really a stupid question..

[dzh]

Hi guys, newbie here, I just have a quick question for the great photographers here: is it easy for the professional photographer to spot the different between a photoshoped B&W photo ( ie. adjusted Hue/ color etc) and a real B&W photo ( photo which has been taken from a B&W film)??


Thanks

 

[JohnMF]

hi welcome to the forum

i'm no professional but i reckon if you do a really good job on the conversion the image the differences can be near impossible to spot

 

[Rob]

Hi guys, newbie here, I just have a quick question for the great photographers here: is it easy for the professional photographer to spot the different between a photoshoped B&W photo ( ie. adjusted Hue/ color etc) and a real B&W photo ( photo which has been taken from a B&W film)??


Thanks

It's pretty much impossible to tell. The reason being that B&W film varies enormously and exposure range of a scene also varies infinitely. It is possible to spot the difference say between TMax 3200 ISO film and a PS version of the same, if you are experienced and you are looking at prints of films which have very distinct characteristics. However, a general, smooth B&W image which has been converted from a colour image properly is as good as "the real thing".

Rob

 

[ksmattfish]

It just depends; there are a lot of steps in making a print between exposure and the final print. With some photos it will be possible to determine how they were made, and with other it won't.

It might be hard to tell the difference between two inkjet prints, one from a DSLR, and one from a scan of medium or slow speed film. It's fairly easy to spot gelatin silver on FB, which the odds would imply is from film, although I think there are people using LED enlargers to print from files on to traditional BW process papers. I think it's totally possible for someone moderately talented with PS to simulate all sorts of film looks with a digital capture.

It would be a fun game, but you wouldn't catch me putting much money down on my ability to determine what the original capture media was.