Tech Pan film effect in Photoshop

[jake]

Kodak discontinued it's Tech Pan film in 2004 and apparently it's impossible to reproduce the effect of the film in PS when working with RAW image captures.

Tech Pan description (from wikipedia):
Tech Pan was capable of recording extremely fine detail, and its sensitivity curve extended much further into the red than that of most films. The film was popular with photographers in the art and fashion industries for its extremely high-contrast results when up-rated and processed in an abrasive, high-strength developer.

Does anyone know how to reproduce the Tech Pan effects from a digital raw image? Here is a great example of the type of result I'm looking for.
http://www.modelmayhem.com/pic.php?pid=145417

Thanks.

[Ziaphra]

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[jake]

Thanks for catching that. I've reposted it here.
http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/954/rudyqx4.jpg

[LESider]

if you have a similar photo in very hard light you can convert the image to B&W using the channel mixer. In the channel mixer set it to monochrome and then slide the blue channel to somewhere between +160 or more and take out -30 from the other two channels just make sure it all equals 100 between the three channels.
Then use the photo filter and use a warming filter to get the tone right. You will get very close.

The blue channel will bring out all that skin texture like the photo you posted.

[Photo678]

Originally Posted by jake

Thanks for catching that. I've reposted it here.
http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/954/rudyqx4.jpg

just keep in mind that that is a toned print. I used to use tech pan film exclusively in school, loved the fine grain

[pierresplace]

That sample photo reminds me of the platinum prints I've seen done from many years ago.

[jake]

Thanks everyone for the help. Very much appreciated as always. Have a great weekend.

[jake]

Been trying for a few hours to achieve the attached B&W result from the attached shot I took yesterday, but not making much progress. Attaching a jpg version of my original. I used a #47 dark blue filter, which I know was also used on the attached B&W shot. Here are some tips from the photographer who shot the B&W.

"This is shot on film Tech Pan from Kodak a 25 ASA processed continuous tone ..To get the texture on his face I used a #47 dark blue filter...Great effect on rugged faces...or extremly beautiful Skin on Woman with no make up, and blue eyes a plus..this filter has the tendency to make the subject look more mature very interesting for nude shot , because the darkening of the skin...you just need to negotiate the contrast very well."

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[superkoax]

you talked about #47blue? I've looked on some of my pictures in colour and checked out the channels palett...if you solo the blue channels you much of the darker detals to work on...maybe you can work from there?


Gerry

[LESider]

So you took a digital photo with a blue filter? thats not going to work. Your going to have to use the channel mixer to mimic the blue filter after you have taken a similar photo. Do you have the same photo in color without the blue filter tthat you can post.

[jake]

I really liked that photo. Too bad I can't use it. Here's another one from yesterday, but a totally different set-up. Thanks again for your help.

[LESider]

this is done with the channel mixer but lighting wise it is nothing like the origional photo you posted in the hard sun light so the effect is totally different.

[pellepiano]

I used the channelmixer to get some more contrast. Burned some of it too. But as LESider pointed out.

To get the result of your first posted image you should use similiar portrait image or it will be very difficult to see if you are getting close to the desired effect.

[jake]

Thanks Guys,
Is there anything that can be done to salvage the image with the blue filter? I really like the shot so if I can use it in any creative way (color, black and white, other) I'd be really excited.

[BobJones]

Originally Posted by jake

Thanks Guys,
Is there anything that can be done to salvage the image with the blue filter?

The #47 blue is a b&w tricolor separation filter. Interesting enough, the blue channel corresponds very closely to that. If you look at channels in that image you will see the red and green channels are essentially black. The image is almost entirely in the blue channel.

Looking at the blue channel and the histogram, it's apparent that your image is not exposed well. There are no blacks or midtones and the tonal range is very narrow. You have lost the separation between the models hair and the sky completely. You can pull the image from the blue channel and increase the contrast, but it's never going to ge a great image, you have lost too much.

If you had simply exposed normally, without using the filter at all, and then extracted the blue channel you would have had something to work with. The easiest way to extract the blue channel is to use apply image selecting the blue channel in normal mode. I'd create a second layer for this and leave the original intact so you can use it later. You can then use curves and/or other techniques to adjust the contrast and tonality as desired.

Be mindful of the effects of using the blue channel on the image. Like using the #47 with b&w film, blue areas will be lightened. The contrast between the sky and the clouds in the second photo will be decreased flattening the image. You may wish to also separate out the red channel to get a more dramatic sky and combine portions of the images. Using the blue channel will darken the skin dramatically but be careful -- any defects and blemishes wil be more apparent. Also, noise usually shows up the most in the blue channel as well.

Edit: I decided to attach a sample to illustrate the problem. The image on the left is the blue channel as found in the original image. Note the lack of tonal range and the lack of separation between the sky and hair. The image on the right is the same image with density and contrast increased.