B&W CONVERSIONS IN 5 EASY STEPS PHOTOSHOP

[indraneel]

<p>I'm learning BW conversion too and tried this with James's image in capture NX2</p><div></div>

[indraneel]

<p>and this is how it looked before the desaturation step. Am I on the right track?</p><div></div>

[bob_estremera]

<p>I've researched a lot of conversion methods knowing that nothing can equal real black and white film. There's an essence there that is untouchable with digital.<br>

Although I use some actions that I don't think are the focus here, I've found a terrific series of steps that can be turned into a one-click conversion.<br>

You can find it here:<br /> http://www.gormanphotography.com/bw_conversion.pdf<br>

I've created an action of all these steps and added a levels layer on top of it all.<br /> To get the most out of this the original image should be low-contrast as the 'color fill' layer darkens things up a bit. But you can back that opacity off easily and effectively.<br>

You can check out my b&w conversion, most of which are done with the Gorman action.<br>

www.pbase.com/bestremera/galleries<br>

Glad to have contributed in one of these forums instead of just lurking and looking for help.<br>

Bob</p>

[andylynn]

<p>James: The background was mostly knocked out by the blue filter of the B&W effect (Monochrome Mixer in Aperture - Photoshop has a similar thing, and it's a preset adjustment layer in CS4). A bit of the bright diagonal of the underside of the table (it was a piece of trim that was facing the flash) remained, and I hit that with a bit of Burn. There are basically three things going on here:</p>

<p>-The contrast and DR related steps are to compensate for the difference in contrast and DR between color digital and B&W film<br>

-The color channel tweaking is because B&W films respond to different colors differently<br>

-The filter is because good B&W photographers often use color filters for different effects (e.g., landscapes done with a red filter to effect the sky level) and shooting digital we don't tend to carry around a bunch of filters anymore (at most we've got UV, CPL and grad/split ND) but we can get the effects without loss because of the extra bits raw gives us - don't try this on JPG, you'll end up enhancing the compression artifacts. Also we can change the filter, see the effect, try another one... using film, you have to really know what's going to happen before you do it, and back in school we shot that way but this way is just so much more convenient, and when you see a dog looking adorable under a table you don't have time to attach a filter.</p>

[newbie1]

<p>I wish to thank you Andrew. I may attempt this tomorrow when I have a few moments. I have been sitting at this screen most of the day and my eyes are tired. ( sometimes I get carried away and forget the time). But, I love photography.</p>

[ty_mickan]

<p>nikon f5 and 10 rolls of pan f will give you the best results.</p>

[mjferron]

<p>Here's my version. It involves creating a dup layer and setting that layer to multipy. I erased away some of the darkness and then added a touch of gaussian blur. I then added a levels adjustment layer and then flattened. This one needed a bit of shadow highlight filter as the shadows had gone black. I then added a bit of 81a warming filter and sharpened to taste.</p><div></div>

[StuartMoxham]

<p>Here one I did.</p><div></div>

[donaldamacmillan]

<p>Hello folks<br>

It's fascinating reading, so many differing opinions and experiences on the great subject of digital B/W conversion ... I'm not very experienced or knowledgable just yet myself, but it is very clear (and slightly daunting!) to me that there are many many ways to skin this particular feline! <br>

I truly Iove black & white photography, for it's depth and timelessness and it's honesty and great beauty. I have a canon 40D and i have taken quite a lot of raw format colour images of local Scottish landscapes and of family members, at least some of which i hope would make good B/W conversions .... I have unfortunately upto now severely lacked the confidence to attempt even a single B/W conversion (in the main due to being unwilling to download all my images onto my ancient and dying laptop that i urgently need to replace! But also i am just a little by nature apprehensive about the process itself). <br>

Mostly this thread has been an interesting discussion on the use of Photoshop, and Lightroom, and one-or-two various others for the purposes of B/W conversion, i am wondering what the experienced opinion is on the merits (if any?) of adobe elements 6? When i do get around to buying my new laptop i am already in possesion of elements 6 for my image processing purposes (CS versions being beyond my means and ability at the current time). I also have canon's own bundled software that came with my 40D. Am i equiped to do some good quality B/W image making? <br>

Or should i just stick to continueing to learn the Art of black and white with my Nikon FM3a and a few rolls of good black and white film? <br>

Kind regards to all, have enjoyed this thread and images immensly! <br>

Donald</p>

[paul_aylett1]

<p>Adjusted using the Kodak T-MAX P3200 (grain off) preset in Alien Skin Exposure 2 Photoshop plugin.</p>

[starvy]

<p>james,<br>

how do you rate your photographic skills as opposed to post-processing skills? if the former is 'good enough' then buy yourself an old slr with a working light meter and a 50 1.8 lens stanard lens. any of the major brands should offer 'stunning' quality if the lens does not have any haze. this should be a cheao setup as well. now buy some top notch black and white film and shoot at low iso. send your roll to a good quality lab and see the prints. once you have seen your own prints, you'd know exactly where you'd want to be with the digital gear.</p>

[rayyeager]

<p>Hi Vanja ... my vote for your version. I always used ... layers, gradient map, gradient editor, and curves ... Ray.</p>

[Brad_]

<p>Hardly the best method, but my favorite one-step B&W conversion in photoshop is Image Adjustment > Gradient Map. Select the B&W gradient, and then adjust Smoothness to taste (I usually go with 100). For extra punch, go with USM (20, 50, 0).</p>

