B&W Conversion

hobbes28

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I've been working on my black and white conversions and haven't quite figured out which I like better. This picture was taken with the D70 and the fixed 50mm f1.8 at f10 and 1/400, ISO 200. For the first conversion, I used a deep blue filter and then converted with the gradient map. I gave it a little smart sharpen, resized and here you go.

angel.jpg



My second method is using the channel mixer on my little secret settings for a higher contrast/darker style image.

angel2.jpg


I like both methods a lot but can't quite figure out which I like better. You know how it is when you've done something a certain way for so long....you start to stop liking it as much. :mrgreen:
 
I'm going to be evil here and say: how about something in the middle of these two? bwahahahaha!!! :twisted:

I am leaning towards liking the higher contrast image - the exception being for this particular image, I don't care for the tone of all that gray sky..... but now, looking again, I think I prefer the top one - probably due to the nicer sky, but also I find that with cemetery art, sometimes too much contrast kills the texture of the stone...which is so important with these pieces.

If that makes sense.... ;) Let's see some more! :thumbup:
 
I like the 2nd one, I always lean more heavily towards high contrast though.

For my conversions I use an action I got, specifically for b/w portraits, I've been really happy with the results, but I need to figure out how to do it manually.
 
i love dramatic skies, therefore, lean towards the second. the statue may be a bit overdone, but i believe closely resembles more of what you saw than in the first shot, which appears a bit blown. judging from the shadows and scene, this was shot early/mid afternoon or late morning in an open area. i like catching these things towards late afternoon which enhances the mood a bit...i mean you are in a graveyard, so lets dramatize this thing. also, there are times when i perform selective level adjustments, rather than an all inclusive treatment. if you like the statue but need to define the sky...mask it off. personally, this image needed sky enhancement, otherwise the image would look uninteresting and bland. hope this helps some.
 
I am all for crushed blacks, so I really think the second one pops more.
 

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