[Clicker]

Stalkers like using X20 camera from the TV series "Stalker"

[Rupert]

Stalkers like using X20 camera from the TV series "Stalker"

That doesn't look like a "real camera"...it looks more like a X20 Toy Camera??

Regards!

[Ecaterin]

Interesting - I never thought of following Silver Efex with Color Efex... I'm going to have to try that!

(Very nice shot, by the way)

Thank you yorik! I'm trying to remember when I stumbled upon this workflow so I can say intelligent things about it ...oh! Yes!

I saw some delicate, crisp monochrome shots of a baby that had been rendered in a perfect replacement of chocolate brown for black, without any dull-contrast "in-camera-sepia-setting" look. They had everything I love about excellent BW photography - the clean uncluttered visual field, but warm, almost velvety. I was instantly on a mission - how to replace the black with color in just that crisp, velvet way. Silver Efex gives you complete control of black point & structure during the BW conversion, and that makes the crisp-delicate-clear parts so much easier. By making the black end of the levels curve reeeally black, and then adjusting the curve to bring the grays back up to the standard diagonal or even a little lighter, you can then run the monochrome through any tint process you want and have rich looking color without having the whole photo look like you water colored over it and killed the contrast. 'Color Stylizer' in Color Efex gives you everything you need to tint quickly and precisely - pick any color (get as close to the original contrast values as you can...not easy :P), adjust contrast, shadows & highlights individually to tune the photo to the same contrast you started with, or something with more punch or more subtlety. (I should mention, tint with less-saturated very dark colors if you want anything that looks natural The shots below were tinted with browns or blues so dark the color on the color picker looked almost black, and well into the gray end of the saturation spectrum.)

This may be my favorite shot I've ever taken, and it wouldn't exist without this chocolate process. In color? It's a mess - the setting was just too busy, cause this was a pool-side candid. But with really careful black point, a green filter and then chocolate tint, everything that's amazing about this beautiful child leaps off the screen. (K-x)



If you blow out the mid-range until skin tones are almost flat, this processing almost glows. This is my youngest - just a quick candid with a truly abysmal kit-lens that became a totally different photo when I processed it. (K-x)


I worked up a gritty, grainy version of the look for my street/landscape photos (X-E1):



I got my settings mixed up one day and found if I had exactly the right blue, light skin tones looked amazing (X100).



(while waiting for the above photo to come together, his little sister photobombed - I love it LOL! There are a lot of times when I really adore the fact that the Fuji cameras *don't* autofocus quickly, cause oof shots like this are so perfect.)



(I kept revising this post and finally gave it up and went into a lot more detail on my blog :P)

[Ecaterin]

Very interesting post. Thanks for sharing your pp workflow. That first pic of the little girl is pretty stunning.

You are most welcome! I try to keep my rambling interesting Thank you for your compliment on the photo - I absolutely adore it and I'm always happy when it works for other people, too.

(I re-wrote the pp stuff in more detail on my blog)

[eddie1960]

I looked at it but thats as far as I got.

I'm a bit gutted that Classic Chrome isnt coming to the older models, but I suppose they dont owe us it, would just be nice I suppose.

Do I want the X-T1 im not too sure, the X-Pro was a big outlay for me and spending the near the same on a body so quickly isnt sitting right with me, I might see what the X-Pro 2 might bring to the table.

Cheers, Steve

It may be that classic chrome requires the newer sensor the XE2 and XT1 use (It's only going on cameras using this variant on the tech AFAIK)

I have the XE2 and XT1 now, they are very different animals to shoot with. the XE2 is very similar (minus that beautiful OVF) to using the Xpro but with better low light performance Faster AF and the newer sensor (a few extras but nothing I seem to notice beyond sensor related)
The XT1 is much more like using a DSLR just a tiny one. I think the best description I've seen is LX like
I've sort of divided my kit in to 2 different go bags -
XE2 with the 18/27/60 small sharp and less obtrusive. great street walk around camera with enough speed for lowish light

