Black and White in Lightroom- good conversion?

[dan_stossel]

<p>Hi, I just shot my first live music venue (at night, outdoor stage, Canon 5D3, no flash, ISO 3200) and experienced the difficulties of rapidly changing stage lighting and moving subjects (a fun experience, but a challenge!) After cropping, my black and white conversion was simply choosing black-and-white in Lightroom's 'basic' window pane in Develop module, and then adjusting by trial/error the exposure sliders, clarity, tone curve, and noise reduction. I am happy with the results, but wondering if others who shoot concerts or other poorly-lit venues have any tips for a more refined BW conversion process. Is there anything specific in my conversions that scream 'amateur'? (As an amateur, I'm totally OK with such, appreciative for any feedback or observations to help me learn.) <br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18063846-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="510" /><br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18063847-md.jpg" alt="" width="510" height="680" /></p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>I'll occasionally use DxO FilmPack for b&w conversions, but mostly do it all in Lightroom. I downloaded three or more sets of LR presets to get some ideas of how to develop my own. I play around a lot with the B&W Mix color sliders and Camera Calibration color sliders - that's the real power in Lightroom's b&w conversion tools. It's comparable to choosing not only the appropriate filter (orange, green, etc.) for b&w film, but also choosing a particular film for its unique spectral response, which differs slightly even among panchromatic films. However LR 4.4 lacks the versatility of DxO's film grain effects, and the ease of using DxO's filter emulation presets and adjustable sliders.</p>

<p>Nik Silver Efex offers some very powerful and flexible b&w tools, but I didn't give myself enough time with the trial version a couple of years ago. Definitely worth a try, but watch some video tutorials first to get a good kick start. Take a look at <a href="http://bangbang.photo/">Jeff Spirer's work</a>. He does lots of concert photography, with some b&w conversions and I think mostly uses Silver Efex.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Regarding your photos, one thing that could be done in Lightroom is to bring down the highlights a bit to restore some skin tone. The slider choice depends on the stage light color: magenta, red, green, etc. Gets tricky when stage lights are one color on the face and another on the arms. But LR is offering more selective tools with each upgrade, so the current versions are better than my older copy of LR4.4.</p>

<p>Silver Efex has selective tools too, but these work very differently from Lightroom. Again, give yourself plenty of time to learn and study some video tutorials.</p>

<p>Other than that, the contrast is entirely personal. Just as with b&w film, I vary depending on the subject matter and my own whim. Sometimes I push processing b&w film for a gritty, contrasty look; sometimes I prefer a more neutral tonality. I apply the same whims to my digital b&w processing. Some photographers prefer a signature look and apply the same approach to everything.</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

Your conversions look fine. Don't forget that you can use Lightroom's individual Hue, Saturation, and Luminance sliders to

refine the basic conversion presets or to create your own custom preset. Choice of WB settings (color temp setting

controls blue/yellow balance and Tint controls magenta/green balance) -and camera calibration profile are good for

setting global starting points as well. Finally you can use the adjustment brush for localized control.

[Spearhead]

<p>I've built my own Lightroom presets for black and white and I use Silver EfEx. The LR presets get the photo reasonably close to starting points of looks that I like but there's a lot more control in Silver EfEx. I don't particularly care for the stock conversion in LR. On the other hand, I've spent a lot of time developing methods of working with color in LR that give me a look I like and I do far less conversion now.</p>

<p>This is a recent shot that was converted in Lightroom.</p>

<center><img src="http://spirer.com/images/mcm16.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" /></center>

[keith_b1]

<p>To echo Ellis, your conversions look fine. Don't forget to play with the color sliders as well as the various exposure sliders.</p>

[dan_stossel]

<p>Thanks for the advice!</p>