Shiver

Street shot on a chilly day.

Hi Jenna - as fate would have it 3 of your monos appeared in the RFC thumbnail view for street. One thing I noticed - well, apart from the keen eye which is a given! - was that the contrast and tonal range have a distinct digital feel. I know they were captured on digital - but I wondered about your conversion method (or do you use a mono default in the cam?)

Do you have a particular treatment or action for monos? (e.g. I save each of the RGB channels as layers and then adjust according to preferences, often deleting an unacceptable layer completely.)

It's a subject that holds great interest for me so excuse me for asking. Cheers, Seven.

Hi Seven,

 

I may have a keen eye but Photoshop isn't my forte. I have not figured out how to do layers, so basically all I do is brightness/contrast and then convert to B&W. I'm not sure what "digital feel" means, but it's definitely not my intention. I know most of the PN Street Photographers shoot film and some have a very distinct style, or look to their photos. Edmo, who I think is fabulous, comes to mind. I've only seen a few street photogs that shoot digital, but I've seen some great work from the D70 in other areas. Another D70 user recommended that I get the Photokit plugin, but I have not done so yet.

 

Anyway not sure I've answered your question. It's definitely an area I need to improve in although I will be soon getting back to film in addition to shooting with the D70.

 

Thanks for your comments!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi again Seven,

 

I've played around a bit with the RGB channels and that might be the way for me to go when I convert. Still have not figured out how to combine layers but I'll keep playing with it. Someone else mentioned the grayish tones on some of my B&W and I definitely see it in many.

 

Thanks again. Always appreciate constructive feedback.

Hi Jenna - thanks for your response. The 'digital feel' aspect relates mainly to the midtones which in conversions always come out grey.

The conversion from digital to mono I detailed in response to an article on PN - I'll give the link on my next comment.

The channel-to-layer aspect, and the layer aspect itself I'll explain in a few words during the week.

I'm going to send this link to a friend of mine (fellow PN member) who seems to have a natural handle on conversions.

See you soon.

Interesting article. I've tried the method before but now go about it slightly differently.

I copy and paste the colour channels into layers. Choose the preferred (new) layer as the "original" and hold it @ 100%. That's the base layer. Above that comes my next preferred layer, the one that builds in the contrast : this might be at 20 - 40% opacity. Sometimes the third layer (a previous RGB channel) is unnecessary; if included it would have an opacity less than the middle layer.

Linear burn of 4-8% applied to the composite is sometimes good for tonal value; depends.

I have this saved as a PS action.

That comment was extracted from this article :

something about conversions

Hi Seven,

 

Thanks so much for the link; it should be very helpful. And also thanks for the explanation of digital feel--it makes sense now. This one actually converted better than most due to the very dark colors, but it's very noticable in many where there wasn't as much contrast in colors. When I have more time I'll play with a few of the shots I have up and repost a couple for comparison. The richer the tones the better.

 

Thanks again, you've been a huge help.

 

 

Hi, Jenna,

 

Let me add my two cents.

 

I want to point out that the digital look of a photo doesn't mean a "bad" look. If you like the final result, then it's O.K. Sometimes I'm using the "Digital camera" filter in Extensis (I'm shooting mostly film) to get a lighter and less contrasty look of the photo. There's no definition of a "good" B/W photo. Low contrast and lighter photos could be just as "good" as the heavy contrast and darker photos. Compare the photos of Tony Dummett to the photos of Ian MacEachern - two different philosophies on B/Ws and two different sets of beautiful images. But on to the B/W conversion now.

 

 

Some notes.First, there's no single technique for B/W conversion working effectively on all kind of color images. Second, all techniques used result in good B/W images only if the color originals are well lit and have a good color contrast (you mentioned it). Third, no matter what the conversion techniques is, most often a post conversion work on B/Ws is needed. Finally, the conversion is done when you achieve what you like - light or heavy contrast, hi-key or low-key tonality, sharp or softer look, and so on. That means all "procedures" could be reduced to a single one - "trial and error". :-) But even so, some logical sequence of operations should be followed:

 

1. Preliminary work on improving the color image (if needed).

2. Converting to B/W using the Channel mixer (what Seven said above) or a total desaturation in Hue/Saturation. (More techniques exist based on Image-Mode-Greyscale or Image-Mode-Lab Color.)

3. Post conversion work on improving the B/W image (if needed).

 

Channel Mixer techniques are very convenient because they combine all the 3 steps above in a consistent sequence of operations. Another "universal" procedure, using the image desaturation and proposed by a guy from Adobe, you could find in my comment here:

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2735880

 

Frankly speaking "trial and error" is my favourite approach. You work in layers palette and open as many adjustment layers as you need for color operations. You work on them until satisfied with your color image, then you flatten it, make a 100% desaturation on a new Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer, and continue to work on the B/W image in a similar manner using new set of Adjustment layers. You could blend or group Adjustment layers and you could use painting tools for selective burn/dodge operations.

 

 

Regards. Blago

 

 

Hi Blagoy,

 

I know Seven didn't mention "digital feel" as an insult, I was just unaware of the term. As I mentioned it has not been my intention, I've just used rudimentary conversion methods for my B&W.

 

I played around with the channel mixer last night and it gives me more control. I used that before desatuarating. Still need a lot of work on layers as I still have been unable to combine them, but I'll keep trying. I'm still new to PS. I'm pleased with a few of my conversions (Help Wanted for example) but too many have a grayish feel which isn't usually my preference.

 

As for Tony Dummett and Ian MacEachern? Great examples and I really admire their work. I have quite a few of their photos in my favorites folder. Not sure how often people look in their favorites folders, but I use mine for inspiration, and am always looking for older photos to add. It's a nice reference to some great photos and another way to help me improve my photography.

 

Thanks again Blagoy. It's always very helpful to get feedback from knowledgable and talented photographers like Seven and yourself.