B&W manual processing

[Mike Dobbs]

I just did a search for "Channel" and found a few articles...one was right.

Danny

Thanks for the tutorial...I'll run it tonight when I'm home outside
the firewall ;-)

BTW, I found the link to Reichmann's article:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/b&w_better.htm

Mike.

http://www.adobe.com/web/tips/totalphs14/main.html

Danny

I also downloaded the test image from SilverOxyde and tried to
match the Tri-X by playing with the mixer; I came quite close.

In conclusion, I don't think we really need that plug-in, and with
the mixer you can refine your b&w picture; I rediscovered b&w to
the point that before going to bed, I read an article about the
Zone system... who knows there's maybe an Ansel Adams within one of
us?

Thank's to whoever made that suggestion.

François

Here it is in just grayscale:



I like both, but the Channel mixing let me control the shadow &
highlights more. With more playing, I'm sure I can get it even
better.

See my album for another comparison to SilverOxide FP4 Filtering:

http://members3.clubphoto.com/mike268457/Grayscale_vs_Channel_Mix/

Mike.

Nice shot Francois!

Here's one I've made using the following channel settings:
Red: 60%
Green: 58%
Blue: -12%
Constant: 0

 

[Peter H]

Nick,

I agree. I would also like a way of adding a yellow, orange or red filter that is the equivelent of having one on the lens in the first place.

Peter

The samples that silveroxide shows as a comparison on the site is
simply a greyscale conversion, harldly a good comparison, but like
you say you can come fairly close doing it properly.

What I was hoping to eventually establish is a fixed routine to
follow that can be made in to an action later, this would be ideal.

Nick

Last night, I played some more with the channel mixer and just like
you discovered that we can control the shadows and highlights;
also, just like adding a red filter to darken the sky, you can
recreate the same effect with the mixer.

I also downloaded the test image from SilverOxyde and tried to
match the Tri-X by playing with the mixer; I came quite close.

In conclusion, I don't think we really need that plug-in, and with
the mixer you can refine your b&w picture; I rediscovered b&w to
the point that before going to bed, I read an article about the
Zone system... who knows there's maybe an Ansel Adams within one of
us?

Thank's to whoever made that suggestion.

François

 

[NickM]

Thanks for all your feedback.

So far it's been seen that although we haven't replicated any filter as such, you can come pretty close for one, and secondly the results you can make of b&w are very good on there own anyway.

As Francois pointed out, sometimes to copy the filters is not achieving the best effect, if you know what a decent b&w picture will look like then you can recreate that without external tools, but these tools might give you a few more variations not easily possible and make things easier.

Well, if anyone has any other tips in general to b&w processing, to make the perfect pic, please throw them in.

I'll certainly still be playing around with my photos to see what I can achive.

Nick

 

[Matt Kim]

Looks great!

One thing I've tried that looks neat is put a red tint
on a color picture, then convert to grayscale. It picks
up some noise with looks like grain, and also gives the picture
more contrast. Almost like shooting B&W with a red filter...

Matt

Here's one I've made using the following channel settings:
Red: 60%
Green: 58%
Blue: -12%
Constant: 0

Here's a picture I took this afternoon, and modified using your
technique.

Thank's

François



Canon 80-200 at 200; f11 at 1/325 iso 200

If you are on a budget (or on a mac) and not scared of a little
photoshop, don't worry about these filters. You can use automation
to create your own custom color -> b+w conversions.

An old trick for converting b+w to color is to examine the
different color channels. The R, G and B channels will all have
vastly different records of the scene informations - much like
putting colored filters on your lens before shooting real b+w.

So if you want to get what this filter does, play around with
recording an action to blend the chanels in a way you find
pleasing. For instance to get a tri-x like look, mix the channels
manually but underemphasize blue. You can make your own set of
filters to produce different effects.

Granted, you loose the preview, that the filters give you, but that
is all. There is no magic they have to provide information not in
your color picture - they just do a custom conversion from color to
b+w.

Andrew