Like was said, it needs more definition and contrast:
I would do two passes on it, one with Levels and one with Curves.
Open your Levels tool and make sure your ranges for dark and light are correct (pull the sliders on each side to the edge of the histogram).
Next open curves. Just to give you an idea of how this works, grab the center of the curve line and push it up and to the left then grab the bottome 1/4 of the line and pull it down and to the right. This will boost overall contrast. This is very general but once you try it you will get the idea.
The Unsharp Mask can be used to pop B&W shots also if you dont over do it. (try 60% & 5-20)
Thanks for your comments. I am posting the original as well as a more contrasty B/W (after adjusting levels and curves). This was taken with an old 2MP handheld
Figured I'd give it a shot . I ran the image through some LAB adjustments (to expand the color range in the sky), converted it back to RGB, and applied three masked curves layers (one of which was a hard light high-contrast layer which I hand-painted into the tree in areas which would give it a more 3D look), and finally used channel mixer with a mostly-red blend. I started running into JPEG compression artifacts, unfortunately, but the original image shouldn't have an issue.
Figured I'd give it a shot . I ran the image through some LAB adjustments (to expand the color range in the sky), converted it back to RGB, and applied three masked curves layers (one of which was a hard light high-contrast layer which I hand-painted into the tree in areas which would give it a more 3D look), and finally used channel mixer with a mostly-red blend. I started running into JPEG compression artifacts, unfortunately, but the original image shouldn't have an issue.
This is the type of conversion I envisioned this image should be when I looked at the original. Sky's look dark in your red channel so give that one a boost when mixing colors in your conversion and get rid of all the blue data. Just use the green to clean up the sky if it gets too noisy.
Pakru,
In B&W images a dark sky will generally look more dramatic. Also, the sky is a backdrop to the real subject: the tree. You need to make the tree standout which is why it needs to have the right contrast. Next time use flash to fill in the shadows on the tree and make it stand out more.
There are many ways, but when I see a deep blue sky like that, I go for the moody blacks. I did this very quickly, and if this was shot in RAW I could make it look better and without pixelation.
Anyway, I boosted the blues even more via LAB and used the red channel in the channel mixer and then sharpened some. If I would of taken my time with the orginal, I would of done some dodging work on the tree also.
Comments
Hi Pakru, I am no expert at B&W by any means, so I hope someone who knows more about reply's to your post.
The image you've posted looks more grey tones than Black and White, it also looks dull rather than crisp and sharp looking.
Can you post the colour image you were using to attempt your B&W conversion ???? ..... I'm sure someone can help you out ........ Skippy
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:skippy Everyone has the right to be stupid, but some people just abuse the privilege :dgrin
However, like Skippy, I'd like to see more contrast. IMHO, you need to concentrate on boosing contrast in the tree to help it pop more.
http://www.chrislaudermilkphoto.com/
I would do two passes on it, one with Levels and one with Curves.
Open your Levels tool and make sure your ranges for dark and light are correct (pull the sliders on each side to the edge of the histogram).
Next open curves. Just to give you an idea of how this works, grab the center of the curve line and push it up and to the left then grab the bottome 1/4 of the line and pull it down and to the right. This will boost overall contrast. This is very general but once you try it you will get the idea.
The Unsharp Mask can be used to pop B&W shots also if you dont over do it. (try 60% & 5-20)
But then again.....when it comes to BW....I cheat with Plug-in's.
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Original:
IMG_1083 copy.jpg
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Lone Tree BW copy.jpg
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b & w gradient map and unsharp mask to make it happen.
This is the type of conversion I envisioned this image should be when I looked at the original. Sky's look dark in your red channel so give that one a boost when mixing colors in your conversion and get rid of all the blue data. Just use the green to clean up the sky if it gets too noisy.
Pakru,
In B&W images a dark sky will generally look more dramatic. Also, the sky is a backdrop to the real subject: the tree. You need to make the tree standout which is why it needs to have the right contrast. Next time use flash to fill in the shadows on the tree and make it stand out more.
Erich
Anyway, I boosted the blues even more via LAB and used the red channel in the channel mixer and then sharpened some. If I would of taken my time with the orginal, I would of done some dodging work on the tree also.
Thanks again for helping me learn B/W conversion
Pakru
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