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Color to B&W... A different image, another try at it.
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Jan 5, 2020 23:46:31   #
Steve DeMott Loc: St. Louis, Missouri (Oakville area)
 
Thanks Cany & Linda for the comments.

When converting color to B&W, one must understand how a particular color will look when converted. Red & Green are very close to the same shade of gray. Yellow & Orange are lighter and Blue the darkest.

Filters come in 5 basic colors with each having a variety of shades, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Orange. A colored filter will absorb a certain portion of it's complementary color allowing the rest to pass through.

Why did I use a green filter? This allows the green (prime) color to pass and lightens or be slightly over exposed while blocking some of the red/orange (complementary) color causing it to be under exposed.

hope this helps
-- Steve


P.S. The image was created in Photoshop then part converted to B&W. I hope Photoshop converted correctly



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Jan 6, 2020 00:38:51   #
Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY
 
That looks good Steve... thanks for the tip and redo.

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Jan 6, 2020 00:39:43   #
Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY
 
Hamltnblue wrote:
Another thing you could try is taking the shot vertically


Yes a vertical might have been a better composition. Thanks.

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Jan 6, 2020 00:47:27   #
Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY
 
Cany143 wrote:
No clue (well, maybe that's not an entirely accurate guess of) how Vince might see your revision, Steve, but for my money, that's a really right re-interpretation of a converted interpretation of a previously interpreted scene.

We 'expect' the facing wall to lack detail and be in shade, and you got that. We 'expect' the background foliage to be there, but not be somehow overpowering, and you got that, too. We 'expect' the statue to be darker, more sculpted, and separated from the world outside in sunlight, and you got that in spades. Considering the multiple ways each of these considerations could have been handled, that all it took for you to get there was to apply a green filter is both immensely elegant and pretty doggone sweet.

Yeah, I'm watching this thread because I'm interested. There's still Vince's uber basic question of 'how and when to convert to b&w.' And that's a question that doesn't have a single answer, because there are dozens of answers and all of them are right. Image-wise, cookbook 'do this first then do that second' suggestions are seldom the best ways of going about things, no matter what one person posts in a YouTube video or UHH post. You gotta see where you want to go before you hop in the car. When you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.
No clue (well, maybe that's not an I entirely /I ... (show quote)


I realize what you are saying, "do this first then do that second" is not going to work the same for every image, or for pretty much any two images. That is kind of the approach I took with this image after reading a couple of the suggestions in my first post. Each image will require a somewhat different approach. No two images will be, or probably can be adjusted exactly the same and come out looking right.

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Jan 6, 2020 07:31:34   #
Stephan G
 
Cany143 wrote:
No clue (well, maybe that's not an entirely accurate guess of) how Vince might see your revision, Steve, but for my money, that's a really right re-interpretation of a converted interpretation of a previously interpreted scene.

We 'expect' the facing wall to lack detail and be in shade, and you got that. We 'expect' the background foliage to be there, but not be somehow overpowering, and you got that, too. We 'expect' the statue to be darker, more sculpted, and separated from the world outside in sunlight, and you got that in spades. Considering the multiple ways each of these considerations could have been handled, that all it took for you to get there was to apply a green filter is both immensely elegant and pretty doggone sweet.
...
Image-wise, cookbook 'do this first then do that second' suggestions are seldom the best ways of going about things, no matter what one person posts in a YouTube video or UHH post. You gotta see where you want to go before you hop in the car. When you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.
No clue (well, maybe that's not an I entirely /I ... (show quote)


I am in a disagreement with a smidge of the above comment.

When you are a tyro, the "cookbook" is a good way to go. To me, this is learning about your new car before venturing out into the world. If you don't have an idea as to what on your car does what, using a light pole as a brake is no fun.

It does give you a starting point with which to understand what someone like Cany offers you in pointers.


Speaking of "pointers", too many newcomers think that they have to be "perfect" from the get-go once joining UHH. Even we oldsters learn something out of the discussions in here. We all had to start with something in order to move forward. And many (all) still have do this when we venture out of our comfort zone(s).

(On reread, light poles are only good for holding up lights. Even if you are someone like Batman!)


Keep up the work. You are doing well.

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Jan 6, 2020 07:37:42   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
steve DeMott wrote:

When converting color to B&W, one must understand how a particular color will look when converted. Red & Green are very close to the same shade of gray. Yellow & Orange are lighter and Blue the darkest.
Good information. There are videos and many articles online; the ones directed to film will still help those understand digital editing. Nik Silver Efex has virtual colored filters in their toolbox.

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Jan 6, 2020 10:50:58   #
foggypreacher Loc: Dickinson, Texas
 
Vince68 wrote:
Okay so yesterday I posted a color image and a B&W conversion of that image, asking for thoughts and comments, tips, etc. On the B&W image, I did not do any adjustments to the color image first. I took the raw file, decreased the Vibrance and Saturation sliders in Lightroom, then made adjustments to the image. A few Hogs that commented said that when doing a B&W conversion, the color image should be adjusted first, then convert to B&W.

So that is what I did with this image. I made my adjustments in Lightroom, then made a copy, then went to the HSL adjustment and changed the image to B&W, and made other adjustments. I then sent the image to Aurora 2019 and let it convert the single image to HDR. I made adjustments to the image in Aurora and came up with this B&W.

I am attaching both the color version and the B&W. Any comments to either image are welcome and appreciated. As I said yesterday, I prefer color, but I do like B&W too, but I have not done much B&W at all and do want to improve at it.
Okay so yesterday I posted a color image and a B&a... (show quote)


Vince68, both are very nice. I have become more interested in B&W and really like the mood yours brings to me. The change in mood, especially the 'clouds' inside the top left of the arch make the shot IMHO. Thank you for sharing.

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Jan 7, 2020 00:04:33   #
Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY
 
foggypreacher wrote:
Vince68, both are very nice. I have become more interested in B&W and really like the mood yours brings to me. The change in mood, especially the 'clouds' inside the top left of the arch make the shot IMHO. Thank you for sharing.


Thanks for looking and your comment foggypreacher.

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Mar 23, 2020 14:02:45   #
Richard1947 Loc: Knoxville, TN
 
I prefer the color too

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