Dragged the tripod out to the back yard. What do you think?Click to view attachment

I think the tonality mix/composition of the second is very pleasing and much better than the first, I think the light fern is distracting too much there.

I probably have read too much John Shaw, but somehow pictures with damaged leaves/petals are never "fully" OK to me, which make hosta leaves very hard to photograph. We have many nice hostas in our garden as well, but the snails kind of ruin my chances from almost day 1.

Oh well, damaged leaves. As cool and wet as my summer has been here in northern Ohio, I have to convince myself the cutouts in the leaves add to a sense of sharpness....I know sometimes perfection can be kind of boring, depending on my mood. Matt

Yup, reading (and uncondionaly believing) too much John Shaw (or Luminous landscape for that matter) can bother you with detail that really isn't important. I think your second shot shows that still a pleasing image can be had with damaged leaves, I would have never tried it so I think I know who's right here.

I rather like them. Yes, the leaves have holes in them, but very little in nature is 'perfect'. There are cycles of life and death going on in every moment, and this is just a part of it.

Mike.

I prefer the second one, which is better composed and balanced. You've managed an excellent greyscale conversion and I think the toning is very good. Would you mind saying how you did it?

Jeremy

Jeremy, the conversion and toning were both made in Lightzone. Lightzone has 7 toning versions which can then be individually adjusted depending on the requirements of the image. I find I usually print my B&W through LZ instead of using the Epson 3800 ABW mode, to give me more control. Sometimes I want different toning or "color" in different parts of the image, and if I go with the Advanced Black & White driver, I can only make global adjustments. Matt