Rod, dodge and burn are terms I am not very familiar with. You have YEARS more experience than I with photography and developing film so you are much more aware of the possibilities and the look you want to achieve with B&W. This challenge is really the first time I've bothered to try to do something in B&W and I know I have a lot to learn. but I can certainly see the benefits of converting to B&W. The truck in the BG was a rather bright green which distracted from the focal point but is much less apparent in B&W. This is probably not the best picture to be experimenting with the procedure, but it was interesting to try out different techniques and I've learned a lot. Do you have a specific workflow you use when converting a picture you would be willing to share? Thanks! :-) CJ
Rod
10-May-2006 10:03
Sometimes contrast in B&W can really make the shot, it depends on the subject matter or the type of feel you want the shot to have. Say the title of this shot was "Thirst" then the high contrast could have helped to convey a blazingly hot day. It's strange how a title can make or break a shot sometimes as we tend to view it the way the title dictates. I'm not very good in Photoshop except for working on the desktop. All the steps I mentioned to David are in the tools palette or image menu, so to me it's just like working in a darkroom with film. It does take a bit of getting used to as the tools sometimes seem to make matters worse. At first when I burnt the sky in I used a smallish brush & it left evidence of what I did so going to a much bigger brush made the burn undetectable. Sort of a common sense approach rather than a knowledge approach. This way of working should really suit a girl init:-)
Thanks Rod! The problem was the high ISO setting on the camera which I was using when shooting in the shade and then I turned around and shot this in the bright sun. I keep forgetting to check the ISO! This version is the best of of the 5-6 I tried during the conversion to B&W and in trying to tone down the almost BHs and reduce the noise. I read your remark to David about all the different steps you used in a conversion and these are skills I have yet to learn fully - but I'm trying! The contrast doesn't bother me as much as it does you though! :-) CJ
Rod
09-May-2006 07:26
I really like this shot but it has too much contrast for me. Too much contrast removes tones & it's tones that can make B&W look special. Nicely done Carole:-)
