Here we are in Week #3 already! Time does seem to go quickly when you're working on a theme! This week it's on to chapters 4 and 5. So here we go...
CHAPTER FOUR
POST PROCESSING
Batdorff’s goal in chapter 4 is to inform the reader on “work flow” and the basic tools of Light Room. We can all benefit from his ideas on work flow, i. e. managing the process of taking our pictures out of the camera, into the computer and on to print. Not all of us use Light Room so I will do my best to generalize some of the basic principles of post processing which apply to all editing programs.
When pictures don’t go as planned- OR –when you know the shooting conditions aren’t perfect, adjust your camera in such a way that you will be able to work with the picture in the computer. Create a system that provides you with easy and well-organized access to your files. Always have back-up files!
“Importing” is moving your pictures from the camera to the computer. Place your pictures in one “folder” (such as the general term “pictures”) and then further group them as you see fit (in my mind it is how you will remember them- date/year, year/event or month, year/subject as in children/2016). Batdorff uses this as an example: Pictures>2016>vacation. How you categorize your photos is really up to you. The basic idea is to keep this system simple enough so that you don’t have to go digging through thousands of pictures to find that special image you’re looking for. Light Room has a feature called “key words” which is much like the tagging process we use on 365. Key words are helpful if you have massive amounts of pictures (thanks to 365 most of us do!) of the same or similar subjects (parents! You know what I’m talking about!!). In Light Room these are entered before you import the pictures. The program I use does not have this feature. But my own personal filing system is easy enough that I don’t really need it. ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK YOU’VE GOT EVERYTHING BACKED UP BEFORE YOU DELETE IMAGES FROM YOUR CAMERA CARD!
Batdorff recommends using an image management database (a way to designate which photos are the best of those you’ve taken) to help you quickly decide which pictures you’d like to further process. Being selective here helps save time later on. Keep your rating system simple- it helps avoid confusion later on. In Light Room this segment is called the Library Module.
A simple way to convert to black and white is by using the “preset” which is specifically for black and white. A preset is a set of automatic adjustments that have been already set to create a desired effect such as black and white. The benefit in using these is that it speeds up workflow. Batdorff says presets are a great start in Light Room, “but you will rarely leave them as is”.
A second way to convert to black and white is to use the “Basic Panel” and select a “Black and White” treatment which will convert your image to monochrome. You will still be able to toggle back and forth between your color image and the original version in this mode which can be helpful in determining some of the fine points of your picture.
I do not use Light Room so I confess most of the details in this chapter were lost on me. However, I do have a similar processing program in my computer. Interestingly the way I upload and organize my photos and how I back them up is comparable to what Batdorff recommends. And with a little poking and prodding I was able to find similar preset features to that of Light Room. So if you don’t have Light Room or are using a different program, don’t feel as if you need to go out and buy Light Room. It just takes a little persistence on your part and some time to develop your own system. Many cameras also come with their own software that has a program for uploading and organizing pictures, so don’t be afraid to do some exploring.
However, if you do have Light Room and questions on how to use it or what features are best, there a several people taking part in this challenge that are most likely ready, willing and able to answer your questions better than I could! @frankhymus (Frank), @northy, @ltodd (Lyn), @taffy, @graemestevens (Graeme), and @vignouse (Richard) I hope you don’t mind my mentioning your expertise here!
As you consider post-processing:
- familiarize yourself with presets, but don’t expect them to answer all your post-processing needs.
- have adequate light when you review and process your photos
- use a background color that helps you with the visual elements (such as contrast) of your photos
- determine the presets that are most helpful to you and highlight them so that they are easy to find
- pay attention to composition; sometimes cropping a photo makes it even better
- make use of short-cuts if your program has them
- you can work on specific areas of your pictures by making use of individual sliders. Their names may vary from program to program but in Light Room they are contrast, temperature, tint, etc. and all or some of them can be used to add impact to your picture.
The chapter finishes out with instructions on dodging, burning, adding contrast and sharpening with examples of how it’s done in Light Room. While most of us already understand contrast and sharpening, a brief definition of dodging and burning follow. Dodging is using a “brush” to lighten a specific area of the picture. Burning is using the “brush” to darken a specific area of the picture. When you are dodging, burning or applying any of the other processing features to your picture a “mask overlay” can be a helpful tool. It distinguishes the area you are working on by highlighting it in a distinct color separate from the overall picture (such as red). This color is not permanent- it just helps the program know which area you want changed.
