This is the first attempt to do a side challenge. For more information read this thread. Basically feel free to post pictures that have been converted to black and white. Preferably you should up load the picture to the gallery, then post a link to it here. Then others will leave comments on how to improve for next time, the reason I say it is better to post in the gallery is so the comments can go right on your picture rather than in this thread, that way it will be easier for you to find the comments directed to your picture. Then learn and post another picture. Also as you see others post pictures leave your comments for them. Hopefully with enough participation everybody will learn a lot from the images. The more you post the more you will learn, so don't be shy.

[sajmmiller]

I'm having trouble posting in the gallery. The sizes are all too big? when I post from picasa or flickr I don't have a problem since I can select a medium size. When I try to reduce size on my computer it becomes more pixilated??

I prefer to resize images before uploading them rather than letting the web host do the resizing. Most web hosts use a fast, but poor quality, resizing algorithm. Also, when you resize images yourself, the same principle applies; some resizing algorithms give better results than others. See if your software lets you choose the type of resizing (interpolation). If so, try Lanczos if it's available.

I like the lines and industrial feel of your photo. I wonder if by using filters or channels in the b&w conversion, more detail could be brought out in the areas under the bridge. Take a look at what each channel (red, green, blue) provides in b&w and go from there. I'm pretty new at this, but the technique worked well for bringing out some detail in my photo, so I thought it might work for yours too.

I am trying the click picture to link to the photo gallery trick here... fingers crossed



This was shot with the K100d and the 18-55 kit. At 18mm - ISO 800 - 1/4" and F3.5
I actually thought I had shot it with an old Manual SMC M35 3.5 but the exif says otherwise.

Thanks for teaching me the click to link trick...

-gus-

[travis_cooper]

I'm really glad that this is picking up. Remember, if you like to receive comments it is also nice to give them out. One of the best things about these side challenges is all the feedback from everybody. From the experienced to the beginner there is a whole range of opinions and all of them can be helpful. I just left comments on the pictures that are posted to the galleries here. Those of you that just uploaded them as an attachement, if you would like to post them to the gallery so your comments will stay with your picture rather than lost in all the different posts in this thread I'll give you some time to do that, I will try to comment on all those tomorrow either in here or in the gallery if they are there. For the flickr account, I guess I just need to create one then I'll leave a comment for you.

Keep submitting the pictures, the more you submit over the course of the month the better. This is really doing well, I'm quite pleased.

[weatherwise2]

Thanks for the comments. I did have trouble resizing but ended up figuring out with infraview.

I went back to the raw and selected yellow for the B&W filter conversion.

I got it posted on the gallery now to see if the instructions above work:

[daacon]

well heres mine...

You double poster you The model effect is surreal. I would have a hard time believing this is not a model. The grain on the windshield makes that shot. Can you post this in the gallery ? That was one of the conditions and it does make it easy to see comments and reply. Overall I like it.

[daacon]

Hmmm I hope this works out. K100D, smc-a 28/2.8, conversion via PS channel mixer, and a platinum curve.

I love this shot. The mist really adds to it. Also love the person walking away in the background. A very errie effect. I don't think I would change a thing in this one! Also if you post this in Gallery and provide a hot link to it (see Jeff or Travis comment on how to do that) makes commenting and replies simplier.

[weatherwise2]

Here is one of the 2 new photos I posted on the user gallery. As mentioned it was a rainy and foggy day. I had posted a few months back my favorite of this series. Let me know what you think.


https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/1868/large/1_IMGP0909pc2_sm.jpg

[travis_cooper]

Okay, here is my next entry. This is a little village that my wife sets up around Christmas time. I thought it might make a good black and white, what do you think? I don't have time today, but I'll try to catch up on comments tomorrow.

[gpaual]

shot this last spring in az. 2 minuet exposure using remote.....not the most comfortable for long exposures..........can't recall what lens i used, but was shot on k10d.....perhasp the sig'24-135....iso 400 think perhasp around f 16...29 mm.......

[gpaual]

ok travis.........i downloaded your image to apply a technique that i use in conversions.....i have several and usually allow the image to lead the conversion......my emphasis with b&w is primarily dramatic.....i like contrast and mystery, but not overly so......anyway the conversion i did on yours went as follows......mind you, i was already starting with a b&w image ......i opend the photo>dup'd the background> applied an adjustment layer using the exposure filter with settings of....exp-39/offset -10......this merely dropped some of the blown highlites and punched up the darks a bit.....another adjustment layer this time applying selective color and choosing the neutral color first i pushed to the right to darken to+8....then to the white to darken to a value of +3, and the blk color to -5.......this adjustment sorta evened out the tonalities but left a depletion of contrast which in your image begs for recognition, following this with curves first to bring back some white but careful not to blow it out again, and raising the shadow slider along the l edge just a nudge to drop the darks a bit ....i left the mid-tones alone except to pull the cursor back down to mid point......i then flattened the image.....another dup layer changing the blending mode to multiply @ 51% opac' and unsharp mask @ 1.1/70, flattened and saved.......as i said i use several methods, but in all of them, the selective color adjustment tool is present....this tool has a lot of punch for playing with blow-outs and taming them down.....i also use channels and levels alot when converting from color as they allow for preconceived adjustments that are closer to the values one seeks at the point of conversion....anyway, hope i didn't overstep here, certainly dont mean to,
as for the image itself, i liked it, overlooking the highlights......i suspect that yes, there was some light diffraction going on due to the mists of the fountain and the spots/floods.....this would indeed account for the softening of the mid-tones.......also like the thread, perhaps you could pm the recipe for linking.....don't quite get it........g'nite good luck, and hope this develops onward......

[sajmmiller]

Here's another one for your critique:

Moonlit Fairytale House


This conversion was done by directly editing the 16-bit RAW file in Digikam. Ilford Delta 400 Pro 3200 film simulation, yellow filter, platinum tone, contrast curve.

[Fl_Gulfer]

It just shows how much the truck drivers pay attension, They are doing this down the street from me and will my doing the ditch in front of my other beach house, The ditches are about 6 feet deep,, for storm runoff durring Hurricanes and such. It's only about 200 feet from the Gulf Beach. Another waste of my tax dollars to run drainage pipe underground with no drains to let the water run into it from the street. The ditch is on the right side of the piles of dirt.
See the shoes hanging from the power lines I remember those days when the bully of the hood would do that and get me in trouble for loosing my shoes. Then I would have to walk barefooted to school in the snow,, 5 miles one way, uphill both ways...

[distorted_vision]

You double poster you The model effect is surreal. I would have a hard time believing this is not a model. The grain on the windshield makes that shot. Can you post this in the gallery ? That was one of the conditions and it does make it easy to see comments and reply. Overall I like it.

errm, i have no idea so ill just delete it anyway.. lol. cheers for the comment tho mate.

[daacon]

Here is pretty much the same shot I posted before with some croping and PP using the Greg Gorman B&W conversion Instructions and not only was this not my idea I stole Travis's PS3 action which he kindly posted in that thread as well.

[daacon]

shot this last spring in az. 2 minuet exposure using remote.....not the most comfortable for long exposures..........can't recall what lens i used, but was shot on k10d.....perhasp the sig'24-135....iso 400 think perhasp around f 16...29 mm.......

Very Nice gpaul - I love the reflections. Don't have much critism to say about that photo