Does anyone have this mental challenge or is it just me?
May 3, 2019 17:50:24 #
photogeneralist wrote:
I often look at and appreciate another photographers work. I never compare my work to the work of others' I might ttink Wow- that photog does really good work, but I never think MY work doesn't match their work. It's not about a contest or even a comparison.
That’s really hard to do. To appreciate someone else’s work without comparing it to your own.
May 3, 2019 17:51:13 #
hassighedgehog wrote:
It might help to remember that not all images can be made into B&W. Some are more suitable than others.
Good point
May 3, 2019 18:13:16 #
larryepage
Loc: North Texas area
I realize that this is not a popular suggestion on this site, but why not try setting your camera up for monochrome and capture your inages that way from the start? First...it will prevent you from having a color image to compare it to, removing your first roadblock. Second, despite what everyone here says, you might just get a better starting point for your image. Third, your image controls probably give you some options at capture that might really help you.
You mention that b&w images are supposed to be contrasty. That is not necessarily true. It is true that the most interesting images contain a wide range of tonal values, but "chalk and soot" images aren't necessarily all that attractive.
Look again through one of the good books of b&w images...preferably one that is well-printed on good paper. See how they are done. And remember that the job is different...you have to tell your story with composition, sharpness, and interesting tonal structure. So the subject you start out with makes a huge difference. Some compositions that work great in color may not work at all in b&w.
Good luck, and don't give up.
You mention that b&w images are supposed to be contrasty. That is not necessarily true. It is true that the most interesting images contain a wide range of tonal values, but "chalk and soot" images aren't necessarily all that attractive.
Look again through one of the good books of b&w images...preferably one that is well-printed on good paper. See how they are done. And remember that the job is different...you have to tell your story with composition, sharpness, and interesting tonal structure. So the subject you start out with makes a huge difference. Some compositions that work great in color may not work at all in b&w.
Good luck, and don't give up.
May 3, 2019 18:15:36 #
domcomm
Loc: Denver, CO
Though I have taken many thousands of color and B&W photos in my 47 years as a professional photographer, the reason I like B&W photos a lot is that you're seeing the subject, not looking at the colors.
There are 2 main ways to change a color photo to B&W in Photoshop. You can go to Image> Mode> Grayscale; or you can go to Image> Adjustments> Hue/Saturation, and slide the Saturation to the far left, which removes the color. However, these 2 methods do NOT produce the same result, so if one doesn't do what you want, you can try the other one.
You can also try Preview if you're on a Mac, which gives you some options and controls, including the Saturation slider; and there is a little program called Photolemur that does some nice work on photos. It doesn't have all the controls, but does a nice job all by itself.
There are 2 main ways to change a color photo to B&W in Photoshop. You can go to Image> Mode> Grayscale; or you can go to Image> Adjustments> Hue/Saturation, and slide the Saturation to the far left, which removes the color. However, these 2 methods do NOT produce the same result, so if one doesn't do what you want, you can try the other one.
You can also try Preview if you're on a Mac, which gives you some options and controls, including the Saturation slider; and there is a little program called Photolemur that does some nice work on photos. It doesn't have all the controls, but does a nice job all by itself.
May 3, 2019 20:10:46 #
May 3, 2019 20:24:32 #
Sure. It's hard not to be envious of their great shots, but allowing takes the fun out of it all. On the other side, I am always amazed about how great some folks think their photos are when they are far from. I have a sculpture friend who's son takes photos of her work for the shows. The photos truly are terrible from angle, focus and exposure/lighting. But she (and he) think they are "creative" and "expressive". I keep my mouff shut and nod. It was so much different when I was teaching Engineering Geology--sure, there were always different perspecitves, but some were just wrong.
May 3, 2019 20:37:42 #
Kozan wrote:
Perhaps you are not adjusting the colors individually to get the right look you want. I hope you are not just reducing saturation, because that is not the best way to get a B&W image. You should be adjusting red, green, blue, cyan, yellow, and magenta separately to get the individual tones you want.
