Chapter 6 is all about showing off! Your work that is! While some of us are photographing with a more personal goal (sharing pictures with family and on 365), others are looking forward to showcasing their images in a portfolio or on a gallery wall. Each one of these approaches is addressed in this chapter. One thing that Batdorff mentions which has truly been my experience since joining The 365 Project is that in order to get better shots, you need to take a lot of pictures. I know that the numerical count below each of my photos not only represents how many pictures I’ve posted, but at least another 20 that I deleted! Why? Because as my confidence grew I realized more frequently and with more certainty what was and wasn’t a good image- and that is a good thing!
Your processing will work in stages. Batdorff concentrates on the artistic side of the image first and waits until later in the process to take care of the finer details (like the less obvious dust spots). You may prefer to do that first. There really is no right or wrong order. Removing dust spots or other unwanted flaws involves using the Heal or Clone brush in Light Room. My program uses an “eraser”. Picmonkey, Ribbet, and iPiccy have a cloning tool. You will have to explore your processing program (if you haven’t used something like this already) if you wish to learn how to do this. Otherwise, the further tips on “how to fine tune your photo” in Light Room are covered by Batdorff with illustrations along the way.
Printing can be accomplished through 3 different venues: in-house (at home), Print Houses (on-line/sent out), and local (a camera store). If you print in-house there is good news- black and white prints last longer than color! But in-house can also be expensive. So the decision to go this route should be considered seriously before diving right in. When you have your final print, Batdorff suggests keeping these points in mind:
- It’s best to frame your print under glass and avoid exposure to direct sunlight, cigarette smoke, and cooking fumes.
- Semigloss and matte paper is better for beginners. Order samples to see how they feel and what they look like or visit your local camera store for recommendations.
- Glossy paper is very shiny and picks up fingerprints easily. Matte paper on the other hand is a great choice for black and white- especially those pictures which feature texture or motion.
- Semigloss brings out the best of matte and glossy with a less shiny surface than glossy but with a large dynamic range and excellent tonal reproduction.
- Look for a printer which has archival quality and can print within the size range you’re interested in. Accessible printer ink is a must and take into consideration whether or not you intend to print panoramas.
For any further instructions on how to set up your printer and using your Light Room processing program for printing I will refer you to the book rather than describe it any further.
Print Houses
When you prefer not to spend the time and money on a printer and paper, a print house is an excellent way to reduce the investment and benefit from the latest printing technology. Batdorff recommends Mpix and APC but any service that has a good reputation for customer service and a 100% satisfaction guarantee (reprint or refund) is what you should look for. You will want to follow Batdorff’s recommendations on calibrating your computer to the Print House settings if you want full control over your final print. And why stop at paper prints? Try canvas prints of your black and white photos too. There are several photographers in my camera club that are growing more interested in printing on metal too. Of course paper printing is always the least expensive, but some of the alternatives produce some spectacular results.
Framing
This section is rather self-explanatory but the gist of it is that whether you buy them or make your own frames, you have a lot of options to choose from. Just make sure your frame compliments your picture.
Sharing
I had to chuckle as I began reading this chapter. 365 folks do not need any explanations on what it means to share your photo! If we’re here, we’re sharing! But Batdorff does mention some other spots which may or may not be familiar such as Facebook, Flickr, and Smugmug. I’m sure you could name a few more. Instructions on how to work a Facebook page follow. Again, I will refer you back to the book if this is something you are interested in.
Watermarks
Watermarks are identifiers that help to brand your image and deter theft. There are several kinds- text, graphic, digital and embedded. (The instructions on how to make a watermark in Light Room will be very helpful to those of you who have it and want to add a watermark to your pictures. It’s not so helpful to those of us who don’t have it.)
Digital watermarks are by far the best kind. Digital watermarks embed a unique set of data to your image which identifies you as the owner of that image. No matter what someone does to your photo, that information will remain with the picture proving your ownership.
Batdorff concludes with one final thought on black and white photography: For me a good black and white image tells me as much about the photographer as about the image itself. It’s a 2 way mirror. Keep your black and white photography sincere and stay true to yourself. You’ll find a style that honestly reflects you, the artist, in every image.