CHAPTER FIVE
BLACK AND WHITE EFFECTS
Once again I am at a loss to give you the full benefits of this chapter as I do not use Light Room or Silver Effex Pro which Batdorff does a great job of describing. But I will try to pull out some principles which apply to everyone.
The first effect to be discussed is Selective Coloring. When properly used this effect “brings together the best of color and black and white”. According to Batdorff, Silver Effex Pro (henceforth called SEP) “provides a rich set of features that work seamlessly together in creating exceptional contrast and tonal control throughout a black and white image.” So no matter what program you’re using the goal then should be to make whatever processing you do appear seamless- that is there should be no glaring differences between the processed and unprocessed areas in your picture. Batdorff walks you through the set-up and then gives you three examples on how to set-up SEP. The general process involves setting up the program to view images to your liking, importing the images, and using different presets and editing adjustment tools to review and process the photo, and then to save it.
In the “Finishing Adjustments” phase there is a lot of room to be creative with your picture. Toning is a term from dark room/film days which refers to changing the color of tone of the print. Sepia and Selerium are two popular versions of this technique. Vignettes darken or lighten the edge of the photo to naturally frame and draw the eye to the focal point of the picture. They can be either circular or rectangular in shape. Borders can be a fun addition to your shot as well.
Selecting a mood: go high-key, low-key or anything in between! The question which determines this aspect of your processing is , “How do you want your picture to feel? Soft? Gritty? The mood you choose will determine the way you process the photo. But first, processing begins with the “Big Three”: Contrast (how soft or harsh is the lighting), Brightness (working with the tones of the picture), and Structure (working with the texture of the shot which adds depth as well as contrast).
Pinpoint areas that may need a little extra attention such as areas which are too dark or too bright and details are lost. Look for spots where the sharpness can be improved, and so on. If you do use SEP, Batdorff’s step by step analysis in this chapter will be a great help to you!
Selective Color and Toning is also reviewed in chapter 5. Whereas Selective Coloring is basically erasing the black and white conversion off of your picture, toning is layering color on top of the black and white conversion. Some programs also have effects that make your digital shot look like it was taken on film. Batdorff also covers how to make your own preset- a valuable tool if you have a treatment you like using over and over again.
ASSIGNMENTS FOR WEEK THREE
You have the option of choosing whatever subjects and genres you’d like this week (landscape, portrait, shapes, lines, abstract, etc.). You can work on any one or all three of the choices below.
1) Following Batdorff’s processing as a guide, use your own program to process a picture from start to finish (no sooc this week!). Keep track of what you did from start to finish. Experiment with sliders, dodging and burning to see what happens to your picture when you use them. Put together a collage to show the different phases of your processing.
2) Select an object that will be your subject every day this week. Take several photos of it and choose a certain element in your photos to emphasize (texture, contrast, lighting, point of view, etc.). While processing your photo create different moods with these elements by using high or low-key processing, toning or burning.
3) If you have Light Room or Silver Effex Pro select one of Batdorff’s assignments at the end of chapter 5 and get to know this editing tool better. If you have a different editing tool, take one of those assignments and see if you can make it work with your program. This will give you a chance to see what yours is really made of!
This week it’s all about post-processing, so experiment and have fun. While the use of selective coloring was reserved for the 14th some of you will want to continue to use it. It’s your project and your rules as we like to say here! Above all, continue to use the challenge to stretch your skills and creativity.
Feel free to add your favorite picture from week 2 below. You'll inspire and encourage others as they take part in this challenge. Here is the list of tags- and as we know sometimes Ann's fingers don't always get your tags right so let me know when I've got a typo on the list and I'll correct it.
I like this one as it was of a shopping arcade that I've known since I was a small child. It always seemed magical then as it was full of nothing but jewellery shops (still is). Looking forward to this week. I might take advantage of it by reprocessing some of my existing photos in b&w.
Here's one that might illustrate a few points from Ann's comprehensive summary. above, those specific to monotone are...
Toning, adding color to the B&W "ink" and just a little to the shadows, not the light highlights, to warm it up, but not too much "in-your-face." I find it can also lend some extra separation between light and dark, 'thickening" the ink as it were. I do it in a Photoshop Color Balance layer but in Lightroom or Camera Raw look at the "split toning" tab. Both options are "simple" to use, simply move sliders around. There are other (more complex) ways to do it as well.
