depth of field....you may want to watch the contrast would be my only input but it could be my monitor?

Grumpy, you are very talented. Atta boy!

Good Eye
 

You've got a good eye for interesting shots. I cut my teeth on B&W 50 years ago and got many different effects by varying the film speed and f stops. That doesn't help much today in the digital world with no film...but you should be able to play with f stops I'd think. Keep it up...!

I have a couple questions.

Did you use a phone or dslr?
Was it shot in b/w or converted in post?
If converted was in a monochrome or true b/w conversion?

I ask about the conversion because I noticed the extemes previously noted as well.

Dear Grumpy O. I liked the last one. The chains and entrance to the square. It had a long perspective! And balance!

Great pics. Thanks for sharing. Check out YouTube pros like Tony and Chelsea Northrup, Greg Cazillo, and Mark Denney. They have superior videos and they’re easy to understand.

I have no idea what, "try flipping your photograph from front to back" means?????

I shoot with a DLSR (Nikon D7500).
The Nikon records color and I convert to B&W in post.
I use Capture One to convert to B&W. The process used involves adjusting the color components based on color theory. I start by setting each color component to contribute the following amount of its value Red 30%, Blue 11%, Green 59%, and their three. compliments Yellow 89%, Cyan 70%, Magenta 41%. Then I fiddle with it.

The blown highs are not a result of the conversion, they were blown in capture. The only way I could capture that range of light would be using HDR, and I don't "like" HDR.

So, I had to chose where I kept the detail and where I was willing to blow it. I wanted the blacks black, and no detail, I wanted the detail in the mid-levels, and I was willing to lose some detail in the lighting to get that.

If I lost any detail in the mid-levels, it was a mistake and not intentional. I am new at black and white and so I have a lot to learn. I was going for a more "Artistic" look instead of exposure accuracy.

Thank yiou

I believe the idea being suggested is to flip the photograph so it does not look like you composed it. Whether it is flipped vertically or horizontally shouldn't matter.

It is similar to an old drawing technique of looking at your subject upside down. It forces your brain to notice details.

Thank you, good suggestion!

Nice shots. It's been a while since I shot anything in black and white. I used to use Kodak Tri-x 400 film back in the day.

They look great. Nice job.

Cowboy is Gary Morse.

Nice shots.
If you made slight changes in position I think you could block some of the washed out lights. For instance move a tad to the left and block the light behind the cowboys shoulder??
You could get real fancy and take multiple shots and merge in Photoshop?

Very nice! Love them in black and white. Thanks for sharing!

Do you mean to merge them for a panorama or merge them for an HDR exposure?

Yes, I need to pay more attention to backgrounds.

Thank you.

Thanks for your reply

I use Tide and hot water.

My opinion regarding BW
 

I do not car for that old plow/disk thing, now the star burst thing above Town Dental sign.

My opinion regarding BW
 

I do not care for that old plow/disk thing, now the star burst thing above Town Dental sign. Other things to me, look great.