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#281 - Nature in Black and White
Posted By: RollsUp, 04-12-2014, 01:56 PM

This weeks challenge is Nature in Black and White.

This topic is a part of my photography that I mostly have a hard time getting "it right" with some photos that I take thinking they would be good in black and white but, they don't turn out as well as I thought they would. So this will teach me a bit about taking nature photos for black and white.

This isn't a requirement but, I hope you will post the specifics on when (time of day, cloudy, sunny etc.), how (editing) and why your submission was converted to black and white.

Some inspirational photos here for you to look at.

This challenge will run until Saturday April 19 at midnight AKDT (GMT -8). Looking forward to your submissions!

Every week, a new theme is picked and judged by the winner of the previous week. This challenge is Pentax-only.

Everyone is eligible to send in their best interpretation of the given theme, as long as the photo is taken with a Pentax/Samsung camera. Themes can be subject-oriented or technique-oriented.

Rules
1. Post ONE photo (max 1024x1024).
2. The photo must portray an interpretation of the theme.
3. Post your single picture in this thread and explain what motivated you to take the picture and/or how you feel it represents the weekly theme (especially if it's not obvious).
4. The challenge is interactive. Any response is welcome.
5. The judge will pick the WINNERS and choose one of them to be the judge for the next week.
6. This challenge runs for 7 days plus an additional day for the judge to choose the winners.
7. Any Pentax (or Samsung DSLR) camera can be used.
8. Pictures can be from any time frame, not just within the week of the current theme.
9. In case the winner of a challenge is unable to become the judge for the next challenge, they will PM the #2 winner for that person to be the judge.

Last edited by RollsUp; 04-12-2014 at 02:02 PM.
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04-14-2014, 12:35 PM - 3 Likes   #16
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wow great entries I'll pass landscape also
A wild flower (cyclamen if I'm not mistaken)


04-14-2014, 12:36 PM   #17
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I don't want to enter, but just some thoughts for people who do from someone who is definitely not an expert.

B&W isn't something you can just do to any image after the fact to set a mood or make it look vintage. Too often people will decide to make something black and white that shouldn't be and you end up with an image where objects that were separated because of their colors turn into a blurry mush. If I have to concentrate to see detail and object separation then you have screwed something up (artistic effects aside of course). Selective depth of field can also be used to achieve greater target separation.
You also have to have a different level of brightness and contrast to make B&W work than in the same image in color. Some of that has to be thought out in advance so you get the correct exposure, but you can do a lot with raw files, converting to B&W at the jpeg stage is the wrong way to go about it in most cases.

The best way to do B&W is actually film. The highlight compression among other things allow you to expose for shadows and get much more visible contrast and levels of shadows without blowing things in the highlights. Get a Pentax film camera with Kodak BW400CN C41 film which is good for beginners (and experts) because its really high quality and you can have it developed and scanned to CD by any place that processes color (keep your negatives), and that film seems to have in my opinion less need for color filters and special techniques I have found than most of the traditional darkroom B&W films which can come out rather flat otherwise. Do keep in mind that scanners have a far more limited dynamic range than the film itself, so you lose a lot unless you combine multiple scans or use special techniques that I know nothing about.

Sticking with your nature theme rather than trying to pick the best (remember I am not entering) here are some random images I took, if you want experts on B&W go look in the film forum, especially at some of the medium format stuff, I just play with it.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/members/46390-pppppp42/albums/4594-pictures/picture67651.jpg A35-105 F3.5 maybe? Prob K1000
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/members/46390-pppppp42/albums/4594-pictures/picture46675.jpg prob same lens & camera
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/members/46390-pppppp42/albums/4594-pictures/picture41545.jpg this one was damn near a hip shot with an A70-210 F4 on the K1000 since I had to turn 90 degrees aim and focus as they were leaving (I startled them walking by), thus the somewhat odd framing that kinda works I guess.

A non nature example of why I hate digital B&W, this is from the DSLR, and in the same shot taken with my film camera (don't have that scanned) you can see a ton of shadow detail in the front of the train and yet the highlights towards the rear weren't blown, here you have the opposite. With correct exposure on a DSLR, you can do special burning and dodging work on the raw file to lift the shadows and get everything where it should be. I haven't worked with this image at all, its just an example of what often happens for me with straight conversion to B&W in digital.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/members/46390-pppppp42/albums/4594-pictures/picture46003.jpg

I think in summary the #1 thing I can suggest for digital B&W would be to use the raw file and get really good at selective burning and dodging in combination with brightness and contrast adjustments. You shouldn't need fancy software to do the B&W conversion as most programs have a one button option to do that.
EDIT: Something else I have never tried is messing with the colors separately in an image before converting to black and white, one of the ways black and white film adjusts contrast is with color filters so one would assume individually adjusting the brightness levels of color in an image before black and white conversion would have a similar effect.

