B&W Candid - Opinions please - DPChallenge Forums

11/28/2004 02:20:48 PM · #1

I took this shot a few weeks ago - I was hoping to get some opinions on the subject and photo quality.
Thanks!

elsapo

Canon EF 50mm f1.2L

11/28/2004 02:27:41 PM · #2

its an interesting photo but it seems a bit grey to me...maybe a bit more contrast??...im not exacly sure...and I would like a smaller border (but thats just personal taste)..hope someone else can help u some more

11/28/2004 02:29:49 PM · #3

The concept is great! I really like this as B&W.

Image quality holds it back a bit. Two things I see...

One, the focus is soft. That may have been intentional but it comes across to me as just being slightly out of focus.

Two, I think more dramatic contrast would give it greater appeal. I'd also use a 50% greyscale layer to give it highlighting and a little more "texture".

I do not have time to do it now, but if you are interested I will dink with it to show you what I mean. :)

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro for Canon

11/28/2004 02:34:55 PM · #4

Originally posted by stdavidson:

Thank you - I didn't see the focus as soft - but, yeah, I guess it is.
I will play with it a bit - try to increase the contrast.
As for the 50% greyscale - not sure how to do that. If you have time to "dink" with it sometime - I'd appreciate it!
Thanks!

Blackdog

Canon EOS-20D

11/28/2004 02:36:59 PM · #5

The subject works well in B&W, as stdavidson says.

It does seems slightly off focus, as has been pointed out.

It looks as though you've tried to burn the lights on the ceiling because they were too bright. I would have been tempted to crop them out and the ceiling altogether.

I would also like to know what stdavidson means by using a 50% greyscale layer, I do some B&W and would like to know what this technique is?

11/28/2004 02:37:57 PM · #6

Janice,

I will dink with it later today and show you the result. I just have to leave right now... Later... have a great day... :)

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

11/28/2004 02:48:49 PM · #7

Originally posted by Blackdog:

Yes, I did try to burn the lights. I kind of liked the shot with that crop but didn't like the blown out areas near the lights.

So I have tried to sharpen a bit, increased contrast, tightened the crop and shrunk the border a tad.

ADGibson

Canon EOS-20D

11/28/2004 02:49:56 PM · #8

I'm interested as well.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

11/28/2004 02:50:13 PM · #9

Originally posted by elsapo:

Thanks - my latest reply includes a slightly adjusted version.
Thanks very much for your opinions.

hsteg

Fujifilm X-T20

11/28/2004 02:53:54 PM · #10

maybe some grain will make it look better?

deapee

Kodak V803

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

11/28/2004 04:01:32 PM · #11

I like the original a lot. The focus is soft but it sets a mood. This is one of those photos that just forces the viewer to stop for at least a few seconds and look. Good work

11/28/2004 06:36:49 PM · #12

Originally posted by hsteg:

maybe some grain will make it look better?

Grain was an interesting suggestion. I tried it to see what the effect would be.

What say you? Good, bad or indifferent?
I increased contrast and adding a film grain to the original version.

Message edited by author 2004-11-28 18:40:31.

tyt2000

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM II

11/28/2004 06:45:50 PM · #13

Cool candid, how about a sepia tone? to give it that vintage look...

sher

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

11/28/2004 07:03:18 PM · #14

here's my take on the pic. cropped in a little tighter, added a duplicate layer with a low opacity gaussian blur, adjusted curves and toned with a sepia quadtone.

it's a great shot...definitely worth playing around with to get it just right!

snackwells

Canon EOS-20D

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

11/28/2004 07:14:32 PM · #15

Originally posted by autumncat:

I took this shot a few weeks ago - I was hoping to get some opinions on the subject and photo quality.
Thanks!

Hi there! I like this shot, you composed and framed it well. I think the comments earlier are valid...the focus is a bit soft and the image could use more punch by a boost in contrast. I'll see if I can retouch it later tonight and I'll post a link to it.