XT1 with the 23/35/56 Also a great but heavier these are big lenses and therefore more visible when shooting streets. I take this to gigs though. I will use anywhere i am lookinf for the best performance because those are tough lenses to beat. (still smaller and lighter than a comparable DSLR kit)

What PP software are you using. If it's LR once I have the Classic Chrome upgrade I could save the settings as a preset (need to figure that one out) and email it to you - almost certainly someone will post it somewhere

Oh and Xpro 2 is rumoured to be quite a bit more expensive than the XT1 on release - I have hear 1599-1899 Canadian or US (the XT is 1299)


-

---------- Post added 28th Nov 2014 at 10:52 ----------

Thank you yorik! I'm trying to remember when I stumbled upon this workflow so I can say intelligent things about it ...oh! Yes!

I saw some delicate, crisp monochrome shots of a baby that had been rendered in a perfect replacement of chocolate brown for black, without any dull-contrast "in-camera-sepia-setting" look. They had everything I love about excellent BW photography - the clean uncluttered visual field, but warm, almost velvety. I was instantly on a mission - how to replace the black with color in just that crisp, velvet way. Silver Efex gives you complete control of black point & structure during the BW conversion, and that makes the crisp-delicate-clear parts so much easier. By making the black end of the levels curve reeeally black, and then adjusting the curve to bring the grays back up to the standard diagonal or even a little lighter, you can then run the monochrome through any tint process you want and have rich looking color without having the whole photo look like you water colored over it and killed the contrast. 'Color Stylizer' in Color Efex gives you everything you need to tint quickly and precisely - pick any color (get as close to the original contrast values as you can...not easy :P), adjust contrast, shadows & highlights individually to tune the photo to the same contrast you started with, or something with more punch or more subtlety. (I should mention, tint with less-saturated very dark colors if you want anything that looks natural The shots below were tinted with browns or blues so dark the color on the color picker looked almost black, and well into the gray end of the saturation spectrum.)

This may be my favorite shot I've ever taken, and it wouldn't exist without this chocolate process. In color? It's a mess - the setting was just too busy, cause this was a pool-side candid. But with really careful black point, a green filter and then chocolate tint, everything that's amazing about this beautiful child leaps off the screen. (K-x)



If you blow out the mid-range until skin tones are almost flat, this processing almost glows. This is my youngest - just a quick candid with a truly abysmal kit-lens that became a totally different photo when I processed it. (K-x)


I worked up a gritty, grainy version of the look for my street/landscape photos (X-E1):



I got my settings mixed up one day and found if I had exactly the right blue, light skin tones looked amazing (X100).



(while waiting for the above photo to come together, his little sister photobombed - I love it LOL! There are a lot of times when I really adore the fact that the Fuji cameras *don't* autofocus quickly, cause oof shots like this are so perfect.)



(I kept revising this post and finally gave it up and went into a lot more detail on my blog :P)

Excellent, some very good PP ideas. I don't have the Nik pak (using LR 5.6 now) was about to pop on the 249 full Topaz pack today but now i need to see what Nik is doing for Black friday

[Rupert]

Ec...That first shot is pure excellence. I have tried to get "artsy" both with shooting and with processing and seldom achieved the success I desired. I guess I am just not an "artsy" person....more of a Toy Camera shooter I suppose?

I too have a few I like, and felt, at times, I was making progress, but never really achieved what I was looking for....
X10-Ava

K5-Ava


K20D- Allee..Lots of problems in this shot, but I still like it. A case of bad shooting and poor processing to boot!


Maybe my favorite....
K20D - Allee


It takes a lot of work and some luck too to get what you want, and if I was just starting out again, I think I would try harder to capture and process those "certain shots" that have lasting value and distinguishable difference. Nowadays I shoot mostly for fun and memory making, but do still appreciate a really great photo...like that first one you posted above!

Regards!

