Black and White Photos

<p>I don't know if this is the right forum but here goes. Can someone please look at my black and white photos and give me some tips on how to give my black and whites more of a dark,sad,depressing look? I need this advice for a project i am going to start for myself. Thanks.</p>

Please provide some links to the kinds of images that you think have a "dark,sad,depressing look." That will make it much easier for people to provide tips on how to achieve such a look.

<p>I looked at your photographs. The one of the kid on the rock sitting has a green color cast to it. I don't know if you created that in post or did that happen when you took the photograph? They kind of look like Agfa film black and whites. Not a lot of contrast but good balance. I like deep rich contrast in my Black and Whites and usually get that during the film development phase or in post with RAW digital Black and Whites.</p>

<p>Which ones do you want to look dark and depressing?</p>

<p>Take a look at Don McCullin's landscape work here:<br>

http://www.hamiltonsgallery.com/<br>

You will see that (in grossly simplified terms) to create a moody picture you need to start with the right subject (sunny scenes probably won't work, stormy. cloudy or totally overcast conditions will be better) and print somewhat darker and with more contrast than usual, taking care to dodge and burn particular areas of the picture to lighten/darken them for effect. Old-time photographers like me find it easier to do this with wet-process darkroom prints but it can be done with Photoshop too, with practice. I invite you to view these pictures and post your comment.</p>

<p>Your images are dull. How do you convert into b/w? You might want to add more contrast, to spice up a bit. What you could also do is work with layers (do a b/w layer, if you work in PS), and use one of the conversion options like maximum black, or a red filter. There are so many possibilities (and so many books and websites....)</p>

<p>http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/7-black-and-white-photoshop-conversion-techniques/<br>

http://bythom.com/bandw.htm<br>

... to start with.</p>

<p><em>Your images are dull.</em><br>

"Dull" means "boring". I presume you mean "flat", i.e. lacking in contrast.</p>

<p>I think your photos look fine. If you want more moody, for lack of a better word, it's best to look for subjects which are already in moody, dark, dull, less contrasty light - anything from overcast to night. One way is to go out and take pictures in the kind of environmental conditions that keep other photographers inside. Sunny days are not going to do it.</p>

<p>For those kinds of pictures, it's easier to increase contrast to taste afterwards if you need to, than it is to go the other way.</p>

<p>Photo.net is for sharp, not sure it's the right place for moody, dark and depressing.</p>

<blockquote>Photo.net is for sharp, not sure it's the right place for moody, dark and depressing.</blockquote>

 

<p>I know the beginner forum is only supposed to have helpful answers, but can I say that it's physically painful not to make a comment about some forum members, given that feed line? (I jest, lest that fail the rudeness test.)<br />

<br />

By way of balance: I'd say up the contrast in your B&W conversion; possibly add sharpness or grain; err towards under-exposure; if there's a sky in the photo, go for a dramatic (cloudy) one. You might also want to add some vignetting (or light the subject accordingly) to give the illusion of the rest of the world of the photo being darker. My amateur suggestions.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>"Dull" means "boring"</p>

</blockquote>

<p>My dictionary specified that it also means 'matte', 'contrastless', etc. If I'm mistaken, sorry, I meant 'flat'. Trying my best to write correct English, words might get in the way.</p>

<p>I think i figured out what i need to do, thanks everyone! Monika, out of all the comments i've gotten on my black and whites i've never had anyone say they were "Dull" but that's your opinion and thank you anyway. I have bipolar disorder and i'm working on expressing that though my photography for me mostly but also for the people that don't understand bipolar disorder. Thanks to everyone.</p>

<p><em>I have bipolar disorder and i'm working on expressing that though my photography ...</em><br>

This was partly why I recommended a study of Don McCullin's work - he is essentially working through his mental state and of course the baggage that comes with having been a war photographer for such a long time.<br>

Don't worry about the "dull" comment - the writer has explained that she meant "lacking in contrast" rather than "boring". Your pictures in fact seem to have normal contrast, but, as I and others explained above, you may wish to push this for creative reasons.<br>

