More B&W Experiments

coscorrosa

Going through some random photos that I thought may look good in B&W and converting them using the new (to me) Nik Silver Efex plugin.

I'm clueless (in general, even more so about B&W conversions). I'm trying to come up with some generalizations on what types of shots convert well to B&W (I can usually tell after, have a harder time telling before). I've added comments to each photo, any feedback is appreciated.

#1: This one has a light sepia tone on it. I thought a high-contrast backlit fog scene might look good in B&W, but there's not enough fog to make it work.



#2 Tatoosh Range (Mt. Rainier National Park). The color version has some pretty crappy 11 AM-ish sky but that might be an advantage on this shot. Actually it seems like the crappier the light often the better the B&W conversion!? If this is actually true then that triples the amount of time I can photograph. This is not good. I won't have time to eat or sleep.



#3: Here's a case where there was a great colorful sunset, don't think it works well as a B&W.



#4: This was taken in the early morning about 30 minutes after sunrise (Mt. Baker). I think it works OK, a lot of natural edges and contrast that the B&W accentuates.



#5: I liked the clouds in the color version and though I could get them to pop in the B&W version too, and as a bonus, the light house was already bright white to begin with. I think it's OK.



#6: I tried playing with this quite a bit and couldn't ever get it quite right. I think what I needed on this shot was an IR camera more than anything



#7: Great light in color, not quite as good in B&W IMO.



#8 Backlit fog scene that had very little color to begin with. This might be the only "soft" shot of this series that I think actually is decent.



#9: A very contrasty sky that I thought might look OK in B&W. The (intentionally) blown-out bits don't seem to detract as much as they did in the color version.



#10: I'm not sure big waterfalls are good subjects for B&W (at least the long exposures). It seems like you want the high contrast of the foreground stuff but that doesn't necessarily work with the softness of the waterfalls. I think the juxtaposition might work on small water falls/flows though. Hmm.



#11: Bright blue sky with a lot of clouds, it seems like these types of shots convert well to B&W.



#12: Same as the above shot. I actually like this a lot better in B&W than in color. Shadows don't seem to be as big of a deal in B&W and can actually add instead of detract. I added a vignette on this one to push the eye to the middle of the frame, debating whether that was a good idea.

NeilL

I like #8 Ron, tho would prefer a bit more bite in the black, I think. It would make a nice one of a set of miniatures in a nook somewhere.

Neil

toadlet

They are all simply stunning mono conversions, and you are correct in saying that what may look dull in colour due to lighting conditions etc can come up very well in mono. Your shots are very nice and well executed.

Blinkings

Yes I would say you have done a good job on them.

Darren Troy C

#3, 7, & 10.....



ARE FANTASTIC!!!

bryanj87

I'm certainly no expert, but I'll try to offer up some more tips based on what I usually do.

#1- Maybe add a control point in the foggy distance and darken it a bit?

#2- Crappy light usually equals good b/w. Sorry. Most of my shots taken in mid-day light are keepers when converted to b/w. Eating and sleeping are overrated anyway! On this particular shot, I would try adding a control point to the sky and darken it more. Then again, I love overly dramatic skies.

#3- I've found colorful sunsets are best left in color. Maybe you could try darkening the sky more?

#4- Again, I would darken the sky a bit more. The bluer the sky and puffier the clouds, the better. I tend to like black skies with white clouds.

#5- Looks awesome as is!!!

#6- Were the leaves red/orange? I'm not sure what you could do here, the sky is pretty bright, maybe darken the leaves instead of going for the IR look?

#7- Looks great as is!

#8- This shot is fantastic as is. The composition and b/w conversion are perfect!

#9- I like it as is. I might try adjusting levels first to help bring out the layered mountains and the convert to b/w. I'd also add more contrast/structure to the sky, but that's me.

#10- I like this one as is. I've not really tried any waterfall shots in b/w yet.

#11&#12- These look really good as they are.

