View Full Version : Monochrome (or there abouts)
Shooting to produce a monochromatic picture is more difficult than shooting in colour in my opinion. There are many who get it right, but there are many more who get it very wrong. With colour, it's easy to 'mask' crap contrast, but with monochrome, it's all about the tone, contrast and mood.
I'm a self confessed noob when it comes to monochromatic pics, and any that i have produced before have been simple colour conversions in photoshop (for those who use photoshop, please do not use a simple 'desaturate' or 'greyscale' command to get a 'black and white pic', there are so many more things you can do! Ask me for a few ideas if you are interested).
Some monochrome pics are real easy, portraiture for example, is often alot more flattering for people, it can add mood, but it can also hide any unsightly blemishes on peoples faces. Other monochromatic photography is much more challanging to be done well, landscapes are an interst of mine and quite difficult to get right. And even though this isn't in the reef section, i reckon sacrificing all that lovely colour in your reef would be heartbreaking as well as technically difficult to imply depth and perspective. Anyway, here are a couple of pics i set out to take as black and white.
http://fc07.deviantart.com/fs27/i/2008/145/a/0/River_Reflection_by_Paulmalsop.jpg
http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs27/i/2008/146/0/1/Commoner_by_Paulmalsop.jpg
Here is an example of a B&W conversionin photoshop, the first is a simple 'desaturate', the second has my special ingredients added to it :)
#1
http://fc03.deviantart.com/fs28/i/2008/145/2/5/the_kids_flat_by_Paulmalsop.jpg
#2
http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs27/i/2008/145/6/0/the_kids_pop_by_Paulmalsop.jpg
If you got some monochromatic to share, lets see it :thanks:
P.S. As a tip, those of you who can shoot RAW and are not ...... what's wrong with you! With RAW, you can shoot in B&W and if you don't like, the data is still there to switch yr pic back to colour :)
Dicksonia antarctica
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e142/phillipdodd2/MISC006.jpg
Toby
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e142/phillipdodd2/MISC003.jpg
Ooh, whats the first one?
Nice shot of Toby Phil :) what cam do you have?
Ooh, whats the first one?
Nice shot of Toby Phil :) what cam do you have?
The first pic is of a new frond uncurling on my Australian tree fern. They are amazingly 'woolly' when they first emerge from the trunk. It was taken with my Nikon CoolPix P5000 which is a sort of cross between a compact and a DSLR.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e142/phillipdodd2/MISC002.jpg
P.S. As a tip, those of you who can shoot RAW and are not ...... what's wrong with you! With RAW, you can shoot in B&W and if you don't like, the data is still there to switch yr pic back to colour :)
The BIG problem with shooting in Raw, is, the camera saves the image in RAW AND in JPEG, so on a memory card size of 256 mb, you can save a possible 66 images at at a large format size, or 18 in RAW as well as the large format, so yes you have awider range of choice, in how you manipulate the final PRINT, you do need to conciser the saving capability.
Do you use any filters on your camera for the B+W shots? bacause to really bring out the clouds a red filter is excellant. I have always had a fondness of B+W. Alex
Very nice pics, I always use Raw myself, with the cost of memory now it really isn't a problem.
Bah I love Dicksonia and we cant get it to grow well here as our dry season is too hot and dry. About 10 Km from here they grow like crazy though.
Channel mixer FTW. :D
The BIG problem with shooting in Raw, is, the camera saves the image in RAW AND in JPEG, so on a memory card size of 256 mb, you can save a possible 66 images at at a large format size, or 18 in RAW as well as the large format
256MB?! :eek:
Jeff.
Channel mixer FTW. :D
256MB?! :eek:
Jeff.
Der, silly Billy, Jeff, it was only an example, to show the loss of space, I carry with me 1 X 1K 2 X 512 and 128 (that came witht e camera), I have not upgraded my CF cards for a couple of years, no longer doing photo work, so not really bothered.
Alex
Can anyone tell me how to put a CF card into a Pin Hole Camera????:D:D:laugh:
Here is B + W I did a few years back, in Brick Lane London, it was on Ilford B+W negative FILM
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/DOG.jpg
then just for laughs :laugh::laugh::laugh: I colourd it in in Photoshop (CS2)
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/DOGincolour.jpg
Alex
Nice one on the colouring in job Alex :)
Cameras don't ALWAYS save as RAW and jpg, they only do if you ask them to. Plus, as has already been said, CF cards are super cheap these days, so it's not a problem.
If you take so many pics you fill up 2Gb of CF then you a) need to come home and dump your images more often, b) need to flick through your cam and be selective about the shots you erase or c) take less pics!
;)
Nice colouring, how did you do it?
Nice colouring, how did you do it?
