Critiques - - b&w or sepia

DWThomp · #1 01-20-2007, 09:54 AM

I'd be appreciative of any comments as to the job I've done on this. Suggestions are welcome also.

Thanks.
Dennis

smiley guy · #2 01-20-2007, 11:49 AM

You did a really nice job of eliminating the background distractions and focusing on the subjects. Bravo!

As far as my preference for b&w vs sepia--in this case I like the b&w better. There seems to be a broader range of tones in that particular image. That said the tone you used for your sepia is really nice I'm just curious how you did it. It looks like you lost the range of tones you had in the b&w image, i.e., your whites became more toned than white and the same for the blacks. Perhaps trying a gradient map or trying a different blending mode would work. Could you share with us your process for the sepia?

DWThomp · #3 01-20-2007, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smiley guy

You did a really nice job of eliminating the background distractions and focusing on the subjects. Bravo!

As far as my preference for b&w vs sepia--in this case I like the b&w better. There seems to be a broader range of tones in that particular image. That said the tone you used for your sepia is really nice I'm just curious how you did it. It looks like you lost the range of tones you had in the b&w image, i.e., your whites became more toned than white and the same for the blacks. Perhaps trying a gradient map or trying a different blending mode would work. Could you share with us your process for the sepia?

Thank you for commenting. I like the b&w, but then I'm a sucker for b&w! I tried running a couple of xero filters to soften and give it a bit of a glow, but couldn't get the result I was looking for. The sepia is the b&w with a curves adjustment and the the sepia photo filter in CS2.

Thanks again.
Dennis

roger_ele · #4 01-21-2007, 01:15 AM

Hi Dennis,

I thought you were losing too much detail in the shadows, so I gave it a run. I am guessing you converted to grey and then it was muddy and you used curves to pump it back up ... ;-) ... been there done that.

This was done on my laptop with Photoshop, with a some times brighter screen than a calibrated monitor - but I hope it is a help. What I did was start with the color image and:

-Created a color fill adjustment layer (color = black) and changed it too color mode. There are a bunch of ways to do this, it doesn't matter which way you use of you change it too color blend mode - then you are not affecting the brightness.

-Created a color balance adjustment layer and move the yellow and red midtone sliders untill I liked the color. this way you are not changing the highlight and shadow color as much as the midtones. Changed to color mode to be safe ;-)

This is my favorite way of going to b&w and toning ... :-) ... I have done a bunch of testing - gradient is as great, just doesn't seem as easy to me ...

Regards,
Roger

zganie · #5 01-21-2007, 05:21 AM

I gave it a try used layers,color,adjusted opacity
first layermedium warm brown opacity 20-25
second layer dark blue violet opacity 42

DWThomp · #6 01-21-2007, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roger_ele

Hi Dennis,

I thought you were losing too much detail in the shadows, so I gave it a run. I am guessing you converted to grey and then it was muddy and you used curves to pump it back up ... ;-) ... been there done that.

This was done on my laptop with Photoshop, with a some times brighter screen than a calibrated monitor - but I hope it is a help. What I did was start with the color image and:

-Created a color fill adjustment layer (color = black) and changed it too color mode. There are a bunch of ways to do this, it doesn't matter which way you use of you change it too color blend mode - then you are not affecting the brightness.

-Created a color balance adjustment layer and move the yellow and red midtone sliders untill I liked the color. this way you are not changing the highlight and shadow color as much as the midtones. Changed to color mode to be safe ;-)

This is my favorite way of going to b&w and toning ... :-) ... I have done a bunch of testing - gradient is as great, just doesn't seem as easy to me ...

Regards,
Roger

Thank you Roger. I had never tried your way of converting and it works pretty well. I don't use convert to grayscale, usually using a channel mixer layer to convert. I also have a couple of filters that work fairly well sometimes, but I seem to prefer the channel mixer.

I should've use the CS3 beta to convert as it has a black & white adjustment layer that really gives you great control & fine tuning. CS3 is a little buggy, but I can't wait for the release.

Thanks again for commenting.

Dennis

DWThomp · #7 01-21-2007, 07:43 AM

Here is one using the beta of CS3 and the black & white adjustment layer.

Convert RAW, crop, brush distractions, curves, black & white adjustment, sharpen, resize, and save for web.

Dennis

roger_ele · #8 01-21-2007, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Thank you Roger. I had never tried your way of converting and it works pretty well. I don't use convert to grayscale, usually using a channel mixer layer to convert. I also have a couple of filters that work fairly well sometimes, but I seem to prefer the channel mixer.

you are welcome! a lot of people love the channel mixer, i find it more work. if you click monocrome and change the channel mixer to color blend mode it becomes the same as solid color adjustment layer - I know - you then lose the control over the tones - but go with me on this for a moment - under this conversion to black and white layer add a hue adjustment layer and move the hue slider back and forth - for me this does the same as channel mixer without all of the monkeying around ;-)

-ROger