With Nik Silver, I usually start with the High Structure preset and work from there. I've found recently that putting the image into Photomatix first (either just for tonemapping or true HDR) and then converting to B/W makes for some really striking images. The noise that Photomatix tends to add to dark areas makes interesting grainy detail when converted to b/w. I'll also over-do the saturation and then sharpen it first, that can create better contrast and more detail. Nik adds simulated film grain (it seems even when that setting is unchecked) which makes for a really noisy image if I sharpen as my last step. Some of the shots I've posted here recently, I've noodled around with for an hour until I got something I really liked, others take less than a minute. I also usually add vignetting to my b/w conversions. An intersting effect you can do also is to decrease the opacity of the Nik Silver layer to create a desaturated/vintage look. This can work particularly well if you color tone the Nik layer.

I hope this helps!!!

coscorrosa

NeilL wrote:

I like #8 Ron, tho would prefer a bit more bite in the black, I think. It would make a nice one of a set of miniatures in a nook somewhere.

Neil

I actually tried that (adding more black/contrast) and I didn't like the result quite as much as it didn't go as well with the soft fog. It's all subjective

coscorrosa

bryanj87 wrote:

I'm certainly no expert, but I'll try to offer up some more tips based on what I usually do.

#1- Maybe add a control point in the foggy distance and darken it a bit?

#2- Crappy light usually equals good b/w. Sorry. Most of my shots taken in mid-day light are keepers when converted to b/w. Eating and sleeping are overrated anyway! On this particular shot, I would try adding a control point to the sky and darken it more. Then again, I love overly dramatic skies.

#3- I've found colorful sunsets are best left in color. Maybe you could try darkening the sky more?

#4- Again, I would darken the sky a bit more. The bluer the sky and puffier the clouds, the better. I tend to like black skies with white clouds.

#5- Looks awesome as is!!!

#6- Were the leaves red/orange? I'm not sure what you could do here, the sky is pretty bright, maybe darken the leaves instead of going for the IR look?

#7- Looks great as is!

#8- This shot is fantastic as is. The composition and b/w conversion are perfect!

#9- I like it as is. I might try adjusting levels first to help bring out the layered mountains and the convert to b/w. I'd also add more contrast/structure to the sky, but that's me.

#10- I like this one as is. I've not really tried any waterfall shots in b/w yet.

#11&#12- These look really good as they are.

With Nik Silver, I usually start with the High Structure preset and work from there. I've found recently that putting the image into Photomatix first (either just for tonemapping or true HDR) and then converting to B/W makes for some really striking images. The noise that Photomatix tends to add to dark areas makes interesting grainy detail when converted to b/w. I'll also over-do the saturation and then sharpen it first, that can create better contrast and more detail. Nik adds simulated film grain (it seems even when that setting is unchecked) which makes for a really noisy image if I sharpen as my last step. Some of the shots I've posted here recently, I've noodled around with for an hour until I got something I really liked, others take less than a minute. I also usually add vignetting to my b/w conversions. An intersting effect you can do also is to decrease the opacity of the Nik Silver layer to create a desaturated/vintage look. This can work particularly well if you color tone the Nik layer.

I hope this helps!!!

Thanks for taking the time to do a detailed shot-by-shot breakdown (and Nik tips), it truly does help. I agree with your thoughts in general about dramatic/contrasty skies, my "problem" is that I typically avoid those conditions because they don't look as good in color. It'll take me a bit for I recognize something as being B&W worthy before I shoot it but I should get there in a year or so.

NeilL

coscorrosa wrote:

I actually tried that (adding more black/contrast) and I didn't like the result quite as much as it didn't go as well with the soft fog. It's all subjective

It was just an idea. I still like the shot a lot as is.

bryanj87

coscorrosa wrote:

Thanks for taking the time to do a detailed shot-by-shot breakdown (and Nik tips), it truly does help. I agree with your thoughts in general about dramatic/contrasty skies, my "problem" is that I typically avoid those conditions because they don't look as good in color. It'll take me a bit for I recognize something as being B&W worthy before I shoot it but I should get there in a year or so.

No problem. It's my way of giving back.

shniks

Ron I love #2, 3, 5 and 10. Very well done. I got the Nik Silver Efex too recently but haven't got around to playing with it. Looks really good to me. Well done.


Cheers,

boblu262

nice job!
Great job on the BW conversions on all of them. THe standout for me is #7.
I thought the color version was stunning to begin with. The BW version is a completely different image but equally stunning. Without the color my eye is drawn down the waterfall. GREAT work!