[eddie1960]

It may be that classic chrome requires the newer sensor the XE2 and XT1 use (It's only going on cameras using this variant on the tech AFAIK)

I have the XE2 and XT1 now, they are very different animals to shoot with. the XE2 is very similar (minus that beautiful OVF) to using the Xpro but with better low light performance Faster AF and the newer sensor (a few extras but nothing I seem to notice beyond sensor related)
The XT1 is much more like using a DSLR just a tiny one. I think the best description I've seen is LX like
I've sort of divided my kit in to 2 different go bags -
XE2 with the 18/27/60 small sharp and less obtrusive. great street walk around camera with enough speed for lowish light

XT1 with the 23/35/56 Also a great but heavier these are big lenses and therefore more visible when shooting streets. I take this to gigs though. I will use anywhere i am lookinf for the best performance because those are tough lenses to beat. (still smaller and lighter than a comparable DSLR kit)

What PP software are you using. If it's LR once I have the Classic Chrome upgrade I could save the settings as a preset (need to figure that one out) and email it to you - almost certainly someone will post it somewhere

Oh and Xpro 2 is rumoured to be quite a bit more expensive than the XT1 on release - I have hear 1599-1899 Canadian or US (the XT is 1299)


-

---------- Post added 28th Nov 2014 at 10:52 ----------



Excellent, some very good PP ideas. I don't have the Nik pak (using LR 5.6 now) was about to pop on the 249 full Topaz pack today but now i need to see what Nik is doing for Black friday

I now have the NIK Pack lol

[NKK]

Thank you yorik! I'm trying to remember when I stumbled upon this workflow so I can say intelligent things about it ...oh! Yes!

I saw some delicate, crisp monochrome shots of a baby that had been rendered in a perfect replacement of chocolate brown for black, without any dull-contrast "in-camera-sepia-setting" look. They had everything I love about excellent BW photography - the clean uncluttered visual field, but warm, almost velvety. I was instantly on a mission - how to replace the black with color in just that crisp, velvet way. Silver Efex gives you complete control of black point & structure during the BW conversion, and that makes the crisp-delicate-clear parts so much easier. By making the black end of the levels curve reeeally black, and then adjusting the curve to bring the grays back up to the standard diagonal or even a little lighter, you can then run the monochrome through any tint process you want and have rich looking color without having the whole photo look like you water colored over it and killed the contrast. 'Color Stylizer' in Color Efex gives you everything you need to tint quickly and precisely - pick any color (get as close to the original contrast values as you can...not easy :P), adjust contrast, shadows & highlights individually to tune the photo to the same contrast you started with, or something with more punch or more subtlety. (I should mention, tint with less-saturated very dark colors if you want anything that looks natural The shots below were tinted with browns or blues so dark the color on the color picker looked almost black, and well into the gray end of the saturation spectrum.)

This may be my favorite shot I've ever taken, and it wouldn't exist without this chocolate process. In color? It's a mess - the setting was just too busy, cause this was a pool-side candid. But with really careful black point, a green filter and then chocolate tint, everything that's amazing about this beautiful child leaps off the screen. (K-x)



If you blow out the mid-range until skin tones are almost flat, this processing almost glows. This is my youngest - just a quick candid with a truly abysmal kit-lens that became a totally different photo when I processed it. (K-x)


I worked up a gritty, grainy version of the look for my street/landscape photos (X-E1):



I got my settings mixed up one day and found if I had exactly the right blue, light skin tones looked amazing (X100).



(while waiting for the above photo to come together, his little sister photobombed - I love it LOL! There are a lot of times when I really adore the fact that the Fuji cameras *don't* autofocus quickly, cause oof shots like this are so perfect.)



(I kept revising this post and finally gave it up and went into a lot more detail on my blog :P)

I have to agree with you on that first pic, that's really good. The others too, but the first one has that "Little extra" well done

---------- Post added 11-28-14 at 11:07 PM ----------

Ec...That first shot is pure excellence. I have tried to get "artsy" both with shooting and with processing and seldom achieved the success I desired. I guess I am just not an "artsy" person....more of a Toy Camera shooter I suppose?

