hi folks...image attached was taken on a large ferris wheel in the Algarve, Portugal... Some PP has been done to remove the distractions...but i'm not happy with the B&W tones after conversion...especially when printed...image is uncropped
Add a layer, adjust your highlight and shadows to bring the contrast out. Add sepia tone or a yellower photo filter to it.
I normally apply some gaussian blur to a closeup like this, and set the opacity to about 40%. And then I use brush to brush off the blur on areas I want focus on. It looks great !!!
Send me the pic if you like, and I can post process it and post it back up and see if you like it
I believe that the background needs to be darker as it takes the eye away. Also add a little more contrast. If you have CS3 you can use the B&W adjustment layer and try out the yellow filter as a starting point and go from there.
OK, maybe some of those were a little TOO bright. ( ! )
I get carried away....... But better bright than boring, IMO.
-You might have to find a way to mask, or whatever it's called (I'm pretty new to PP) so you can only up the exposure on the humans, but not on the background.
Your original is underexposed. I find it easier to get a good b+w conversion from a good color image. I optimized the color image, then used the gradient map to do the conversion:
Cableaddict wrote:
Geez, cronic, I feel so invisible.
Well, you're welcome, anyway.
Sorry... i thought i replied to you...
the third bunch are perhaps better than the first/second...however the grain seems to lose some of the image sharpness...i know where you were trying to go with this...and i guess being JPEG in the first place limits the image processing...
Thanks for taking the time to look...and make suggestions...
I'm not sure what you don't like about your conversion. I think it's brilliant. Maybe bring down the black point a bit to slightly deepen the shadows, but I like it a lot.
photosenior wrote:
pamorl-
I like your conversion!
Can you explain how you did this is some greater detail?
Thanks!
Thank you, Photosenior Here ya go...
You can do a b+w conversion of a flat, underexposed color image using whatever method you like, then try to punch it up using various techniques, but in order to increase the contrast and give it a 3 dimensional look, the image quality is going to degrade if you have to push a flat b+w image very far.
For this reason I've always found that the best b+w conversions come from good quality color images. By "good quality", I mean having decent contrast and tonal range.
So, my first step in making this b+w conversion was to bring the color version up to an acceptable level first. This is what I meant when I said that I "optimized the color image". Sorry for the confusion
Here are the RGB channels of the original image. You can see that using the channel mixer (or any other conversion method) really wouldn't be useful at this point. All the channels are flat and lack contrast:
Here are the RGB channels of the new adjusted (optimized) color image. As you can see, the channels now have depth and contrast. From this point, you can use just about any conversion method to get a good result. Even using the channel of your choice straight up would give acceptable results (select the channel, copy, then paste into a new layer).
3 - I use several conversion methods, but here I used a gradient map adjustment layer to do the conversion. It gives a nice smooth result. I didn't want it too contrasty at this point because I wanted to have room to polish it off. With that in mind, I left it slightly undercooked:
Every b+w conversion needs some final polishing to really make it shine. On this I burned and dodged using levels and curves to get the final result.
I noticed you mentioned something about the shadow detail, Cronic. Remember that everything is under your control. Also, to make an image pop and have depth, contrast is key. That means you need rich dark blacks for the light tones to play off. Too much shadow detail means less rich black areas to give depth, which leads to a flat looking image. It's a fine line you have to ride.
It's also important to distinguish between shadow detail and important shadow detail. Keep important shadow detail and crush the rest to prop up your lighter tones and give good contrast to the highlights. This will give your b+w's punch.
Here's the finished version with a little more shadow detail:
I don't know how to insert picture like the above. Do I have to subscribe ?
Did channel correction like what Pam did above as well, with adjustments to contrast and brightness, as well as applying a Sepia photofilter onto it. I also applied Gaussian Blur to this to give the smooth edgy look, and decrease opacity for the layer to improve focus.
Lastly, use a brush with low opacity to highlight areas you would like sharpness improved.
It looks great !!!