I, too, am critical of my own work. That's why I don't post in photo contests unless the photo is so good that I have a chance of winning.
I, too, am critical of my own work. That's why I don't post in photo contests unless the photo is so good that I have a chance of winning.
Good advice. Adjusting some or all of those other color channels can really make a blah b/w image pop.
_image is one of my favorite b/w images I've done.
May 3, 2019 21:02:36 #
Perhaps it's your initial tweaking the colors so they are "rich" that causes the conversion application to fail to meet your anticipated expectations. When I do a color digital image to black and white conversion, I have a number of adjustments to make to ensure the final image reflects the use of black and white filters, etc. Then I can expect the results to be the same as if I had photographed the scene using black and white film with those filters.
--Bob
--Bob
fotoman150 wrote:
I like color photos with dark, rich colors and I a... (show quote)
May 3, 2019 22:17:04 #
May 3, 2019 22:32:26 #
May 3, 2019 23:14:30 #
When all you have is a hammer , then lots of things look to be a nail :)
Good Photography is more than just pressing a button, it's a set of skills that you can develop over time and different types of photography use different skills. Not having the knowledge to do something is a hard place to start from, you don't even know what you are missing. Formal training may help, reading, watching, experimenting, can lead to progress. Emulating good work can help. Eventually you will be able to evaluate a situation and use the skills ad experience you now have to produce results you really like.
Thats my plan and i'm sticking to it.
Good Photography is more than just pressing a button, it's a set of skills that you can develop over time and different types of photography use different skills. Not having the knowledge to do something is a hard place to start from, you don't even know what you are missing. Formal training may help, reading, watching, experimenting, can lead to progress. Emulating good work can help. Eventually you will be able to evaluate a situation and use the skills ad experience you now have to produce results you really like.
Thats my plan and i'm sticking to it.
May 4, 2019 08:41:32 #
People who are driven are often very self critical. I am reasonably confident in my technical skills (probably unduly so...), but I don’t think I have half of my wife’s natural “eye” for images. I often help her with technique and she often points me toward a different view.
One thing I do have some confidence in is my B/W vision, probably because that’s how I started in photography, and the great photographers using this medium were the ones whose work I admired and studied most. I really like the post processing filters and tools available today, and find them pretty natural to work with. But when I’m shooting film, I do enjoy experimenting with actual glass filters.
I’m a hobbyist these days, so I don’t have to worry about the client’s vision or needs. We amateurs are our own clients, and we need to be ever more demanding of ourselves as photographers. Just my two cents...
Andy
One thing I do have some confidence in is my B/W vision, probably because that’s how I started in photography, and the great photographers using this medium were the ones whose work I admired and studied most. I really like the post processing filters and tools available today, and find them pretty natural to work with. But when I’m shooting film, I do enjoy experimenting with actual glass filters.
I’m a hobbyist these days, so I don’t have to worry about the client’s vision or needs. We amateurs are our own clients, and we need to be ever more demanding of ourselves as photographers. Just my two cents...
Andy
May 4, 2019 09:04:57 #
AndyH wrote:
People who are driven are often very self critical... (show quote)
Thanks Andy. That’s an interesting perspective.
May 4, 2019 10:21:47 #
fotoman150 wrote:
Thanks Andy. That’s an interesting perspective.
Two ways to look at it, of course - overconfidence can be as great an enemy of success as under confidence. It actually sounds to me as though you have a decent balance of the two. It’s important to be self critical, but it’s just as important to know when you’ve hit the ball solidly. Give yourself a break on your images that you really like, and focus the analysis there on what you did right.
If twelve really good images a year was good enough for AA, it should be good enough for us wannabes.
Andy
May 4, 2019 11:09:23 #
AndyH wrote:
Two ways to look at it, of course - overconfidence... (show quote)
I think what I’m trying to portray here is that if i shot the exact thing as someone else in exactly the same way theirs would somehow look better. It’s a brain malfunction.
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