<p>Pretty decent B&W in less than half a minute. But of course no color filtration options...</p>

[vcakic]

<p>Ray: thanks.<br>

Donald, you can stick to b/w films even when you learn PS, I know I miss my darkroom very much.<br>

Anyway, when you learn more about digital b/w conversion in one software (eg. PS), it's easy to understand how to do it in any other software. In the end it's all about personal preference. Experiment, untill you find your own. - I remember, in my school days, for sepia toning, there was nothing better than italian mocca coffee.</p>

[newbie1]

<p>Donald:<br>

Practice makes almost perfect. Copy your photos then work with the copies to learn, never the single original; that is what I do. First step for me is to pull up the photos on my card, copy to a folder on my computer, copy them all to a DVD disk, (which I label and file in a separate case), then copy them also to my 1 terabyte external hard drive which only has my photos on it. I then experiment with copies of the photos, not the photos on my memory card. Anyway when all done I erase the card and it is ready to go again. This may seem like too many steps but if my hard drive fails, I am covered.<br>

If you are going to purchase a new laptop be sure that it has the ATI or NIVIDIA graphics stickers on it. These are the best for photos; ones without will be a little cheaper however the photo quality may not be near as good thus it may not suite your purpose. (I am not a computer man, my computer man preaches this to me and I follow). The are good cards.<br>

BRAD:<br>

How are you? I have not been in the city for a few weeks, sick right now and have been busy. However, I must state that your work is looking great. Your last trip shots are very good, excellent street scenes. I do like your black and whites. I will have to attempt your method also. Great shooting to you.</p>

[patricklavoie]

<p>My prefer method is to use 1 step BW tool in CS4, and add a curve to get a better contrast, Then using some black and white paint over a gray layer set to softlight so i can *paint* my light.</p>

<p>I also after a long argument with my future San Francisco friend (Brad) had a look at Silver Effex and fine it was a good way of doing bw conversion, simply, without too much need for knowledge..i receive it as a gift, dont use it much, but i can appreciate the quick effect it give.</p>

<p>I never do my bw conversion in the raw development because i dont want to redo all my correction over again if i ever decide to go back in color..so i export my raw as a color image, then by using my prefer method i work my image as bw, keeping all the color infos.</p>

<p>__________________</p>

<p>Brad, i should arrive in SF tomorow, Monday around 1pm</p>

<p>__________________</p>

<p>Ton, i will send my image of the month when im back or during my trip if i have a internet connection..a fresh new image : )</p>

[tonmestrom]

<p>no worries Patrick. It's supposed to be fun, not an obligation.</p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>The character inherent within B&W film I find is lost in digital is the sort of shimmering glow revealed within silver halide paper and in old B&W movies. It can be emulated in digital by exaggerating the tonal modeling by rolling off the highlights to absolute 255 RGB white without seeing any banding or posterization rolling off into the blowout portion.</p>

<p>I have seen this done in digital B&W but it's often overdone and made obvious using filters like high pass and by over softening to create a fake glow.</p>

<p>Examine the forehead to side of face tonal roll off in movies like "The Third Man" especially on Orson Wells' big pie face. You can make out all the bumps in his skin as the dense shadows from the side of the face gradually and smoothly roll off into his forehead to a small formless blown out spot that looks like a glow rather than a shine. Modern B&W movies render this kind of modeling as a flat (around 20-30% midgray) tone across the entire face with too much detail in the shadows and a bright spot to show too much shine.</p>

<p>I asked someone in a cinematography forum once how this look was done and I was told it was all done at the lab in processing back then.</p>

<p>Here's my attempt at emulating that effect but on a building. I still don't get that same feel though. Did it all in ACR 4.6 paying close attention to the HSL panel for the blue sky and tree highlites.</p><div></div>

[newbie1]

<p>OK,,,, Here is one. This one I used Photoshop and adjusted the Gradiant to BW then adjusted the light. The first one is color. the second it B&W.<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/photo?photo_id=9104923&size=lg"><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/9104923-md.jpg" border="0" alt="MINING TOWN COLOR" width="679" height="451" /></a><br>

Second one is B&W.<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/photo?photo_id=9104935&size=lg"><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/9104935-md.jpg" border="0" alt="MINING TOWN 6 BW ADJUSTED" width="679" height="451" /></a><br>

Critiques Please?</p>

<p> </p>

[patricklavoie]

<p>Its fun for sure ; )</p>

[StuartMoxham]

<p>One thing to remember is that some images just look better in color and don't make good B&W conversions. One of the reason is lighting. B&W often looks good when the lighting is raking across the subject defining texture and shape. You can often photograph in color with very flat lighting and the color saturation and color contrast make for a stunning image in B&W the image may just look like a flat gray textureless blob.</p>

[StuartMoxham]

<p>Heres the other conversion.</p><div></div>

[ron_scubadiver1]

<p>Both the mining town houses and the wooded subdivision are exactly the the kind of images that take to black and white rather than color having lots of texture and very little color. My favorite conversion method is what Sean McCromick recommends, press the grayscale button in Lightroom and adjust the 8 color band sliders, white balance or hue in the camera calibration area.</p>

[newbie1]

<p>Ron, Scubadiver: I like your conversion, the tones. </p>

[Brad_]

<p>>>> Brad, i should arrive in SF tomorow, Monday around 1pm</p>

<p>Sounds good Patrick. I believe we're hooking up on Wednesday the 6th for shooting and lunch; so I'll call you on your cell the 5th to coordinate...</p>