black & white conv.

[eskiho]

Hi there! I know this has been a topic before, so please, let me express my apology for this topic ahead of time.

The problem that i'm having is that i'm shooting with my d70 and my black and white conversions in PS always make the img turn out kind of, i dont know, flat, grainy. They just don't catch my eye is what it really comes down to.

Here are two examples from pictures i took yesterday doing some street photography while having coffee with this gentelmen I met named Albert.

I like the actual photo itself and its a shame I can't get the conversion to capture this young gent in his complexity.

 

[Big Mike]

Definitely seems to be lacking in contrast. What is your method for converting to b&w? There are a few different ways to go about it.

It might be as simple as adjusting the brightness & contrast. Maybe a little sharpening.

 

[vonDrehle]

Maybe take the brightness down and add a little contrast?

 

[eskiho]

I forget in what post, but somebody posted a conversion tool used in PS and thats what i've been using, but I think that i'll get away from using that as im not too happy with the results i've been getting.

Yea its just so flat. I mean, i don't get the detail in his face of the wrinkles and that sort all the little details that bring a photo together.

 

[eskiho]

So, what method would you recommend? I know people talk about layers and that sort of thing, but nobody really tells you HOW to do what you have to, just what to do. I kind of fall into the group of PS users that mess around aimlessly until they get a result I like, but i hate randomeness in my photos.

 

[Karalee]

Maybe you should post the image in the photoshop sub forum, and maybe a few guru's here can help you out.

 

[danalec99]

How did you convert these images?

 

[eskiho]

I just used a black to white conversion tool that somebody posted as a filter in PS. Just changed the brightness a little but thats about it. Leaves it really flat.

 

[Big Mike]

So, what method would you recommend? I know people talk about layers and that sort of thing

Just about everything you do in Photoshop should be about layers...if you don't know about layers...do some reading.

Try a few searches on the forum...I know there are some techniques on here somewhere.

 

[eskiho]

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19564&highlight=conversion

I know its about layers, as you would see if you would have read what you quoted. Of course I could do some reading, but wait a second....isn't the purpose of this forum to help? Any question anyone asks could be replied with "do some reading", but i'm pretty sure thats not the purpose of this forum.

I've tried looking through, but if you've ever done any searches on this forum you'd see that it is not very helpful. I type in Black & White and it comes up with pages after pages of people wanting a critique on their conversion.

I haven't been a member of this forum long and can't retreat into my memory of past posts to locate this information. I don't know what they were titled, i dont know when or how far back i'm looking. Lots of answers for questions come in topics that arn't asking that specific questions, and all the topics that are asking the specifics are tainted with 3 posts (half from you) all telling them to do a search.

But thanks for your useful words, i'll file them next to my Chirstopher Reaves Guide for Dancing in my book of most helpful manuals ever printed.

The only upside to the book Mr. Reaves wrote was it was completly blank since he couldn't move his arms to pick up the pen, and hense saved me a waste of time, which your post, unforunatly, didn't.

Cheers.

 

[SLOShooter]

Lol, dang, not a real nice way of asking for help.

Here's a link for you illustrating various methods.
http://www.dynamicartwork.com/articles/digital_bw

I'd agree with the others that it looks like your missing contrast.

 

[Big Mike]

Well maybe if you did some reading, you could ask specific and intelligent questions about the topic rather than saying that you mess around aimlessly.

You said

I know people talk about layers and that sort of thing, but nobody really tells you HOW to do what you have to, just what to do. I kind of fall into the group of PS users that mess around aimlessly until they get a result I like

That led me to think that you could use a little more background information.

If you spent as much effort trying to learn about the topic at hand, as you did trying to insult me, you could have figured it out by now.

 

[eskiho]

Well thanks for the help anyways. I guess we'll leave it at this so the next person to ask will be refered to the search and will come across this gem of an answer with captain helpful at the helm.

 

[hobbes28]

Wow! It looks like this has been a wonderful thread. I'm glad I didn't open it earlier.

I have to agree that the pictures are lacking contrast. Since it appears that you are looking for the easiest possible way to convert your images without really learning about photoshop, you can just desaturate your image in PS and bump up the contrast. If you really want help converting your images in PS, you should probably do some searching on this forum, as Big Mike and others have suggested so you can actually learn ways to make your conversions better. The purpose of us having a search tool on the forum is so that people don't have to say over and over again how things are done and people may use the vast knowledge of the forum to help develop the skills they are looking for, rather than just copy an easy way out. This is where being a human and having the gift of reason on our side. You can decide if you want to be a follower and use someone else's method of conversion, or if you want to venture out on your own, learn some methodology and add to the wisdom our forum is full of.

 

[eskiho]

I understand Hobbes and thank you. I know there are other ways of doing it, and have always been one for searching for new things. With there being so many options in photoshop I realize that no same method will be the same for each shot.

No worries though, i'll just fool around with photoshop some more on my own.