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Monochrome Monday!


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18 replies to this topic

#1
krag96

krag96

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How about a B&W challenge?  Just one shot a week?  Monochrome Monday starting August 1. 

 

If you shot it in color you may post the color version beside or below the B&W. 

 

Please post your settings like in Peter's weekly challenge.

 

You may post your image in B&W, Sepia tone, Brown tone, or Blue tone. 

 

You got it, Peter.  Also lets post the recipe we used in post to process the monochrome image. 

 

How I do it in Affinity Photo.

 

First I download my RAW file and develop it.  What I want is to work with the best file I can get in color.  Rarely do I compensate with Exposure, but it does happen at times.  I go to Vibrance first, sometimes a small adjustment is made, but most often I use the Saturation slide by itself, which is included with Vibrance.  Having gotten what I want there, I next use the Brightness/Contrast slide to adjust things, brighter or darker, usually tweaking the contrast more or less though.  Usually this gets me where I want, but I never rule out the Shadows/Highlight slide.  When I get the color photo where I want it, it's time to go B&W.  There are many other options I can use, (23 in all) but these are the most often used. 

 

In B&W I have six color adjustments, Red, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, and Magenta.  Most times it takes several adjustments to get where I want to be, I may visit a color and adjust it several times, while others only once is needed.

 

Here's an example.  The color image adjusted.

 

d57Ja1Il.jpg

 

Converted to B&W. 

 

AUtvBQTl.jpg

 

Red+50%

 

Yellow+143%

 

Green-40%

 

Cyan+75%

 

Blue-200%

 

Magenta+100%  (neutral)

 

 

I'm of the opinion that it's better to under expose than to over expose.  A peeve of mine when viewing a B&W image, (mostly older professional shots outdoors) is the lack of sky detail.  Some days are just gray with little to do about it, the sky's a blank, but most days there's some detail there missing in a lot of older B&W shots.  I believe them to have been over exposed washing out any detail in the heavens.



#2
Merco_61

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Sounds like a great idea! I would add a recommendation that we post what software and approximate recipe we use for the conversion. We will all be learning more from each other that way.



#3
g4aaw pete

g4aaw pete

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I like the idea.

 

qqMpebo.jpg

 

AFs 24-85 @ 85mm

1/400

f4.5

ISO 1000

NX Studio 

Photoscape V3.4 (because it's free & easy to use).



#4
g4aaw pete

g4aaw pete

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I promise I'll stop now - till next Monday.

 

xkshyOY.jpg

 

From back garden this afternoon.

D800E

AF 70-300 @ 300mm

1/2500

f5.6

ISO 1000

NX Studio

Photoscape V3.4

 



#5
Merco_61

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I can play too, even if the challenge hasn't started yet

 

gallery_1251_819_253244.jpg

 

Model: NIKON Z fc

Lens: Z 16-50 kit lens
Lens (mm): 19.5
ISO: 800
Aperture: 6.3
Shutter: 1/20
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

 

Raw development in Photo Ninja.

Conversion in Silver Efex PRO.

Film emulation: HP5

Yellow filter

Dense selenium toning, slightly yellow paper.



#6
g4aaw pete

g4aaw pete

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I can play too, even if the challenge hasn't started yet

 

Ah! I should have read the opening statement properly.

Looks like I started a week early.



#7
krag96

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That's okay fellows.  We'll call this practice shots, or call it ''the one''.

 

That's classic, Peter!  I like it.

 

Pete, do you really think I would be so cruel as to start a challenge the day it's due?



#8
g4aaw pete

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That's okay fellows.  We'll call this practice shots, or call it ''the one''.

 

That's classic, Peter!  I like it.

 

Pete, do you really think I would be so cruel as to start a challenge the day it's due?

 

I'll admit to panic - rushed out to the garden to 'find' something.

This is all because I don't read posts properly.



#9
Merco_61

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… and I happened to have a monochrome day in the Single in July challenge.
Besides which, I think it is good to have some examples on how to post when we want it to be an educational and inspirational challenge.

