RAW to a brilliant BW finish?

asamuel · July 14, 2006

how do you do it?

what should I fiddle with in RAW converter before hooking into Andys BW conversion tutorial.

I had read one grinner saying that you want a great colour shot before turning to BW......does that mean that I should do all kinds of fluff to my picture in LAB and curves etc before working my picture in the gradient mixer?

I felt maybe I should just shift exposure in RAW and then move straight to the BW conversion in PS and RGB channels...is this too easy?

phuong · July 14, 2006

asamuel wrote:

how do you do it?

what should I fiddle with in RAW converter before hooking into Andys BW conversion tutorial.

I had read one grinner saying that you want a great colour shot before turning to BW......does that mean that I should do all kinds of fluff to my picture in LAB and curves etc before working my picture in the gradient mixer?

I felt maybe I should just shift exposure in RAW and then move straight to the BW conversion in PS and RGB channels...is this too easy?

keep in mind that not every scene works in BW. the basic elements of a BW pictures are shapes, forms, textures and any combinations of them. so fiddling (or struggling?) in RAW converter just isn't enough. when doing conversions try to keep whites white and blacks black, and balance greys to the level/propotion you desire (like make it contrasty or dreamy etc)

meewolfie · July 14, 2006

I'm just a little bit further along than you in figuring this out, but not by much.

It certainly helps to have a nice color image with decent contrast. As you experiment and gain experience, you'll get better at recognizing which images would make nice conversions.

Once you get your image into Photoshop...

1. There are some great tutorials out there - try each one as you'll learn something from each approach. Experiment with the tutorial steps along the way to help you understand what effect it's having on the image - and ask yourself if that is what you are going for. By changing the variables (opacity, curves) at each step, you may find that you prefer something a little bit different.

Another tutorial that was recommended to me (and has been mentioned around here before, I'm sure):

http://www.gormanphotography.com/gorman.html

Under, "Learn", "November 2004"

If you create his action for the conversion, the end result retains at least three or four layers that can still be tweaked or removed to further develop your final image.

2. I'm working through the LAB book discussed in this thread and am starting to feel most comfortable over in the LAB world. I like playing around with the lightness channel independantly of the color channels and I think this has helped me get better control over my B/W conversions (though they still need alot of work).

Just by viewing the lightness channel and then playing with curves, I think you can really start to get a feel as to where your shades of gray are in the image. It's very sensitive to minor changes - so it's easy to see when things go wrong and interesting to see all of the variations as you manipulate your points along the curve.

3. It's true what all of these good people have mentioned before, the burn and dodge tools are your friends! Make a copy of your file and just experiment with the tools with no fear of ruining your image - you can always trash the file after your "practice" session. It's time well spent.

I hope that's a bit of a start in the right direction.

Mary

asamuel · July 14, 2006

Thanks for your replies. I have had a look at the gorman technique.

I followed the action like painting by numbers. No dodge, no burn, no levels just a quick tweek if the exposure in RAW converter. I think that the traffic light is over processed amd the figures too dark, but the technique is interesting.

Anybody want to tell me what is wrong with the conversion? I think I may lean to heavily towards darkness, I maynot choose the right images and what are your thoughts on toning.

i have 30 images I want to convert and quickish, so any advice is welcomed. thanks again

asamuel · July 14, 2006

asamuel · July 14, 2006

According to petteri:

. With digital, to get a good picture, you need to be pretty careful with the exposure, especially at higher sensitivities, and especially careful not to overexpose -- otherwise you'll lose the highlights.

I state this because having shot in raw I have lent towards the highlights where possible. that being the case if you are interested in the steps from RAW you must make full use of the exposure slider....

....so I added this to Gorman, as for Petteris full trechnique, I havent got that far. My Brain is frazzled and am stopping for today...

comments appreciated

ginger_55 · July 14, 2006

I like those conversions. Somehow your tendency toward dark in details enhances those photos for me. Some other photo not be so enhanced, but I think I might look into that link.

One thing I do is, after I do RAW, then LAB a bit, I sharpen using the L channel..................by doing that, I get the bonus of seeing my photo in "black/white/grey" right there. Some just scream to do a black and white conversion..........some do not (and those are not usually the best color either), but some could go either way.

Other than that, I do not do much black and white. But sharpening in the L channel, it was an eye opener. I don't know if the sharpening is that good, but the preview for black and white always makes me think.

ginger

ginger_55 · July 14, 2006

I just printed out the Gorman Technique and was going to play with it.

But it asks me to make a difficult decision: choice of color.

Numbers 12, 13, 14...............

Could you tell me what color you chose????

I am clueless as to what the "question"/answer is. Light color, dark color?
So I am prepared to just copy someone else's choice and I like the stuff in this thread.

Could you please share the color you chose?

ginger

asamuel · July 14, 2006

I went for something that resembled chocolate brown (as alluded to in Andys tutorial), although looking at other portrait and documentary photography often a green is used.

I guess we have to experiment....thanks for your reply.

meewolfie · July 14, 2006

Ginger - I chose a rusty-sepia color when I first built the Gorman action. What I've found is that it's a little bit too much, but, since it's on it's own layer in Photoshop, I can play around with it after the action has finished running.

If I find that I'm fussing with the image in the same way after I run the action each time, I'll eventually go back and tweak the action to match my preferred outcome. Since I'm mostly experimenting at this point, I don't mind that the image after the action still needs work.

What I have done to the layer with the color to "tweak" is:

1. Change the color. Double click on the layer and change to black or some other color (actually, I've ever only changed it to black).

2. Changed the opacity of the color layer. In my action I have the settings so that this layer comes out pretty intense. I can bump the opacity down to 50% or lower and I still get some nice color, but it's not overwhelming.

I've learned alot about the conversion "process" just by turning the layers off and on to see the effect on the whole image.

Mary

asamuel · July 15, 2006

I have worked a little on gormans action. I have saved it as two actions. I end the first action just before it requires you to merge all visible layers, that way you can tweek them all before continuing.

I will further try and optimise the use of Raw by merging two images: one exposed for the sky and the other for the land and people. I also need to learn how to dodge and burn for certain areas of the conversions.....

what parts would you like to see modified?

todays:

RAW to a brilliant BW finish?

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