B&W Challenge No. 32 - Chairs and Benches

[hmca]

Our next subject for the B&W Challenge is one that you shouldn't have a hard time finding.  This article should give you some ideas as to what to think about when preparing to shoot.

Here are some ideas as seen on 500px and some benches from Flickr. 

I have not had the opportunity to shoot for this assignment so am adding some from my archives.  I was surprised to find how many chairs I had actually shot!  
Consider sharing any information about your pictures that you think might be helpful to others.

To get started I will share two from my collection.
Here is the original unedited color version.



After cropping I converted to BW using Silver Efex.  I then applied split toning to it in LR to give it more of an old world look.  A member once asked me how I had gotten the sepia tone so in case anyone else might be interested I 
used these settings in LR.







Because I like to play with textures I added a texture to this one.  Sadly I don't remember which one.
But here is it's evolution from original to final version.

[pontiac1940]

A memorial bench at Pavan Park, Lethbridge. March 5, 2020. 
Under the deceased's name the plaque reads: 
Stay and sit a while where he found peace
 

[tonyw]

Taken last winter along the Lake Huron shore-line after a storm - not a good time to be sitting in that seat. Processed to B&W using a profile in Lightroom and then decided the sky needed some help - it was originally solid blue but after conversion was a solid grey which wasn't as appealing so I replaced it with a more interesting sky. Finally tweaked and a vignette added in ON1. Good subject - and I'll be looking out for more B&W seats!



Tony

[fotofrank]

From a walk today.

Original


NIK Silver Effect #16 Fully Dynamic smooth with two control points to lighten the end of the bench's. Cloned the lower right hand side and added a vignette.

[hmca]

Clive, Tony and Frank, thanks for getting this started.....and I have to say a bit surprised to see they are all benches which was an afterthought to my original idea of chairs!

Clive....bench in focus with nice background blur.
Tony...like the different layers of interest in your shot.
Frank...nice seeing the color version as well and a rather unique bench.

[fotofrank]

And now for the chair.



B&W conversion Luminar 4 - Barcelona Preset

[hmca]

What an interesting chair, Frank! It certainly doesn't look very inviting. I like how you caught the reflection of the back in the seat.
Was it taken in a church or a castle?

[fotofrank]

It was taken at the Wadsworth Museum, the walls are painted in two different colors.

[pontiac1940]

A patio chair in our backyard after a snow storm in November 2012. Never miss an opportunity to have some fun .... I've used this a few times to make joke posters. 
As always, the main conversion method was using layer>>gradient map ... with foreground and backgrounds colors set to b & W.
 

[hmca]

Made me smile, Clive. Nice range of tones in your image from whites to blacks.

[kdcintx]

Hilarious! Very clever, Clive.

[billz]

A(nother) bench along the river on a rainy morning.
Converted in ACR, dodging/burning in PS.


And because there was a shortage of chairs ...

[hmca]

Mar 6, 2020 22:07:23 GMT billz said:

A(nother) bench along the river on a rainy morning.

......Clever, Bill.

Looks like your part of the country is still stuck on the weather theme. I like the way you positioned the bench in your composition.

The second image is my favorite. I like how our eye travels down the sidewalk with the row of chairs taking on a supporting role.
One of the goals of the B/W challenge has been to learn from each other so I have to ask about the planter on the left. What was your reason for including it?

[billz]

Thanks for the comment Helen. The planter has no business being there. I was hoping there was enough of it to be interesting, but I should have just cropped it.

[hmca]

Thanks, Bill. I had wondered if it just might have been a quick upload. I always enjoy seeing your street photography and know you have a good eye for composition and detail.