Thank you, it was done in photoshop, obviously the brushes, with a high opacity, with soft edges, it took quite a while, but was quite pleased, Alex
Anymore black and whites?
http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs27/i/2008/147/a/0/Gemma_by_Paulmalsop.jpg
Dicksonia antarctica
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e142/phillipdodd2/MISC006.jpg
Toby
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e142/phillipdodd2/MISC003.jpg
Phil, i hope you don't mind
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/toby.jpg
Nice one on the colouring in job Alex :)
If you take so many pics you fill up 2Gb of CF then you a) need to come home and dump your images more often, b) need to flick through your cam and be selective about the shots you erase or c) take less pics!
;)
I've never needed it but being a belt and braces type (I have to keep my sarong on seurely guys - like Scotsman and their kilts you really dont want know what's under it :D) I have 2 x 2 Gb though as yet I've never had to use the spare.
"Claude
Triggerfish
Anymore black and whites?"
I have a couple. I took these as awareness project
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/Watch2.jpg
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/white cane2.jpg
these are ny wife's watch, and Elaine walking down the stairs, we took the watch into a Jewellers, to have a new battery put in, he was confused because we had not noticed the glass was missing, suppose it is not every day someone would come across a Brail watch, Alex
One of my contacts on Flickr asked me to convert this pic for them- note I did not take the original.
Original:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3041/2408369009_bb13a24f01.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/migbara/2408369009/)
Monochrome conversion:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2319/2409353502_5acfebd774.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeff127/2409353502/)
Jeff.
looks to be a successful conversion Jeff :)
I'm trying to pick out something to be critical about .... can't really find anything other than you have lost the plant on the left side of the pic to the shadows.
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/moon_800.jpg
(http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/moon_800.jpg)
VERY nice Dave.
You can't post that without any detail!
I shot this out of my bedroom window a week or so ago (no way as good as yours), used mirror lock-up and cable release and tripod for stability. 55-200mm. It was the closest i could get (i even tried stretching towards the moon so i could get 'just that little bit closer!' ;)
http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs30/f/2008/138/e/2/e2e6d493e7e43871291a85aead61b240.jpg
When did you take the pic and where? The rotation of the moon is different to mine, so i'm guessing you were either in another country, or it was during another lunar cycle?
I took it a several months back on the spur of the moment. My young baby had got me up crying, him not me, and I remember it was early morning on very clear freezing cold night and I went outside with just a dressing gown on.
I used a 350d on a tripod with a sigma 70-300mm lense and a 2x convertor, camera settings I'm not sure of as I had it on full manual, used a remote shutter release and tried different settings and took several pics to get a good one.
The picture has been heavily post processed - cropped, levels, sharpened etc... the original looked nothing like this, shame I deleted it because I was amazed how well this came out after PP.
mono is superb when it's done right and for me, the first image "river reflections" is quite simply stunning.
mono is superb when it's done right and for me, the first image "river reflections" is quite simply stunning.
i agree about mono being done right = superb, i have a few galleries i would like to link to, i'll post them in a bit
I took this mono on purpose, and i was inspired by the cloud cover and the light. The light was falling fast, giving good contrast, the clouds were cumulus and low, moving quite quick with a bit of a breeze, so i composed the shot, set it to a long exposure, and crossed my fingers!
Quay to the city is perfection
Went for a little ramble today around where I live and took these pics along the way.
The White Lodge
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e142/phillipdodd2/MISC024.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e142/phillipdodd2/MISC037.jpg
The Round House
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e142/phillipdodd2/MISC033.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e142/phillipdodd2/MISC029.jpg
Goxhill Church
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e142/phillipdodd2/MISC045.jpg
Rail Bridge
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e142/phillipdodd2/MISC060.jpg
http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs27/i/2008/160/9/4/moon_1_by_Paulmalsop.jpg
Exif
Make: Canon
Model: Canon EOS 30D
Shutter Speed: 1/100 second
F Number: F/9.0
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Mirror lock-up
Remote release
Date Picture Taken: Jun 8, 2008, 9:52:18 PM
mikeadams1985
09-06-08, 21:18
Dry kill logic gig
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/dryklilllogic.jpg
Amsterdam
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/7706/amsterdamax5.jpg
Liverpool
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/lcath.jpg
Love the church, nice one :)
Is that Church the Greek Orthodox Church?
Read this and took a pic of the nephew who is here to receive my corals tomo :D
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll147/beech08/ciaran.jpg
Settings are as follows
Canon 350d
Canon 50mm macro lens
iso 200
shutter speed 1/125
f 5.6
mikeadams1985
10-06-08, 19:10
Is that Church the Greek Orthodox Church?
nope
liverpool cath or ang, ive never known which one
May I ask how you edited this picture? I love the effect & would like to try it myself :) (I use Photoshop for editing)
#2
http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs27/i/2008/145/6/0/the_kids_pop_by_Paulmalsop.jpg
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