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B&W buffs opinion needed

oldwhitewood

oldwhitewood

Member
Joined
11 Jul 2007
Messages
356
Hey guys, does anyone know much about post processing digitally for black and white images. I took this picture recently and tweaked a few things in Lightroom and have got the below image.

3026411196_d425a2aedf.jpg


Problem is I don't know much about B&W and am not sure if this is maybe too much, too contrasty. There seems to be a lot of different tints and approaches people use, what is the correct way?
 
Personally I'm a fan of contrasty images, so this is what I'd do. Just a 5 minute play with brightness, contrast, dodge and burn etc. I've also added some soft vignetting.

3026411196_d425a2aedf.jpg


Looking at it again I would also trim some of the bottom off, leaving a bit less of the road showing below the kerb

Tom
 
Not a buff, just wanted to say I like the shot :D Reminds me of York.

There must be a million B&W tutorials on the internets.

Mark
 
Personally speaking I preferred the contrast of the original. The second makes the darks too dark.

AC
 
Personally, I have started to use Lightroom 2.1 more and more over CS3. I still have a hell of a lot to learn, but B+W conversions using the Grayscale option gives a lot of control over B+W images.

There are eight colour sliders to play with as opposed to the normal three. Moving the temperature slider to the left in the white balance option in the Basic panel, having first selected Grayscale, gives the basis for more contrasty images.

At the end of the day, just follow the Lightroom workflow, starting at the top with a selection of Grayscale in the Basic panel, and work your way down the panels on the right hand side of the screen, down to the Split Toning panel.

There are no hard and fast rules, just your own preferences.

Have you tried the Target Adjustment tool in the Grayscale panel yet?

I can`t really say too much because I am right at the bottom of the learning curve myself, but some of this may be useful to you.

Dave.
 
oldwhitewood said:
I also like the other image after the edit it looks good though. I guess I'm trying to get something like ILFORD Delta really.
This is the thing you see each persons opinion differs. I know there are B&W tutorials on t'internet but I also think there is a lot of knowledge here on tap...no pun intended.

I also like the other image after the edit it looks good though. I guess I'm trying to get something like ILFORD Delta really.
Click to expand...

you already know this oldwhitewood, but dont forget your asking people to give opinion on a really great shot when there probably looking at it on a un -calibrated monitor (not dissing anyone) ;) most of us know the massive difference between monitors. i was shocked when i saw my images on someone elses monitor....they looked awful. where as on my monitor your image looks just about right to me, but then your the judge.toms is way to dark...on my monitor.

also try printing one, this is where you know if its right or wrong. i use a epson r2400 for all of my prints. and the b/w or stunning. using ultrachrome inks b/w ARE b/w.....not with a tint of green as with others. if you want a copy printing i can do you one and send it back to you. need he high res image though. i can go up to a3+
 
saintly said:
oldwhitewood said:
I also like the other image after the edit it looks good though. I guess I'm trying to get something like ILFORD Delta really.
This is the thing you see each persons opinion differs. I know there are B&W tutorials on t'internet but I also think there is a lot of knowledge here on tap...no pun intended.

I also like the other image after the edit it looks good though. I guess I'm trying to get something like ILFORD Delta really.
Click to expand...

you already know this oldwhitewood, but dont forget your asking people to give opinion on a really great shot when there probably looking at it on a un -calibrated monitor (not dissing anyone) ;) most of us know the massive difference between monitors. i was shocked when i saw my images on someone elses monitor....they looked awful. where as on my monitor your image looks just about right to me, but then your the judge.toms is way to dark...on my monitor.

also try printing one, this is where you know if its right or wrong. i use a epson r2400 for all of my prints. and the b/w or stunning. using ultrachrome inks b/w ARE b/w.....not with a tint of green as with others. if you want a copy printing i can do you one and send it back to you. need he high res image though. i can go up to a3+
Click to expand...

Thanks Saintly thats very kind of you. I may just do that...nah I dunno. But yes I agree with your point on the monitor too, I use a Mac and that seems to be pretty great for photos so I always try and work to that. Non-Mac users take note, replace your PC's with Macs! ;)
 
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