Widen the tonal range. I guess called adding "contrast" but here in addition to the normal Contrast and Clarity sliders, use the "grey scale" mapping - click the HSL/Grayscale tab, "convert to grayscale" and move the default sliders around, some to the left, blues usually, and some to the right, yellows and oranges usually. Since I convert to B&W almost exclusively in this panel, it's simple to incorporate into my workflow right from the beginning.
Sharpen it up carefully to get the edge transitions even clearer but not "glowing."
And finally a very mild (5%) Gaussian blur layer over the final product (really only possible in Photoshop) to cool down the sharpening just a little. Scott Kelby's "sharp yet soft" trick that works well in many situations, not only B&W.
Of course, many "presets" are possible, Nik Silver Efex has many, and you can simply roll your own, but I like to do most of my conversions from scratch. It takes but a few minutes, and I find each distinct image usually requires "tweaking" (depending on the color content of the source especially) from the preset default, which can possibly take as long as starting from scratch with your basic arsenal...
Another nice collection of presets emulating classic film effects (color as well as monochrome) can be found in the Film Pack from DxO, available as plugins to many editors. You can try it free for 30 days.
Ann, thank you for all your work. I have learned much in the last 2 weeks from you, the book, and all the great photos from the participants. Here's my favorite from week 2.
@daisymiller - go to your favourite photo and underneath your image you will see three dots. Click on the three dots and then copy the code on the left hand side and then post it into the box here and click post. You should see it appear.
well I smiled at your first paragraphs about saving - mine are organised for a mostly easy find and are on my card until I back up - at least I do one thing right hahahahahahaha
@daisymiller Below your title and comment is a date on the left side and on the right side, four icons. The fourth (last to the right) looks like three periods together. Click that and up pops an "Embed Code" box, with an area highlighted in blue. That's the code to your photo. If you copy that code (it's a long string of letters/symbols), and then paste it into a comment box on this thread, all you have to do is hit return and your photo pops up. If you want to write something about the photo, just type in your message and then paste in the code string.
@tracys Love how the black and white emphasizes those beautiful eyes!
@stephanies At first I thought this was a wind turbine. Nice collage. Black and white works really well for the shape of this sculpture.
@zinnia Good for you to stick with it until you got what you were looking for. It's a good shot!
@teachntravel Nice shot. You can see how black and white gives this a timeless feel- a nice sentiment as this place brings good memories for you. I have taken the opportunity to revisit some old shots with this month as well. Good idea!
@frankhymus Thanks again Frank for adding some valuable tips and information. And thanks for posting a lovely shot too.
Another post-processed image for week 3. Heavy adjustment of the grayscale map and some novel toning. Look at it in my album if you want to know a little more.
Here are some good sites for Black & White workflow
PHOTOSHOP
Introduction - Phlearn part 1 http://phlearn.com/creating-black-white-image-photoshop
@ 8:50 desaturation
@ 9:45 Black & white adjustment layer (some control)
@ 10:40 Channel Mixer - (has presets)
@olivetreeann Well thanks. But it is very simple to manipulate the grayscale map to produce tonal separation even if the colors are approximately the same luminosity. Here basically blue down and yellow and orange and green up. Careful of the edges against the now-dark sky.
You know, I couldn't bear to do a month of b&w, but I chose to do a flash of red shot. Now that I can handle. But perhaps, I was too literal as usual:).
This didn't turn out exactly the way I would have liked it to, but it was the best I could do with Ribbet. I cropped and used the hand tint and extra black and white features.
I used Rawtherapee from start to finish, with Ilford Delta 400 film emulation (a script that tries to duplicate the effect of real film). Cropped it to try and accentuate the people and their pov. I mainly used the wavelet sharpening tool to bring out as much detail as I could. It helped that there was very little noise in the photo to start with. I would have liked the neon to be brighter, but still happy with it.
@olivetreeann I have, but here's a plain black and white featuring the same amaryllis as the centerpiece. Processing done in Ribbet, with extra black and white option.
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Here's mine:
Toning, adding color to the B&W "ink" and just a little to the shadows, not the light highlights, to warm it up, but not too much "in-your-face." I find it can also lend some extra separation between light and dark, 'thickening" the ink as it were. I do it in a Photoshop Color Balance layer but in Lightroom or Camera Raw look at the "split toning" tab. Both options are "simple" to use, simply move sliders around. There are other (more complex) ways to do it as well.
