Critique the B&W Conversion / Tonality

These are from a set of three posts I put up in the photo sharing section. I was looking for some input on the black and white conversion, tonality, and general content. I guess this is really a more appropriate forum. Thoughts?

First off, I'm no expert in black & white, but I do have a couple opinions. First, I like the third picture the best. I'm not really sure why, it's just very clean and I like what the girl is expressing. Several of the other pictures look a bit grainy/dusty. I don't know if this is supposed to be, so if it is, ignore this comment. Overall, you're a better photographer than I am and I wonder what cows are doing running through the city :P

First I must say you have a very nice series of shots there that show remarkable talent, timing, and processing. Here are my comments:
#1 Nice blacks but the whites are blown out in the background. You'd need a graduated ND filter to fix this in camera or take bracketed shots and HDR it. Nice composition but I wonder how it would look as a vertical with more columns showing?
#2 Tonality looks pretty good except for the blacks going dark in the guy's pants.
#3 Looks a little too contrasty to me.
#4 ditto
#5 The building looks OK but the sky and clouds are blown out - maybe selective darken with a mask to bring out the clouds - were there clouds? You could also correct lens distortion and straighten the building lines.
#6 I like this abstract composition and I think you almost nailed it; but maybe bring up the whites a bit. Blacks looking good.
#7 Great shot - you nailed it!
#8 You nailed this one too; but I'd be tempted to clone out some of the bench on the right so they have more looking room camera left.
#

Keep in mind when shooting B&Ws that color doesn't matter... contrast does. Nice shots though.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm always interested to hear thoughts - especially on my black and white and street photography.

If you like the B/W conversion, I thought I might mention how it was done. For landscape shots, I rarely shoot b/w in camera, but for street photography, I do. Also, if there's an occasion that I know I just want to do b/w I'll do it in camera.

Generally, b/w conversion in camera does not provide the most desirable results because the images are just desaturated - but I've tried to experiment a lot with the Canon picture styles and I've found a combination I like (both on the xti and 40d).

Here's the formula:
- Monochrome
- In camera red filter applied
- Contrast turned up one notch short of all the way
- sharpness turned up two notches short of all the way.
- black clipping boosted 2-5 pts in Lightroom

I'm really trying to go for a film look. I love TRI-X and have been sorely dissatisfied with the various actions out there. This method isn't necessarily TRI-X, but I find that by using in camera sharpening, I get accross the image sharpness just like in film. By using the red filter and cranking up contrast, I get a mutch more contrasty, toned image than just the desaturated look. Finally, by boosting the black clipping, it ensures that there's some true black in the shadows rather than just a deep gray.

I like shooting this way because I get a unified look accross the images, as opposed to selectively doing the b/w conversion in LR or CS3. Sometimes the effect is more dramatic in LR or CS3 - which I use for landscapes - but I find that I get a more unified look and feel this way. Plus there's less post processing.

I just wanted to make sure the b/w is acceptable. To me it is, but I like to see what others think. Generally, I'll shoot this way in jpeg if it's just fun family shots, or more often, I'll shoot in RAW + jpeg, separate out the jpegs, and then store the RAWs if I want to potentially have a color copy as well.

Thoughts on the process for improvement?

For me, you still have a very sterile digital look.. though the shot of the fountain and the shot of the bulls are really quite nice.

One of the tricks to attaining a film look is to also treat the image for some of over efficiencies of modern equipment. Our cameras are (almost) too sharp.. our lenses are too even corner-to-corner.

There are a series of filters from Tiffen DFX for Photoshop or plug-ins for Aperture that can really help you get the feel you're looking for.

Trust me.. I've been chasing "the look" for several years. In all honesty, what I've found out is the look I'm after is the "Leica look." It's what street photographers have been capturing with Leica rangefinders (and copies) for years.

I have $30K of Canon gear that I use in my professional work. For this kind of photography, though... I like a small camera that gets out of my way. Simplicity is key.

There is a great camera that you can pick up used for about $750. It iwll blow you away. The Leica Digilux 2 has the finest 5 megapixels you will ever lay eyes on. The lens is a Leica (equiv. 28-90) f/2 and it just gives a wonderful glow.

Here are a few examples...

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

impressive mono there! the mustang pic reminds me of soft focusing lenses