One other comment. I like the type of border you applied to this shot. A thinner white inner border with a bold black outer border. The easiest way I found to place a nice even border around the shot is to do the following, assuming that you're using Photoshop:

- Resize the image 20 pixels short of the final planned image size.
- With a white background color selected, click on Image>Canvas Size. Resize the canvas by selecting "Relative", and increase height and width by an even # of pixels, for example 2, 4, or 6.
- With a black background color selected, repeat canvas size and select a value that will make up the difference of 20 and whatever you chose to size the white inner border, for example, 20-2=18, 20-4=16, or 20-6=14.

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

11/28/2004 07:16:42 PM · #16

Originally posted by sher9204:

Ok, so far, I like that version the best. You have really brought out the details in it (that were somewhat blown).

Are you working with Photoshop? I have Elements and I don't think it does curves. I still need to learn how to do the layers and such - right now I make adjustments to the main photo (saved to another name of course).

Thanks for the compliment and taking the time to experiment. It's amazing that photography these days is half shooting the photo and half making adjustments after it's off the camera.

sher

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

11/28/2004 07:36:28 PM · #17

Originally posted by autumncat:

Originally posted by sher9204:

here's my take on the pic. cropped in a little tighter, added a duplicate layer with a low opacity gaussian blur, adjusted curves and toned with a sepia quadtone.

it's a great shot...definitely worth playing around with to get it just right!

Ok, so far, I like that version the best. You have really brought out the details in it (that were somewhat blown).

Are you working with Photoshop? I have Elements and I don't think it does curves. I still need to learn how to do the layers and such - right now I make adjustments to the main photo (saved to another name of course).

Thanks for the compliment and taking the time to experiment. It's amazing that photography these days is half shooting the photo and half making adjustments after it's off the camera.

i am using Photoshop but you should be able to get the same look with Levels. learning levels will really add a new dimension to your post-processing. just keep plugging away and you'll get it in no time at all! :)

11/29/2004 08:39:55 AM · #18

Originally posted by stdavidson:

Here is a possibility:

First, the technique described in the DPC tutorial at - //www.dpchallenge.com/tutorial.php?TUTORIAL_ID=20 - was applied.

For B&W what this does is smooth out the tonal range of the image. It tones down the highlights and brings out more detail in the shadows. This also makes the image look a little flat. Then a new layer was added given this property - Mode: "Overlay" with the 50% greyscale box checked. Then brushes using darkening and lightening were applied on the overlay/greyscale layer for highlighting.

The changes here are more subtle and definitely not "dramatic" contrast as I earlier suggested. What you get is more detail and better tones. For example, you can see that the clock-like thing in the upper center is not a clock at all but some sort of artistic design.

Then the image was flattened and USM - Amount: 100%, Radius: .3 pixels and Threshold: 0 - was applied. For this image that is about the most you can apply without many digital effects popping up.

For all that I am not sure this is much of an improvement. :)

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM

11/29/2004 09:15:48 AM · #19

The 50% greyscale technique that I mentioned earlier which some folks asked about is described in more detail in this online tutorial:
//www.bairarteditions.com/pages/tutorials/photoshop/exdandb.html

It is really a better way to apply dodge and burn to an image rather than using the built-in Photoshop dodge and burn tools since it has all the advantages of being in a new layer. But it works great as an artistic highlighting tool for images as well.

Contrary to what it says in the tutorial my recommendation is to set brush opacity to 10% or less for most images.

Most of the time you will set the brush to either "lighten" or "darken" and just use black and white for darken and lighten colors. Remember it paints using the foreground color as shown on the Tools pallet so you will have to set that each time you switch from lighten to darken and back again. For example, if you try to use a brush set to "lighten" when the foreground color is black then nothing happens when you paint. You have to switch the foreground color to white first.

There, that should make things sufficiently confusing. :)

Message edited by author 2004-11-29 09:20:25.

SteveJ

Canon EOS-7D

11/29/2004 09:36:06 AM · #20

Just a quickie for you to consider using Sepia effect from Virtual Photographer.