Widen the tonal range. I guess called adding "contrast" but here in addition to the normal Contrast and Clarity sliders, use the "grey scale" mapping - click the HSL/Grayscale tab, "convert to grayscale" and move the default sliders around, some to the left, blues usually, and some to the right, yellows and oranges usually. Since I convert to B&W almost exclusively in this panel, it's simple to incorporate into my workflow right from the beginning.
Sharpen it up carefully to get the edge transitions even clearer but not "glowing."
And finally a very mild (5%) Gaussian blur layer over the final product (really only possible in Photoshop) to cool down the sharpening just a little. Scott Kelby's "sharp yet soft" trick that works well in many situations, not only B&W.
Of course, many "presets" are possible, Nik Silver Efex has many, and you can simply roll your own, but I like to do most of my conversions from scratch. It takes but a few minutes, and I find each distinct image usually requires "tweaking" (depending on the color content of the source especially) from the preset default, which can possibly take as long as starting from scratch with your basic arsenal...
Another nice collection of presets emulating classic film effects (color as well as monochrome) can be found in the Film Pack from DxO, available as plugins to many editors. You can try it free for 30 days.
@vignouse Nice one! I particularly like the "feel" of it.
@judithdeacon You're right- a favorite of your own, but you can also post a favorite of someone else's if you'd like to!
@linnypinny great shadow shot! I don't know how you got that heart in there, but it's perfect.
@cherrymartina Yummy shot!
@tracys Love how the black and white emphasizes those beautiful eyes!
@stephanies At first I thought this was a wind turbine. Nice collage. Black and white works really well for the shape of this sculpture.
@zinnia Good for you to stick with it until you got what you were looking for. It's a good shot!
@teachntravel Nice shot. You can see how black and white gives this a timeless feel- a nice sentiment as this place brings good memories for you. I have taken the opportunity to revisit some old shots with this month as well. Good idea!
@frankhymus Thanks again Frank for adding some valuable tips and information. And thanks for posting a lovely shot too.
@jackies365 Sweet shot!
@sfdeb Great use of selective coloring Deborar!
@daisymiller See both Taffy and Nicole's answers- both are correct.
@wenbow Beautiful!
@stephanies @grammyn Thank you Stephanie and Katy for your kind words and encouragement.
@dianen Awesome capture! Hope you didn't get wet!
@nicolecampbell Love the way the drops have turned into streaks.
@grammyn Precious!!
@taffy I love this shot- and thanks for being willing to answer questions. You are such an excellent mentor!
@annied Love this!
@mzbull Great selective color shot!
@golftragic Very moody- nice selective color there!
@barb_b Great shot! Love the simplicity and feeling of this.
@homeschoolmom Not a problem Lisa- hope your camera is ok! In the meantime, nice shot!
@sstcowan Beautiful capture!
@pcoulson That's not a splash, it's a SPLASHY RED!!
PHOTOSHOP
Introduction - Phlearn part 1 http://phlearn.com/creating-black-white-image-photoshop
@ 8:50 desaturation
@ 9:45 Black & white adjustment layer (some control)
@ 10:40 Channel Mixer - (has presets)
Plearn Part 2 http://phlearn.com/creating-black-white-image-photoshop-pt2
Channel Mix how to - theory http://www.howtogeek.com/162781/how-to-convert-your-color-photos-to-stunning-black-and-white-prints/
Easy Dramatic BW using gradient map https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qkb6UJn0Do
Aaron Nace
Stylise BW in Photoshop ( Aaron is cute & incredibly knowledgeable, but he talks incredibly fast!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmgFMwluDZk
LIGHTROOM
best explained here by Julieanne Kost - and there are some bonus BW presets on the page as well.
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/the-complete-picture-with-julieanne-kost/converting-images-to-black-and-white-in-lightroom-4/
GIMP https://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Color2BW/
@milaniet A snail with bling!!
@skstein This was a really strong shot Sandy. Glad you posted it here.
@ltodd Thanks for all those excellent links Lyn!
@debbyglynn You are a multi-talented woman Debby! That little figurine is adorable!
@skstein Well, you've been busy with sc, haven't you?!
@zshadowwalker Excellent processing Adrian!