Uninhabited Images
For Mike (Observing)
Posted by Eric Fry (Houston, TX, United States) on 11 August 2008 in Abstract & Conceptual and Portfolio.
I've always enjoyed the deep, moody b&w shots that Mike (Observing) does, but had never been able to get close to that using a grayscale conversion. With Adobe Lightroom 2.0, I've figured out how to get that kind of depth and feeling in a b&w shot by lowering the vibrance and saturation to where the color is gone, but there's still enough color information in the image to use the luminance sliders for the different parts of the image. It took me about half an hour of playing with this shot to get it where I liked it, and it has given me an even greater respect for the incredible b&w shots he and Ian Bramham do.
Another shot of nothing special at all, just a raccoon's footprint. But I really like the way this turned out. I've got some other shots that I'm going to go back and try with this technique.
Thanks for visiting, and I hope you all have a great day,
Eric
Check out the photography of a friend of mine outside of Aminus3:
Brian Dykes' Blue Echoes Photography - Beautiful nature and city images from the guy that turned me on to Adobe Lightroom
@Masoud Nahali: Thank you, Masoud!
saeed from ahwaz, Iran
Thats very very beautiful Eric! well done really in half an hour! I like footprints and this one is really interesting indeed! Cheers to you and Mike, my great and lovely friends!
You are really artist Eric! God bless you!
11 Aug 2008 5:41am
@saeed: Thank you so very much, my friend!
Marion from Nanaimo, BC, Canada
Excellent work Eric. You are right some methods just make it look murky but Mike's always has such sharpness and clarity to them. I haven't seen Ian's yet. This has such depth to it. Well done.
11 Aug 2008 6:29am
@Marion: Thanks, Marion. I had downloaded some presets for b&w conversion in Lightroom, but they either produced a washed out, light image, or a lot of noise and graininess. I still haven't figured out how to get a sky as dark as Ian does, but I'm pretty sure it will involve using some filters on the camera.
dj.tigersprout from San Bruno, United States
wonderful shot and a wonderful effect! this indeed has that dark and gritty feel to it! love those pure blacks you can sink your teeth into! that footprint surely has a haunting overtone. brilliant!
11 Aug 2008 6:59am
@dj.tigersprout: Thanks, DJ! Getting those pure blacks contrasted with a bright white is one thing, but to have those and keep enough of the subject in the middle range is the tricky part!
Linerberry from Sumner, Christchurch, New Zealand
Well Eric I think you've got it!!!!! I too have been blown away by Mike (Observing) deep and moody B&Ws and i have to say you've done a pretty damn good one yourself:) You guys are all so inspiring! Makes one want to experiment all the more (its just finding the time!!) BRAVO!
11 Aug 2008 7:57am
@Linerberry: Thank you so very much, Liners! That is truly the great thing about Aminus3, being able to be inspired to learn new techniques and treatments to improve my photography and processing. There is such a great range of photography styles showcased on Aminus3, that I'll have plenty to work on for the next several years!
Kylie Greenan from Richmond, Australia
This is so simple but so stunning, worth every minute of you working it in lightroom, the effect is beautiful and I applaud you! When are the online lessons? ;o)
11 Aug 2008 10:59am
@Kylie Greenan: hahaha, Thanks, Kylie, but I doubt you need any lessons from me in photography or processing. Besides, it would take less than 5 minutes for me to teach someone everything I know about processing! ;)
paulski from Muncie, IN, United States
great conversion; i'd love more info, though, alas, i do not have lightroom and this technique might be beyond my current toolset. but excellent image!
11 Aug 2008 11:38am
@paulski: Thanks, Paul! I'm sure the same thing could be done in Photoshop or Elements, but I don't know a thing about those programs. Lightroom has two basic color adjustments, vibrance and saturation, in the basic tool box. By taking both of those down until the photo was monochrome (but not all the way to zero) I was able to use the sliders for each colors luminance level to give some shape to the dark and light areas in the image. Much of it was done with the tone curve, but to keep it from looking like a plain conversion, the color luminance adjustments were key.
mackoieville from Manila, Philippines
making a simple shot more interesting...nice job, Eric! I like the lighting effect.
11 Aug 2008 11:52am
@mackoieville: Thank you, Mackoieville!
willow from Chelsea, United States
Thanks for the inspiration to try out the b&w conversion. I've always been disappointed by my past efforts so I've shied away from it. The textures and the lighting in this shot make it interesting despite its simplicity. Nicely done.
11 Aug 2008 1:35pm
@willow: Thank you so much, Willow1 I like the way this made the sand's texture pop out. In color, it just looked like mud (which it was!)
@Earnest: Thank you very much, Earnest!
Observing from West Cheshire, United Kingdom
Oh mate you are too kind with your compliments, but thank you.
This is a real beauty Eric, lovely hard contrast and deep blacks, perfect. The subject is fantastic too, very different to your lovely colored insects, but much more soulful and artistic. Love it !!
11 Aug 2008 3:29pm
@Observing: I'm the one that owes you the thanks, Mike! Trying to get the kind of tones that your photos have and being disappointed with the grayscale tool made me figure out how to get something like that on my own. I've learned so much in the past few months from 'observing' what the great photographers here at Aminus3 do with their shots.
Stephen Phillips from San Francisco, United States
Eric, This was more than worth all of your efforts. Beautiful and memorable. Far from 'ordinary' - this is an inspired image. I imagine this would do well in 'stock'.
11 Aug 2008 4:58pm
@Stephen Phillips: Thank you so much, Stephen! You're right, this was an inspired image. I saw the footprint and intended to do it in b&w, but didn't like the standard conversion at all. It was even more bland than the color original! By starting over and playing with some of the adjustments (including one that I've rarely used, the blacks adjustment), I was able to get the basic lighting the way I wanted it. Just a few tweaks to the tone curve and luminance levels made the photo transform completely; one with depth, mood, and texture that's almost palpable!
I really appreciate the note you sent earlier, and echo your sentiments. The Aminus3 community is a fantastic place to connect with other photographers, and for me especially, to learn and grow.
maxine from Rangiora, New Zealand
You all inspire me to try processing, just dont know what is best to start with. Any recommendations/??
11 Aug 2008 8:43pm
@maxine: Thank you very much, Maxine! I'm not terribly familiar with many image processing programs, I was lucky enough to have a friend give me the original Lightroom as a gift when I started out. Besides the 2.0 upgrade to Lightroom, the only other program I'm familiar with is the FastStone Image Viewer, which I use for resizing, final sharpening, and adding my name to the photo. It doesn't do much more than basic processing, as it's mostly an image browser, but it does have a very good resizing tool. It's also the right price. free!
Nikon COOLPIX P5100
1/55 second
F/2.7
ISO 183
35 mm (35mm equiv.)