#10
krag96

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Pete, when I wrote the part about me being cruel, I meant it as humor.  I was laughing while typing each letter!

 

Look at my original post here, I'll edit in detail how I get where I want with Affinity Photo. 



#11
g4aaw pete

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Pete, when I wrote the part about me being cruel, I meant it as humor.  I was laughing while typing each letter!

 

Look at my original post here, I'll edit in detail how I get where I want with Affinity Photo. 

 

That's ok. I took it in the manner you intended.



#12
Merco_61

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If you haven’t seen it, I have a blog post about using channel mixers to emulate the spectral response of various films. These are mixer tables for Lightroom, I am not sure how Affinity and others work with the values. 
Black and white conversions using the channel mixers in Lightroom - NikonForums.com

 

I have another blog up that deals with my workflow in Silver Efex Pro.

My way of using SEP effectively - NikonForums.com



#13
krag96

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Wondering what I was going to post here new, ah I'll just cut the grass and worry about it later!  I drove the little tractor out of the shed and to the fuel can at the gate.  While fueling I noticed what i thought was a large insect on the side of the oak tree beside the shop.  Upon looking at it, not really an insect, but a locust shell hanging on, (time for them again?  I don't know, I don't pay that much attention to bugs unless killing them).  Well, it might make a good B&W photo! 

 

Nikon D750  Tamron 90mm f2.8 AF Macro, 272E

 

1/80  f5  M  250  I added almost 2 stops of exposure on this one in Affinity Photo, other than that nothing done to the color image.  B&W I adjusted the colors as follows, Red+55  Yellow+77  Green+5  Cyan+200  Blue+200  Magenta 0

 

RjSVOmXl.jpg

qe5XdDcl.jpg

 

Just the tree  1/100  f3.5  M1000  Vibrance&Saturation +30 %  Brightness-10  Contrast+12 on raw color file.  B&W conversion Red 0  Yellow+40  Green-40  Cyan+160  Blue 0  Magenta-200

 

dv2T6X6l.jpg

bp7IkDol.jpg



#14
Merco_61

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This is shot with the D-Lux 7.

 

Straight out of camera without any editing. Monochrome HC+ set for the jpeg engine.

gallery_1251_784_73945.jpg

 

Edited from a PhotoNinja raw conversion with the Scenic preset as the only tweak.

Converted to monochrome using SilverEfex Pro.

Yellow filter, HP5, Strong Selenium toning and a slight yellow paper hue. Basically my standard recipe for landscapes if the starting point is a good one.

gallery_1251_784_832119.jpg

 

The dynamic range was a bit much for the in-camera conversion, so some highlights are blown. I exposed for the mids rather than for preserving the highlights.



#15
Merco_61

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SOOC, same settings as the church.

gallery_1251_784_285089.jpg

 

Edited in post, same recipe.

gallery_1251_784_995915.jpg

 

One stop less DR in the scene, so the camera handled this much better.

 

One interesting feature of the SOOC jpeg is that it crops a little bit tighter than the raw capture.



#16
g4aaw pete

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Here's one from last Thursday.

 

wZNQbOe.jpg

sML7O5n.jpg

 

Just a bit of shadow  protection adjustment on the colour original (NX S).

Straightforward conversion Photoscape.

 

Viewed from railway foot bridge opposite.



#17
Merco_61

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This one is shot with my Z6II and the Z 70-200/2.8.

The Scenic preset in PhotoNinja.

Converted to monochrome using SilverEfex Pro.
Yellow-green filter, HP5, Strong Selenium toning and a slight yellow paper hue.

gallery_1251_808_283121.jpg



#18
g4aaw pete

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Took one this afternoon, camera set to mono.

Few tweaks in NX S.

 

Info shown on flickr

 

52255272947_505ee6639f_k.jpgEpple Bay looking East by Pete Miller, on Flickr



#19
lightcapture

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Recent photo of woodland swamp taken July 4, 24mm/1.8G, 1/60sec, f11

 

swamp-sep2.jpg

 

swamp-Photos.jpg