Some B&W images.
Jun 25, 2017 09:41:04 #
Periodically, to improve on my poor techniques converting digital images to b&w, I reach for some of my old files and practice. I have heard that "practice makes perfect."
For these conversions I used or Nik Silver Efex 2 or Topaz B&W Effects. Both are good converting softwares. I can handle dodging and burning-in better with Topaz but that is me.
All of these images were made with a Nikon D610 not meaning they cannot be done with another camera. I use my Olympus EP-5 often for street photography just to give you an example. If memory does not fail I used the 28-105 f3.5-4.5 D, the 35mm f2 AIS and the 24mm f2.8 AIS.
I like to use contrast with my b&w images but at times I go over the board. It was not like that when I was using the optical darkroom and graded paper. All of this is new to me because I spent many years working b&w images using negatives and printing paper.
My favorite printing paper was Agfa which had a warm tone while Kodak Tri-X and T-Max 100 were my favorite films. I try to emulate that paper tonalities adding warmth to the files in post. The matte and frames were made using Photoshop.
Please, feel free to critique these or any of my images. I am not an expert converting images to b&w but I am learning. Some of these images were made during a trip to a museum in Jacksonville, Florida. The boats and the house at Amelia Island here in NE Florida. The Bonaventure Cemetery, a historic site, is located in Savannah, Georgia.
The last image is from a local park near where I live. It is a sunset that was captured with the 35mm f2 AIS lens.
For these conversions I used or Nik Silver Efex 2 or Topaz B&W Effects. Both are good converting softwares. I can handle dodging and burning-in better with Topaz but that is me.
All of these images were made with a Nikon D610 not meaning they cannot be done with another camera. I use my Olympus EP-5 often for street photography just to give you an example. If memory does not fail I used the 28-105 f3.5-4.5 D, the 35mm f2 AIS and the 24mm f2.8 AIS.
I like to use contrast with my b&w images but at times I go over the board. It was not like that when I was using the optical darkroom and graded paper. All of this is new to me because I spent many years working b&w images using negatives and printing paper.
My favorite printing paper was Agfa which had a warm tone while Kodak Tri-X and T-Max 100 were my favorite films. I try to emulate that paper tonalities adding warmth to the files in post. The matte and frames were made using Photoshop.
Please, feel free to critique these or any of my images. I am not an expert converting images to b&w but I am learning. Some of these images were made during a trip to a museum in Jacksonville, Florida. The boats and the house at Amelia Island here in NE Florida. The Bonaventure Cemetery, a historic site, is located in Savannah, Georgia.
The last image is from a local park near where I live. It is a sunset that was captured with the 35mm f2 AIS lens.
Jun 25, 2017 09:41:36 #
Jun 25, 2017 09:45:43 #
Jun 25, 2017 09:45:56 #
Jun 25, 2017 10:01:22 #
Jun 25, 2017 10:14:24 #
Being that I too came from the "Film Era" and the printing out in "Shades of Gray" (the term Black and White really does not do the process justice) I like your style. Very sharp and much "to the point". You are very correct in the statement that everyone has their own way of doing "B&W".... I might add that with color (and now days - with digital cameras - I capture all of the would be prints in color and adjust to my thinking of what I saw and what I felt at the time of capture. Unlike most color I do believe that the photographic artist can place more of their feelings in the adjustment of the tonal qualities of the grays from the colors that are had to adjust from a color digital "negative".
You have done a very - Very - Good job of quality work here.
My way is a little different - However, we do make use of the same editing program in NIK Software's Silver Efex "plug-in". I do not really use the on-board selections that the program offers, but rather move the "sliders" to fit each photograph - or use My Own reselections that I have saved as a starting point. So - Just about every print is a little different in their own way, even if I have used the same digital "negative" to work with.
I do make use of a camera that I had converted to IR (inferred) for some of the work that I do. But for the most captures (about 90%) I use a color image RAW capture.
Again --- Good workmanship here.
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You have done a very - Very - Good job of quality work here.
My way is a little different - However, we do make use of the same editing program in NIK Software's Silver Efex "plug-in". I do not really use the on-board selections that the program offers, but rather move the "sliders" to fit each photograph - or use My Own reselections that I have saved as a starting point. So - Just about every print is a little different in their own way, even if I have used the same digital "negative" to work with.
I do make use of a camera that I had converted to IR (inferred) for some of the work that I do. But for the most captures (about 90%) I use a color image RAW capture.
Again --- Good workmanship here.
-0-
Jun 25, 2017 10:47:27 #
Jun 25, 2017 11:52:35 #
Jun 25, 2017 17:25:45 #
Gentlemen thank you very much. Do not tell me that everything I have done to these files is great because that is going to spoil me into believing I do not need to continue to improve because I know I have still a long way to go. The road is not easy for those of us who enjoy b&w images. I cannot speak on behalf of others but I get very frustrated at times. Perhaps too many years working in the optical darkroom.
James, the presets in both Topaz and Nik could be convenient at times. Like you I find myself most of the time working with the different parameters built into those programs to manipulate the images.
It was second nature to me working with Tri-X and HC-110 Solution B like it was working with T-Max 100 and Rodinal. I waited for 5 years before I could put my hands into a decent conversion and I am going to say that those 5 years made me forget many of the attributes of a good print. I can say that digital and negatives are not the same thing and right now I favor negatives but I no longer have my darkroom.
I will keep working with b&w conversions. Maybe I need a good workshop to improve my abilities in the "digital darkroom."
James, the presets in both Topaz and Nik could be convenient at times. Like you I find myself most of the time working with the different parameters built into those programs to manipulate the images.
It was second nature to me working with Tri-X and HC-110 Solution B like it was working with T-Max 100 and Rodinal. I waited for 5 years before I could put my hands into a decent conversion and I am going to say that those 5 years made me forget many of the attributes of a good print. I can say that digital and negatives are not the same thing and right now I favor negatives but I no longer have my darkroom.
I will keep working with b&w conversions. Maybe I need a good workshop to improve my abilities in the "digital darkroom."
Jun 26, 2017 06:55:39 #
Jun 26, 2017 07:40:32 #
Jun 26, 2017 07:55:38 #
camerapapi wrote:
Periodically, to improve on my poor techniques con... (show quote)
All are well-taken. I particularly like the first photo of a room interior. Light is perfectly balanced.
Jun 26, 2017 08:13:44 #
Jun 26, 2017 09:57:21 #
Jun 26, 2017 10:00:04 #
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