Last edited by PPPPPP42; 04-14-2014 at 08:27 PM.
04-14-2014, 04:38 PM - 1 Like   #18
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None of us are experts.
Why don't you enter anyway?
Its just a bit of fun to give us a reason to share images that we each enjoy. :-)
04-14-2014, 06:45 PM - 1 Like   #19
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Not often I do B&W, and i consider that in good B&W the viewer shouldn't notice lack of color.
In this shot I tried to leave color, but any color version was worse, than B&W, imho
I hope, me won't strongly punish for such contents. Same nature Sorry



04-14-2014, 08:24 PM - 5 Likes   #20
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Hard to compete with the glorious female form(even though she's got no Beardedclam), but the only thing that matches a passion for women is a passion for skiing

Taken 4/12/14 on Pumice Ridge, Mt. Baker, Wa. Elevation ~9500'. Clouds were lifting all day as we started at the car at 2800' with a dual cloud ceiling. As we neared the summit (this is 1200' below) the clouds were rushing over its tip and the wind was howling as we climbed this ridge of sastrugi and rime ice before bootpacking the final 500 feet to the summit

Last edited by Cory Tarilton; 04-14-2014 at 08:29 PM.
04-14-2014, 09:49 PM - 1 Like   #21
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Here is my entry. Shot with Super Multi Coated Macro Takumar 50mm on my K-x. I've been chasing the bees around all week and I haven't gotten stung yet! I did my BW conversion with Flash Stone. I desaturated the image and then had some slight adjustments to shadows, highlights, and contrast.
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04-14-2014, 10:03 PM - 4 Likes   #22
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Jekyll Island, GA

Some really wonderful shots so far. I’ll throw this one in the mix.

QuoteOriginally posted by RollsUp Quote
This isn't a requirement but, I hope you will post the specifics on when (time of day, cloudy, sunny etc.), how (editing) and why your submission was converted to black and white.
Sorry to miss this before. This was early morning. The sunrise had not been as spectacular as I had hoped. By this point the skies were quite hazy. This shot didn't pop with any of the editing I had done, but the tree skeleton was perfect against that hazy sky in black and white. I ended up really pleased with this one.






Last edited by pentaximus; 04-17-2014 at 07:34 AM.
04-15-2014, 01:36 PM - 1 Like   #23
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This theme is bringing the best out of everyone, and I'm sure this is just the beginning.

I don't do B&W much, so I had to pick one picture that I thought would look good. B&W is definitely not my forte, so I'm just happy to participate... This one was taken when we went for a few days to the North Georgia mountains last week (which is also why I didn't participate in last week's challenges...). It was taken mid-afternoon at one of those farm houses where you can take the kids to see the animals, play in a park, and do other fun activities. My two older sons were enamored with the river that ran at the end of the property.
Just a B&W conversion... nothing fancy. I've started to take a liking of my A 70-210mm f/4 at around the 70mm focal length, for landcapes and portraits. I just think it renders beautifully, it's got something that I connect with. The camera was the old trusty K20D.

04-15-2014, 03:12 PM - 2 Likes   #24
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Drat, I have the absolute PERFECT photo, but I shot it with my Nikon film camera (my only working film camera)...

However, I do shoot in B&W not infrequently on my Pentax (actually in-camera, not converting later) because I like being challenged to think in B&W. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

Here's mine: Firehole Falls in Yellowstone. I just tweaked the exposure and contrast a touch, everything else is as-shot. I tried the "auto" white balance in Lightroom, and it made it awkwardly yellow? So the white balance is as shot as well.

04-15-2014, 06:01 PM - 4 Likes   #25
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Bradford pear closeup

Taken after our evening walk with Wesley with my K30 and M100/4 Macro. The scene was almost black and white anyway, so the conversion was fairly natural.


04-16-2014, 02:40 PM - 4 Likes   #26
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04-17-2014, 07:13 AM - 6 Likes   #27
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Been traveling so haven't been around much. This is an old shot converted to B&W from (apologies) a jpeg. Got burned by the PEG but I have always liked it. Converted using silver effects pro with some dodging and burning of the foreground rocks. I also have the color version and, while it is nice, it really wanted to be black and white.

Just realized that we won't have internet access next week so I will have to withdraw this entry but will leave it posted just for the sake of participating.

Last edited by slowpez; 05-10-2014 at 07:13 AM.
04-17-2014, 02:36 PM   #28
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Very many great entries. This is just the periodic riff on the Platonic of what is real and what is shadow (which is a subject that lends itself to a B&W treatment if you think of it).

Last edited by Bill2849; 04-18-2014 at 01:31 PM. Reason: Replaced original entry.
04-17-2014, 05:34 PM - 2 Likes   #29
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Botanicka CZ in Prague last week during butterfly emerging month. Approximately two in the afternoon. DA15 lens correction and B/W conversion In Lightroom.

Last edited by lukulele; 04-16-2015 at 12:00 PM.
04-17-2014, 08:59 PM - 7 Likes   #30
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Topside at sunrise, Loughborough Inlet, British Columbia on M.V. Aurora Explorer. Master at helm in bridge, everyone else below decks.
Steady diesel, light breeze and water against hull at 7 knots. All was right and perfect.

September 2009. K20D & DA12-24
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