I have been experimenting with the B&W converter plug-in called 'Andy' that comes as part of Bibble Lite. It lets you choose from a variety of film, paper and processing options to get the desired result, easy to use and effective.

This takes me back to my first SLR as a teenager - K1000, FP4/HP5, Ilford Multigrade in a converted cupboard darkroom. I do miss the hands on satisfaction you get developing your own prints, watching the print develop from a blank sheet of paper - the smell of the chemicals and the orange glow of the saftey light........ Sitting back and watching your print edge its way out of the printer doesn't quite have that same magic.

Enough of the nostalga, time for some photo's!

All taken with K10D

F*300, ISO100, f8, 1/400 with polariser



Sigma 17-70 at 70, ISO100, f6.3, 1/200 with polariser



I almost deleted this last image, as it had white balance problems with strong sunlight coming in from the left and artificial light in the forground the colours didn't look good.

Sigma 17-70 at 17, ISO1600, f2.8, 1/13



All comments and suggestions welcome.

Thanks for looking
Mike

[Donald]

fine black and white conversions. I'm not familiar with Andy or BibbleLite: is this their result or is there some of your manipulations too?

The boat is excellent: good saturated tonal range and sharpness. It may lend itself well to both extreme and subtle cool or warm toning.

Other 2 images lack sharpness and suffer for it as they have some sharp details which means to me that they weren't the best photos to begin with, unlike the boat.

I had fun in school darkroom too, although I was in photo class, and darkroom, with 23 women! !!! !!!!!!

[davemdsn]

I would have liked a bit of detail in the windmill on #1, instead of pure black. I still like it though. I love the other two.

I think sharpness is a matter of artistic discression and not always needed. Great for macro bug shots and product shots. In other shots a little softness is OK. Of course, this is just my opinion, nothing else.

[Mike19]

fine black and white conversions. I'm not familiar with Andy or BibbleLite: is this their result or is there some of your manipulations too?

The boat is excellent: good saturated tonal range and sharpness. It may lend itself well to both extreme and subtle cool or warm toning.

Other 2 images lack sharpness and suffer for it as they have some sharp details which means to me that they weren't the best photos to begin with, unlike the boat.

I had fun in school darkroom too, although I was in photo class, and darkroom, with 23 women! !!! !!!!!!

Thanks for your comments Donald, The interface that is within 'Andy' uses various preset combinations of saturation, contrast etc to emulate different effects that particular film and paper types would achieve in a wet darkroom. For the windmill I used a Kodalith film treatment which I think exaggerates the tonal range, I agree the foreground could have been sharper with a greater depth of field.
The spiral stairs were at the limit of what I could do with the avaliable light not much scope for increasing DOF, a tripod would have let me shut down the apeture but I think that would have been tricky getting it set up!

I would have liked a bit of detail in the windmill on #1, instead of pure black. I still like it though. I love the other two.

I think sharpness is a matter of artistic discression and not always needed. Great for macro bug shots and product shots. In other shots a little softness is OK. Of course, this is just my opinion, nothing else.

Thanks davemdsn, whilst the detail of the windmill is lost I liked the impact of the silhouette combined with the symmetry of the sails, I have another couple of shots of the windmill that I will try a different approach with.

Thanks for looking.

[Peter Zack]

I'd basically mirror davemsdm's comments. But of course photo critiques are coming from my own personal likes/dislikes so worth about 2 cents I figure.

I like the image of the windmill and it's a great silhouette. I would have liked the black's to not be quite so deep. Just a touch of grey to show the faintest details. The boat however is excellent and a great image and conversion. great subject and enough unique detail to make you study the subject. The staircase is well taken and converted but only my opinion, it kind of lacks a subject or something to draw you in. Like if you could catch someones foot/lower leg on the lowest visible step just as they acend the stairs.

As for the softness, personally I think all the shots are well taken. Sometimes there's abit too much obsession with sharpness certain subjects. needed in a macro, bird or flower shot. But many other shots benefit from a bit more of a film look. As these do.

[channeler]

Just my own personal opinion but I like the windmill best. Just a bit more sharpness and more detail showing may have been beneficial. For me I feel the boat one might have benefited from a wider angle.

Paul

[Mike19]

I'd basically mirror davemsdm's comments. But of course photo critiques are coming from my own personal likes/dislikes so worth about 2 cents I figure.

I like the image of the windmill and it's a great silhouette. I would have liked the black's to not be quite so deep. Just a touch of grey to show the faintest details. The boat however is excellent and a great image and conversion. great subject and enough unique detail to make you study the subject. The staircase is well taken and converted but only my opinion, it kind of lacks a subject or something to draw you in. Like if you could catch someones foot/lower leg on the lowest visible step just as they acend the stairs.

As for the softness, personally I think all the shots are well taken. Sometimes there's abit too much obsession with sharpness certain subjects. needed in a macro, bird or flower shot. But many other shots benefit from a bit more of a film look. As these do.

Thanks Peter Zack, I really like your idea of having someones leg just dissappearing down the stairs, next time we visit this castle I will get my son to walk down the stairs, if I do managed to get my tripod set up on the stairs it might make an interesting multiple exposure also - a sort of ghostly look!?

Just my own personal opinion but I like the windmill best. Just a bit more sharpness and more detail showing may have been beneficial. For me I feel the boat one might have benefited from a wider angle.

Paul

Thanks for your comments Paul, I was fairly pleased with the result of the Windmill shot too.
I actually cropped the boat image down by about 20% so the origonal would probably have pleased you, I am a fan of close framing/cropping but I do accept that sometimes backing off a bit does improve the capture by giving the subject greater context.

I have taken onboard what you have all said about letting some detail through on the mill and will be posting another version sometime next week.

Also, I do agree that there is an element of subjectivity when viewing B&W, but as much of my pleasure with photography comes from other peoples enjoyment of the images, each and every view point is valuable.

Thanks all again for taking the time to look/comment.

Mike

[devisor]

My fav is the stairs .. nice view.

[Mike19]

Thanks for looking devisor,

Some new images

I have tried to include as many of your suggestions as possible!

More detail and less fore ground



A wider angle and some toning - sepia??



Just an experiment - not to everyones taste I expect!!



Let me know what you think

Mike

[Arpe]

I actually prefer the windmill in the first one! I think the 2 tones boats are a tad exstreme!

[Mike19]

I actually prefer the windmill in the first one! I think the 2 tones boats are a tad exstreme!

Thanks for commenting Arpe......Your right, the toned boats are a bit extreme, I think I will stick to straight B&W convertions for the moment!

Mike

[The Pentax Hammer]

I really like the detail in the first two. The windmill makes a perfect silhouette, and the glistening water is too cool!

The boat is a classic design and condition for b&w.

Very well done!

[Mike19]

I really like the detail in the first two. The windmill makes a perfect silhouette, and the glistening water is too cool!

The boat is a classic design and condition for b&w.

Very well done!

Thanks for your kind words Gary; as we are well supplied with windmills in this part of the country I might well keep going with that theme!
Boats are a passion of mine having been involved with either sailing them or building them for the past 30 yrs, including a summer spent teaching sailing at a summer camp in Michigan - Camp Maplehurst - a great way to spend the summer!

Mike