I would also not worry about the comment "Photo.net is for sharp, not sure it's the right place for moody, dark and depressing." I think the writer meant "Photoshop" - again, as I said, creative b+w printing has traditionally been done in the darkroom, for some it's easier that way, but it can be done in Photoshop too.</p>

<p>David, thanks and i'm not worried about the comments it's ok. I have looked at Don McCullin's work and yes in some of his photographs the tone,contrast andmood is what i'm trying to get into my work. I'm not that good in editing my photos but practice every day. Thanks again for everything.</p>

<p>@Monika -"Trying my best to write correct English" - and doing a very good job, from what I have observed. One of the hazards of English is that a word's meaning can change with context, or even with a speaker's tone of voice; and that is further compounded by differences between American and British usage.</p>

<p>"Britain and America ... divided by a common language"<br>

If you want perhaps a different way to achieve black and white there is the LAB tool in Photoshop and CMYK in Paint Shop Pro .... both split the image content into luminence and color layers. The L and the K layers are in B&W ... then there is the Threshold tool which when combined with half tones gives an interesting effect. Here one starts with the B&W image and then adds an adjustment layer using the threshold tool. Next step is to use a brush or erase tool to remove the threshold layer where you want to see the 'normal' picture underneath.<br>

Practice with your editing programme becuase it can be the making of an image, particularly if you create a reality which doesn't look as if it has been manipulated :-) That is always my aim these days.</p>

<p>Timothy,<br>

I just looked at your Expression of Emotions album, and, well.... wow! Very good work there.<br>

Not sure whether you ask the question for similar photos as those, but if you do, then I would be cautious by making them darker and pushing contrast. By virtue of composition and subject, I think they contain enough "drama" in what they tell. Editing them to enhance that might push it a bit too far, possibly. Well, your choice obviously, but just as another point of view.</p>

<p>Your images already look dark, sad, depressing. "Dull" is also a word that can be used. Your "portraits", "around town" and kiss, emptiness and youth caught my eye. They are somewhat sad/moody, have depth and look similar. The rest look like experiments and are not coherent. Create a body of work, your b/w conversion does not seem to have a problem... as far as the message I gather from looking at your images. I really wouldn't change a thing, even if this is not the look you're aiming for, it's working.</p>

<p>Thank you for the advice and comments.</p>

<p>In his 1st post, the OP asked for tips on how to make his images darker ... sad ... depressing. I'm a firm believer in "one picture is worth 1000 words". IMHO, it is especially important in a photography technique forum to give concrete examples because there are so many ways to make an image darker, more sad, more depressing, etc. and distinguishing between alternative approaches can be almost impossible to do by words alone.</p>

<p>Accordingly, here is one approach Tim might find interesting.</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>... and for comparison, here is his original...</p><div></div>

<p>The major steps in my tweaked version were: straighten, crop, darken, bleach bypass (blend-if used to moderate the effect), and finally, I applied a dark border. There are, of course, many details in each of these steps, and if the OP is interested, I will be happy to elaborate on those.</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

<p>PS - For dramatic effect, I intentionally let the eye sockets go almost completely black. This may or may not appeal to Tim. It's easy to not darken them quite so much.</p>

<p>Yes, that's just what i'm trying to learn how to do to my future photographs. To me it has more of an impact on the mood in the photograph. Can you explain what you did?</p>

<p>And yes maybe lighten up the eyes just i TINY bit not much though. But that is what i am trying to do. Thank you</p>

<p>I'm glad my tweak was in the right direction. I have to head out to a meeting. I'll email you tonight with details of what I did. It will take a while to write down the steps. Also, by email, I can simply send you my psd file.</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

<p>I also tweaked your open pill container photo a bit by toning down the big bright area in the center/lower part of the image, dodging and burning to move the patterns of brightness and darkness around so that one's eyes are led directly to the 3 closest pills, and then putting in some fake light rays. Maybe the light rays are too corny, but see what you think.</p>

<p>Tom M</p><div></div>

<p>... and the original for comparison ...</p><div></div>