Hunting Island, South Carolina, 2002

Comments welcome.

--Lannie

I used a simple desaturation followed by the use of curves and levels to get the black and white version posted here.  Here is the color version:

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5987398&size=lg

If anyone can download the color version and post a different black and white version of it, with an explanation of the steps used to get the result, I would be most appreciative.

I think that perhaps a lighter touch on post-processing (particularly with curves) might have rendered a more pleasing black and white version, but I am not sure.  My black and white version posted here seems a bit too dark and contrasty to me.

--Lannie

Lannie...  Whether it's better or not will be your decision, but here's a version that converted in Capture NX2 and then made slight light level adjustments in PhotoShop Elements 8.  I applied a tad of artistic license and cloned out the 1/2 sandal and the corner of the cooler.  About a 10 minute process and I left it full size for better comparison.  See how you like it... Mike

That is a LOT better, Mike.  Thank you so much for that.  So, I need to bring up the levels, at a minimum.

What you have produced is much closer to the spirit and mood of the color version--and I believe closer to the mood of the moment (as I recall it after so many years).

Thank you!

--Lannie

Hi Lannie - My take on the BW conversion is attached.  I wanted the subjects to stand out more, so, I:

1) selected them ...the longest, most tedious part of the process ... and I still didn't do it very well  :-(   

2) brought up the color saturation on them so that the various sliders in the BW conversion adjustment layer would have something to discriminate between the various skin and clothing colors;

3) did the BW conversion;

4) down-rez'ed it down to 698 px wide so it will display in line;

5) Added a couple of passes of large radius USM to bring up local contrast, particularly, the shadowing on the kids' bodies;

6) Added a tiny bit of a darkening Orton effect to enhance the darks, but still keep them smooth;

7) A final curves layer to tweak the brightness and contrast;

8) I couldn't stand the cooler in the lower RH corner, so I did a quick and dirty job of cloning it out.  (I should have done this 1st, but wasn't paying attention).

It sounds like a lot of work, but, other than the selection of the subjects, it takes longer to describe than do.   I tend to be a bit heavy handed, so it's a bit more dramatic than your conversion and that of the other responder, but see what you think and how it prints.

Best regards,

Tom M

PS - I just realized that I forgot to mention that I thought the background (ie, dark trees and sun-dappled patches of ground) had too much contrast, so I worked on that part of the image separately (using "recovery" slider, shadow/hilights tool, etc.), and re-blended it back in early in the process.

 

Tom M

PPS - This is getting silly.  I keep forgetting to mention some of the early steps:  The very 1st thing that I did to your image was to run it through a de-JPG cleaning filter (from Topaz) so that when the JPG compression artifacts get magnified by local contrast enhancing and other processing steps, they won't be too gruesome.  ;-)

In the light of day, I think I would like it still lighter.  I also cleaned up more of the distracting items on the ground.

 

Tom M

Thanks, Tom, your version is also better than mine, as was Mike's.  Both of you have offered very distinct looks from each others' as well.

Obviously I have a lot to learn about black and white conversions in digital.   I appreciate all the time and effort expended.

--Lannie

And, finally, (maybe?  ;-) ) I think a suggestion of an antique look might be appropriate. 

... Sorry -  I can't stop myself from thinking (obsessing?) about getting the best out of this photo.  It's a very engaging shot.

Tom M

You're welcome, Lannie.   With our current ability to generate a huge number of  different "looks" from a given starting image, the question of "which is best" always arises.   Even assuming that one wants to satisfy all the conventional constraints of "reasonable" brightness, contrast, sharpness, noise, artifacts, etc. for a photo like this, there still are many different directions in which one could take this photo in post processing. 

My own decision making process in this area is very simple-minded and highly personal:  I typically have a few initial "looks" in mind.   I then work towards achieving these looks.  During this process, I might get ideas for other "looks", so I'll generate some of those as well.  I then put all the different variants/looks aside for anywhere from a day to a year, during which time, I think about the recipient(s) / viewer(s) of the photo, how it's going to be used, etc.  Then, when I come back to select one of my "looks", it's usually quite easy to select one of the variants I generated.  For example, an image I make up for "Grandma" will typically have a very different look than an image for a photography discussion group.

Since, for speed, I usually generate this set of post-processing sketches at low resolution (as I did here), I then go back and re-work the image at full resolution, taking more care with masking, noise, etc.

As I said, I would be interested to hear how you make such decisions.

 

Cheers,

Tom M

Hi Lannie,

Like I said to many on PN, it takes a good image to start with , then you can play with it forever !

 Nice work with the capture and the presentation.

 

Best Regards,  Mike

Tom, those are awesome!!!  I especially like the antiqued look.  I should come by to see my own shots more often after I post a question about alternative treatments.

Mike, thanks as always.

Don't you guys just love the Dr. Pepper can?!  I just don't know how these kids could have looked anymore wholesome.  Nine years later, I cannot forget this group, who were celebrating the end of school with an outing (with chaperone no less, not in the picture).  I was simply walking on the beach near the Hunting Island light, and they asked me to take their picture.  One later wrote me to say that they had found it on Photo.net.

--Lannie

This is an intrereting group to start with,It is not easy to photo a group that no one is with closed eyes....;-))I agree with Tom's help in PP which gave it a stonger "punch". I enjoyed l the thread as a whole.

Thank you, Pnina.  It is great, as always, to get your opinion.  Thanks for visiting.

--Lannie

hi Lannie how awesome is this// reminds me of the 60s for some reason.. an old Coppertone ad.i thas a nostalgic feel to it for me ... sam