B&W

[drisley]

Just wondering what you people think of the b&w conversion of this image.
I was playing in Photoshop, and came across a technique somewhat by accident.
If you like and want me to share, just let me know. If not, just let me know and I will stick to my old technique. ;)
Thanks.

http://images2.fotop.net/albums/sharpnsmart/miscellaneous/IMG_61_B.jpg

[drisley]

Here is one more with the same technique.

http://images2.fotop.net/albums/sharpnsmart/miscellaneous/IMG_67_B.jpg

[cmM]

in the first shot, I think the skin tone is too close to the tone of the background. I think color would be a better fit for that one.

[schmoelzel]

Drisley:

The B&W conversion isn't the problem in the first shot but your shots usually have the "pop" quality that is missing with this one! (I think cmM is correct about the skin tone). I think I prefer a colour version of this shot. The 2nd is nice..........

[drisley]

Thanks.
I absolutely agree that the first one is better in colour. That just happened to be the image I was fooling with when I came across this conversion method.

[nitsch]

I think it works well in the second shot. Come on then, spill the beans! Whats your technique?

[drisley]

Ok, here it is. I suppose it works well for some images, not as well for others, but I seem to really like it. Plus, it's my own creation :)

1. Open Image In Photoshop. If it's Raw, I try to convert with a low contrast (no blown highlights)
2. Goto the Channels tab (beside layers), and in the drop down menu, select SPLIT CHANNELS (http://images2.fotop.net/albums/sharpnsmart/miscellaneous/split.gif)
3. You now have 3 images representing each of the RGB channels. Find the image with the darkest overall tone. This will be your "dark" image which will act as the base.
4. Next find the image with the medium overall tone. Select your layers tab*, and shift+drag the layer onto your "dark" image. Set this layer blending mode to "darken".
5. Finally, with the last image, which should have the brightest overall tone, shift+drag it onto the "dark" image as well. It should now be on top. Set it's mode to "darken".
6. Flatten the image, and goto LEVELS. Here you can tweak the overall contrast. I usually drag the right side of the levels to the right to give a little boost to the highlights. If you hold the ALT button down while doing this, you can see when you begin to clip. If I find the image too dark overall, I will move the middle slider to increase the gamma, and then slide the left (shadows) slider over to the right to bring down the shadows to their original level.
7. This image is now grayscale, so I convert back to RGB.
8. If I want to add a slight warm tone, I will open the HUE/SATURATION dialogue, select COLORIZE, and set the hue to 40, and the saturation to about 2%.

*Make sure layers tab is selected, not channels when you drag from one image to the next.

That is all. Of course there is no one perfect way for all images, so you can also add masks to each of the layers and finesse the tone in different areas of the image.

I also learned that in some cases you can throw out one of the images altogether.
example:
http://images2.fotop.net/albums/sharpnsmart/miscellaneous/IMG_62_G.jpg

[cjm]

Color or B&W, eeeeew is all I can think about the pictures, I sure don't like women who look like the she hulk. Im sure they are great pictures as usual drisley, but I have absolute no comment.

The one of the kid has a great look, with the blured background and the way the sun is shinning on him. Great work.

[drisley]

CjM, that is a very common opinion I am hearing about the bodybuilders/fitness competitors.
I still dont see it that way, as I feel, the fitter = the sexier, and for the most part if you saw one of these women on the beach, you would be drooling. They just get extreme tanning, and leaness for a few days around the competition.
I just had a look at the first conversion, and it really doesnt suit the picture at all (as you guys have mentioned). Hopefully I will get some content soon that will lend itself toward b&w a little better ;)

[nitsch]

Cheers for the write up on your technique Drisley. It looks good, I'll give it a go on some of my images over the weekend. Thanks. :)

Nick

[drisley]

NP Nitsch.
I've actually done a bit of refining to the technique these past 24 hours.
Also, I find that more often than not, only 2 of the images, usually the darkest tones, are needed.
I've also refined the toning technique to give more pop to the highlights, and less colour cast.
I may put a better tutorial up later and place a link.