DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> b&w conversion help
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 8 of 8, (reverse)
AuthorThread
04/28/2005 03:08:35 PM · #1
I have been working on black and white conversions, and would love some feedback on these couple of shots. I took these of my daughter, with one alien bee camera left and a reflecter camera right. Some specific things I am wondering, in addition to any comments/criticisim that you would like to add.

Is the dog too blown out? It isn't really blown in the color version. I struggle with hot spots when I bump the contrast in my b&w. Any expert advice on this?

Are they oversharpened? I have to admit, I like the texture in her overalls, but they definitly have a USM look about them. What do you think?

How does the crop for the close up work? I played around a bit, and am not thrilled with this one.





A selective desat. I know, it's overdone, but my mom loves it and it is her granddaughter :)


The color version, with a different crop.


I would appreciate any and all comments. Thanks!

Liza

Message edited by author 2005-04-28 15:09:11.
04/28/2005 03:20:16 PM · #2
My goodness how did you get her to be still my son wont stay still or smile like her for nothing i tried this and my results were disatorus i love those especially the one with the border how old is she?
04/28/2005 03:26:44 PM · #3
oh yea why black and white she looks adorable in color?
04/28/2005 03:31:21 PM · #4
Conversion looks fine on my monitor. No USM issues with me, nice tonalities, detail is retained in the highlights on the dog. Looks AOK. Some might prefer a "softer" finish, but if you liek the crispness you have here, it's well done and it's a matter of personal taste.

Robt.
04/28/2005 03:46:54 PM · #5
I think this is just beautiful in colour already, and the black and white conversion looks fine to me. If you want more detail to be obvious on the stuffed animal in b&w, there are several ways to do this. B&W conversion is one of my favourite things :) It's a good idea to duplicate the layer before messing with it, in case you decide to mask off part of it (which in this case you might want to, to avoid darkening the rest of the photo or to preserve highlights in other areas).

One way is to use channel mixer for the conversion. If you go heavy on the green (+80 or so), low on blue (-15ish) and slightly high on red (+25ish), you'll see more texture in the dog, but the overall light level will be reduced. (I'm sure someone who's better with channel mixer could tell you more appropriate numbers.) You can dodge the rest or simply convert the other layer to black and white and mask off the dog's layer.

You can also adjust the curves, ignoring the colours for the most part and just watching the tones - look at the light levels, the shadows, the detail, and focus only on those - then convert to black and white. This is how I do most of my b&w processing, and I've had a lot of good results with it - it allows for a nice tonal range that I've never really been able to get with adjusting curves in already b&w images. You will probably want to have multiple layers to, again, mask the dog's layer off.

Alternatively, you could just try doing a tad of burning on the already converted image. If you try to pick up shadows, it should be able to grab some detail in the dog that way.

I think the conversion looks great as it is, though, and the colour version is absolutely adorable. These are great shots!
04/28/2005 03:48:42 PM · #6
Left you a comment on your desat photo.

I think your B&W treatment is pretty spot on. You really made her eyes stand out, most important. The puppy is a little bright in spots and in the close up, it is more obvious but I don't think it's a flaw. And I can't decide between the close crop and the landscape crop, the are both good, but I think I lean towards the landscape crop. And I LOVE it in color, The background really compliments her beautiful eyes. Overall, I think you did a wonderful job and only wish I could achieve this look, especially the eyes. I always have the hardest time with getting them to pop like you have.
04/28/2005 03:49:58 PM · #7
those are beautiful shots :)
04/28/2005 04:41:00 PM · #8
Thank you all for your comments and ideas. It is so incredibly helpful to me to hear others' opinions and advice. (My husband, sweet man that he is, is always good for a consistent "oh, that's nice".

Liza
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 10:28:30 PM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Prints! - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 10:28:30 PM EDT.