DSLR Photography Forum

It's a windmill in Rakvere. Well, it stopped working a loooong time ago, but you can get good shots of it, if you're there in the right time.

There are some really fine examples of B&W here, and I've a lot to learn, but seeing so many good images made me feel like having a try



Had another go (R was busy on the 'phone and I had to occupy myself ), so added this a bit later:



Jan

Ok. No one really liked my stick, so I'll try again.
After all, I cant let my wife beat me!!!! :o

ta mate.

NN: your photo of the amusement park ride is excellent!

Hey Zig man!

Why "TA" ?? I'm confugled. :/

Toad Wrote:NN: your photo of the amusement park ride is excellent!

Thanks Toad!

This has got me so keen on trying B&W that I'm going to have to make a new gallery for them on PBase ,so thanks to Matthew for setting a great challenge and to everyone who posted first and provided such inspiration!

Jan

Sorry to be a pain in the neck everyone, but I've really got the bug...I promise this is the last one!



Jan

a black and white picture of a black and white animal...

Ruf: er, dunno!
I posted a thankyou to Toad, i think, for his comment, then I submitted it, then it madly came up in the wrong slot. Wappy!
Good to see everyone's got the mono bug!
I've browseritis for some reason btw.

noisynoodle Wrote:Sorry to be a pain in the neck everyone, but I've really got the bug...I promise this is the last one!

Keep `em up. Is that an actual IR image, or a filter effect?

Some very beautiful black and whites here, kudos to everyone's submissions.

I was just wondering - when does the B/W thought pattern kick in for people?

Is it when you're composing the shot -- "Hmm I think this photo might make a great black and white.... click!"

Or when you're photoshopping -- "Hmm I think this photo might look better in black and white... click!"?


And are there any that intentionally set out to take black and whites, i.e. "Today, I'm taking nothing but black and white, baby." (with a Barry White voice)

Sometimes its when I'm composing, sometimes in post processing.

For this assignment though, I went out with the intention, and looked for B&W shots.
(sorry can't get my voice to go deep as Barry White though )

Getting my moneys worth out of both the boys today

matthew Wrote:[
Is that an actual IR image, or a filter effect?

Hi Matthew,

No it's not an IR, nor did I use a filter - in fact until you mentioned it I hadn't really noticed that it looked like an IR image It's just a b&w conversion from a colour image done using the channel mixer in CS2 with the resulting image levelled and then a tweak with the shadow/highlight tool and USM with a high radius and low amount. Then resized and smart sharpened before uploading.

I think it's come out looking this way because the original image was taken at night and has very a limited range of hues. Here's the picture as it was taken:

it's irreplaceable but irrepairable. (that sounds terrible... )

Jules, in answer to your query: I generally "see" in black and white if I tell my mind that's what I'm doing; I kick this off by squinting through my left eye(honest!), really just concentrating on forms, lines, patterns, tones and textures. I'm a bit "old school" in that I started out in mono and used to manage a darkroom(good thing too, as I wouldn't have clue what all the buttons do in Photoshop otherwise).
As an addendum to your opening post in this assignment, I must say I find mono work inherently far from "easy": I'd even go as far to say that if anyone wishes to really get on with photography per se, then they are best served by a long spell shooting exclusively in mono.

matthew Wrote:Keep `em up. Is that an actual IR image, or a filter effect?

Well I know I said I wouldn't post any more, but took Matthew's post as encouragement and having enjoyed Irma's B&W flowers thought I'd convert some of mine. So here goes:








Jan

I have a microwave print oven.
A colour print goes in, and a B/W comes out.
Sometimes I cook them for too long.................................................

I have to say this is the best challenge yet - exceptional work by all...

noisynoodle Wrote:until you mentioned it I hadn't really noticed that it looked like an IR image ... I think it's come out looking this way because the original image was taken at night and has very a limited range of hues.

In turn, I never would have thought of the image being taken at night.

This has been a great assignment, and it's only half-way through. There's lots of room for more images...

I do sometimes "see" an image in B&W, such as the earlier 'new year' photo. For others, it's the by-product of the development process. Even for many colour images, I will look at them in B&W before proceeding. It's a way of checking to make sure that I'm not 'colour blinded' and missing basic problems with composition, balance, etc.

I have to admit that I haven't taken a decent photo in quite a while. But, following NN's lead, I tried converting a recent night shot to B&W:



And, when I have nothing else to inspire me, there's always the dogs... they were frolicking in the fresh snow in my brother-n-law's back yard. They don't get to run as often as they like.



-



The top was converted using a red photo filter adjustment layer to bring out the (blue) shadow detail in the snow. The bottom was done with a H/S adjustment layer to darken the tough little boy's jacket to match the other dark tones in the image. Both were taken using the 40-150 f3.5-4.5 'kit' tele zoom and continuous focus.

Big Creak River running into Huntington Lake, Fresno County, California.




Larger Version Here

G'day all,

Been away for a while on holidays..........you all have to be congratulated, this is a great thread.

I converted one of my recent shots so not to be left out......... Beach at Evans Head.

Matt, I just love that last shot of the dog looking at himself in the mirror! Very appealing.
( I see you are getting your money's worth out of your dogs as well )