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A little advice on converting to B&W
May 21, 2018 09:27:19   #
Chefneil
 
Here are is one image The original and a B&W Conversion. The B&W is OK but a little heavy on grain. Does any one out there have any suggestions on how to reduce the grain?

THX, olc


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May 21, 2018 09:53:59   #
jcryan Loc: Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
 
Chefneil wrote:
Here are is one image The original and a B&W Conversion. The B&W is OK but a little heavy on grain. Does any one out there have any suggestions on how to reduce the grain?

THX, olc


Two things may be contributing to the grain in the B&W Conversion. The first contributor is the high ISO noise in the original color picture. The second potential contributor may be the method used to do the conversion.

The ISO based on the EXIF data in the color is 6400 which is moderately high and the noise is noticeable if you zoom in on the download. You should be able to remedy this to some extent in post using a tool like darktable or lightroom.

How did you perform the B&W conversion? Did you convert from the RAW file or JPEG? What tool and method did you use? Some conversion filters add grain, others do not.

Hope this helps

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May 21, 2018 09:54:12   #
bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA
 
What software did you use? Some B&W software creates simulated grain to match old film types?

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May 21, 2018 10:03:53   #
SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer
 
I would say don't worry about it. Yes there is grain but it is not objectionable. Shooting almost wide open, slow shutter speed and ISO 6400 you are going to get some grain and blur. If you could have used a flash, most of these problems would have been solved. If it really bothers you, and you have Photoshop, or something equivalent, try introducing a small amount of gaussian blur to smooth out some of the grain. Bottom line is: you got the shot, and that's what's important!

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May 21, 2018 11:16:29   #
R.G. Loc: Scotland
 
If you have colour denoise at your disposal, give the colour version as much as you can give it without causing extra softness (keeping the Details slider high will help) before converting to B&W. And make your sharpening as edge-based as you can (using Masking or whatever).

After conversion, try to avoid lifting the shadows. The Shadows slider is the biggest culprit when it comes to bringing out noise. If there are dark areas that you want lifted, select them and lighten them separately and give those areas extra denoise. Depending on the colour of the dark area, you may be able to lighten it using the colour lightener/darkener.

Adding contrast usually aggravates noise, but in this instance it'll give the shot vividness that'll take attention away from any noise and noise-related softness, and you may find that you're less inclined to pile on the sharpening if the shot is already looking vivid.

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May 21, 2018 11:55:15   #
rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA
 
Use a graduated filter from the bottom right just to the point where the Amp stack ends. Open up shadows to balance with the rest of the gray tones in the image.

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May 23, 2018 08:02:10   #
Chefneil
 
Hey thanks for the advice from y'all. jcryan, I used the BW switch in Adobe RAW, then I tried using Dfine 2, but that did not work due to the image being converted already.

I think I'll Wrk the RAW image, then convert in Photoshop. I'll post the results.

Thanks all, olc

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May 23, 2018 08:46:23   #
Chefneil
 
OK, here is my last attempt. I could spend more time working on the grain, but Hurricane Joe is not sharp enough for my taste.

Every one has my consent to see what they can do with the image, though. BTW, I printed the image on my Pro-100 and it came out pretty well, but still the subject is not sharp enough for my likin'

olc


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