I too have a few I like, and felt, at times, I was making progress, but never really achieved what I was looking for....
X10-Ava

K5-Ava


K20D- Allee..Lots of problems in this shot, but I still like it. A case of bad shooting and poor processing to boot!


Maybe my favorite....
K20D - Allee


It takes a lot of work and some luck too to get what you want, and if I was just starting out again, I think I would try harder to capture and process those "certain shots" that have lasting value and distinguishable difference. Nowadays I shoot mostly for fun and memory making, but do still appreciate a really great photo...like that first one you posted above!

Regards!

I think they came out good my favorites are the second and the last.
It's always fun to experiment, but not easy to get a good result

[yorik]

Thank you yorik! I'm trying to remember when I stumbled upon this workflow so I can say intelligent things about it ...oh! Yes! ...

Thank you for the details. You do a great job with it!

... This may be my favorite shot I've ever taken, and it wouldn't exist without this chocolate process. In color? It's a mess - the setting was just too busy, cause this was a pool-side candid. But with really careful black point, a green filter and then chocolate tint, everything that's amazing about this beautiful child leaps off the screen. (K-x)...

Great picture!

[eddie1960]

Took a little from your workflow for this one Ecaterin. X-E2 w XF23 1.4, small crop Silver Efex then toned on Colour Efex

[skankin_giant]

Well I don't know about you Rupert but I'm getting a X30 from the boss for Christmas, spotted a good one 2nd hand in silver for near £200 off with case still a good whack of cash but closer the prices of a X20.
Don't need a surprise when it's something you want lol...

Anyways apart from that I managed to get a couple of nice shots this morning at the In-laws.








Taken with the X-Pro and 35mm lens.

Cheers, Steve

[Rupert]

A couple of gorgeous shots there Skank, very fine shooting! Not often you even get a chance for shots like those, and you really nailed them.....loved the reality in that first one with the birds taking flight.....perfect!

Congrats on the X30! You know I will expect to see you often over in the Toy Camera thread as well as here! That Classic Chrome should be an enormous winner with your shooting skills. It makes no sense for me to get an X30, but every time I see those Classic Chrome shots I do feel pulled in that direction.

Regards!

[skankin_giant]

Thanks Rupert, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the X30, pretty sad I have to say goodbye to the X10, not allowed to keep both, but the additional features of the X30 will be a welcome for the bits I do for the magazine.

Some from Yesterday evening, ran out up to the park so I could get some shots of the Mourne mountains before the sun went completely down, was a hard dash in my Timberland shoes and jeans with the X-Pro and 55-200mm + 35mm lens.

55m f5.6


35mm f5.6



In camera panoramic



55mm f5, the IS works quite well on the 55-200mm this was taken at 1/40th



Oh and had one left from the other days, was taken very early in the morning.



Cheers, Steve

[Rupert]

Nice shots Skank...again, that last one is gorgeous! I kept my X10 when I got the X20....can't let go of the EXR sensor, it just renders unique photos. My X20 shots don't seem to have the "richness" in color that I get from the X10. The X20 produces more "realistic" shots but the X10 is more pleasing to my eyes when using the EXR settings.

Regards!

[Jacquot]

Thanks Rupert, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the X30, pretty sad I have to say goodbye to the X10, not allowed to keep both, but the additional features of the X30 will be a welcome for the bits I do for the magazine.

Some from Yesterday evening, ran out up to the park so I could get some shots of the Mourne mountains before the sun went completely down, was a hard dash in my Timberland shoes and jeans with the X-Pro and 55-200mm + 35mm lens.

55m f5.6


35mm f5.6



In camera panoramic



55mm f5, the IS works quite well on the 55-200mm this was taken at 1/40th



Oh and had one left from the other days, was taken very early in the morning.



Cheers, Steve

Love that last one Steve.