Ellen101 Loc: Manhattan NY ..now Spring Hill, Fl

I am taking black and whte portraits of merchants (local) for a photo show I am having in January.
Question: how do I get that film noir look, the intense balck and white on a print?
Please
Thank you

R.G. Loc: Scotland

The first requirement is lots of contrast. But that on its own won't be enough. You may find that to get the look just right you will have to manipulate the brightness levels (Whites, Highlights, Shadows, Blacks).

You don't want the face to become so shadowed that it's barely recognisable. But a preponderance of grey mid tones will be boring.

Do it in the order I just recommended - contrast first then manipulation of brightness levels.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Amazon.com has some books for sale on Film Noir photography and Film Noir portraits. Maybe you could find them at the library.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Will you have control over the lighting? It all starts with the right lighting.

Ellen101 Loc: Manhattan NY ..now Spring Hill, Fl

ThANK YOU

Ellen101 Loc: Manhattan NY ..now Spring Hill, Fl

tHANK YOU i WILL GO LOok
This is really consuming my days and thoughts. I have come to love Photography ..especially peoplein action doing their work
I really great discovery at age 70 for me

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Not Film Noir style, but if you like photographs of people at work or in action you might be interested in the photographs of Lewis Hine and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Hine’s photos are from the early 20th century. His “Kids At Work” photographs were instrumental in the passage of child labor laws and his “Men At Work” photographs show the working conditions of the time. Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photographs are from later in-the century and he is known as the “Father of Street Photography.”

Ellen101 Loc: Manhattan NY ..now Spring Hill, Fl

Yes you are right! I am preparing for a show of my photographs of local merchants in a very small town which is the county seat. They do to allow walmart or any big supermarkets in the town they are struggling to stay open.
They atre very happy that I am avocating for them with this show. So far I have 5 merchants. Need more maybe 10
A work in progrees
I will also give them a framed paragraph oe two re how they feel about the town etc and place it near their photos

MJPerini

Ellen 101
This is a great project! However you do it will be great.
I will make a suggestion for your consideration. Film Noir was a Hollywood style that was extensively lit with hard lights.
Fresnel Spots etc . The best pictures ever made of trades people and shop keepers were Irving Penn’s , collected in his ‘Small Trades series’. All done with single large source (window light ) in his Paris studio.
It could be beautifully adapted to your location portraits. The other Photographer that did brilliant work was August Sander.
In both cases the person is portrayed with great dignity and simplicity.
Noir lighting sort of calls attention to itself.
But these are your pictures if you still want to go after the Hollywood glamour/ film noir look, look up George Hurrell
Good luck with your project.
Ps you can get a lot of the Penn look ( large single light source and a reflector) with subtractive lighting. Store or open sky lighting tends to be flat , by using the black side of a large reflector above an to one side, what is left of the ambient lighting becomes your main light

Timmers Loc: San Antonio Texas.

"film noir look". Well, this is in reality a certain quality that was developed as a naming for the motion picture industry about the time of Pre WW II era. In fact it comes from the time of German art movements of the 1930's.

film noir is a vary specific style of lighting. The lighting features the mid and upper image tones, shadows are used to create a moody sensual quality that evokes mystery. If you view some of the classic films out of Hollywood you will get a much better understanding. Films like On The Water Front and The Maltese Falcon are considered classics of this styling.

You should also look into some other terms in both film and still photography, these are Gobo** and cucoloris*. These devices are extremely helpful to set the stage for the feel of the Film Noir style images.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucoloris#:~:text=In%20lighting%20for%20film%2C%20theatre,silhouettes%20to%20produce%20patterned%20illumination.

** Gobo (goes between).

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

What post-processing software do you use? You can achieve a film noir look with almost any of them, but Silver Efex Pro (part of the DXO NIK suite) makes it particularly easy. In fact, it has 3 film noir presets.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Edge lighting on male subjects. Butterfly lighting on women. About a 3:1 main light to fill light ratio minimum...

Dark backgrounds (or light fall-off)

Presets in post processing software such as Lightroom (stock, third party, or your own)

Eastman Double - X film developed in D-96 motion picture film developer (overexpose slightly) and printed on contrasty papers

User ID

You can get an all monchrome ink set if you have a compatible printer. Google for more.

Many editors can display a response curve. Reshaping the curve will definitely get you EVERYTHING you want. Its worth learning, a bit tricky at first but a blast once youre even halfway handy with it. Its like magic. You can see your image change styles in real time ... high key, film noir, day for night, Karsh, Penn, Weegee, Hollywood, right before your eyes.

A simpler faster version is the 3-band tone editor with dials for shadows, mids, and highlites, plus acoarst whole image contrast:

(Download)


(Download)


(Download)

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

"Film noir" is a Cinematic term as explained in this excerpt from Wikipedia "Film noir (/nwɑːr/; French: [film nwaʁ]) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylized Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American film noir. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key, black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression.[1]"

You are not making movies but shooting still portraits. You might be referring to LOW KEY portraiture. The contrast, interaction of highlight and shadow, mood, and "look" you are trying to achieve is mainly a function of classic lighting for portraiture. Several basic lighting forms and principles are usually applied to this style of work. Generally, short lighting in the Modofoed Butterfly, Rembrandt, Split, and Rim form works best in a lighting ratio of 1:4 or more.

If you are not familiar with some or most of the aforementioned terms, they are all part of the basics of classic portraiture. If the light is not addressed, the effect can not be obtained by simply darkening an image with relatively flat lighting.

In your question, you did not specify exactly the location of your "merchant" shoots. Is it planned to be a studio-lie fixed location, or on location at their places of business including the environment of each place? What lighting gear is at your disposal? Do you mean to use available light?

If the lighting is planned effectively and the dynamic range is well controlled, successful printing, preserving good highlight detail specular highlights and rich by transparent shadows should not be problematic.

User ID

The OP calls it film noire in speaking of a tonal scale for stills. You can play dictonary gestapo if you like, but its quite clear enuf what the OP wants to achieve, cuz he found a term that expresses what hes seeking.

If he uses that term within the stills realm to express a mood through tonality, it in no way attempts to meddle within the cine realm.

In reality he will read your essay length post, find it indigestible, and then he will light his merchants more or less by whim and trial & error. Then, also by whim and trial & error, our intrepid OP will PP the tonal scale until it kinda sorta looks Bogartish if you squint at it.

Soon enuf you wont hafta post those lengthy tomes. The new technical reality is you take "data" shots of the merchants and tell AI to make them look like stills from film noire. At bottom line, someone still hasta double park and deliver your pizza until 3D printed pizzas taste a whole lot better than the prototypes.