ASSIGNMENTS FOR CHAPTER 6
You get a bonus day this week thanks to Leap Year! Our assignments are divided into 2 parts. Part one is completely optional!
Part One (off 365):
- If you’re thinking of printing at home, do some homework. Research different printers and their capabilities. Compare your findings with On-line print houses and local printers.
- Create a watermark and save it as a preset for later use.
- Select an image to hang in your home (or give as a gift) and work through the processing to print format. Be mindful of what paper to use and how you will frame the picture after it’s been printed.
Part Two (on 365):
- You’re 8 days away from completing a month’s worth of black and white shots; can you believe it?! Go out with a bang- choose a black and white effect (or any effect you can apply to black and white) and feature that in your last 8 photos (high key and low key have been featured in this book). Or perhaps there is a genre you’ve particularly enjoyed in black and white (such as portraits). Use your last 8 photos to fine tune this skill.
- Revisit some of the images from your first year (month or week of your entire project, not just this month) and re-process them with some of your newly found black and white skills. If you’re brave, put the “old” shot and the “new” shot side by side to show us the difference!
- Choose one of your favorite 365 challenges (such as the tag-challenge or artist challenge) or themes and post a black and white photo using that challenge as a starting point. You can even use a current one if you’d like. You can do 8 different ones, or 8 versions of the same one- it’s up to you to choose and play.
- Imagine you’ve been given the opportunity to exhibit 8 images at a local gallery. Keeping in mind what Batdorff said about “honesty” in your photographs, choose 8 black and white images that you feel best reflect you as a person and as an artist. Work on both how you see the shot before you take it and how you process it before you “print”. Give us some background as to why you choose that particular image in your commentary each day.
- Make up your own assignment based on something you learned from this book or something you were inspired to try because of it.
It’s been a pleasure to walk through Batdorff’s book with you this month. The pictures I’ve seen posted each week have been inspiring and encouraging! Now that it’s over I’m sure a few of you will go running back to color (which is fine!) but don’t forget to go back to black and white once in a while. I find black and white really helps me to see color and that color helps me to see black and white- so keep these newly acquired skills sharp. I hope you got as much out of this month that I did!
Hopefully I’ll see you in black and white next February- Ann LeFevre
Ann, thank you so much for all of this and yes, I'm longing to get back to colour but I have learnt a lot from b&w for a month. Batdorff is very informative and interesting and I'm so encouraged by his view that in order to get better shots, you need to take a lot of pictures. I'm often feeling that I take too many shots but I now no longer need to feel guilty!!!
Thanks again for taking this on...it's been great fun and I love Part 2 of this week's challenge. My plan is to revisit my captures and use some of the new Black and White Picmonkey edits (perfect timing, Picmonkey!)
Thank you so much for doing this! I truly learned so much this month, and I feel like my b&w skills, especially the processing, have grown. I've enjoyed doing the challenge, and it's been wonderful and also educational to see everyone else's photos in black and white. Also, Batdorff is a great resource.
@olivetreeann Hi Ann, Thanks so very much for doing this. I am learning so much from the flashofred and have also ordered the Batdorff for myself. There are so many beautiful images on the tag, sometimes I lose hours just examining them. Could you please include me on your list, as well?
Thank you Ann!! Although its been tough for me to work exclusively in B&W, I think my understanding and appreciation of B&W has grown exponentially. And, forced to do it everyday, I really have learned a ton. I really can tell what will look good and what won't! Thanks again!
Thanks Ann for running this challenge - you're right I am longing to get back to colour, however b&w has been steadily becoming a passion and I now feel better informed. Looking forward to finishing this month off by revisiting some old favourite photos and re-inventing them. Thanks again.
Thanks again for posting this Ann. I never did get around to getting Batdorff's book so I have relied 100% on the thread that you have posted. I agree with what others have already said that there are some fabulous pictures under the tag. Sadly my time has been limited so I haven't commented much but I have made an effort to check the tag regularly.
Thans Ann. I really like your challenges for this week but cannot decide what to do! Although I have been taking lots of b&w this month (and have posted) I feel have been a bit distracted and disorganised. I wonder if I can get it together for the lat 8 days!
It has been good fun though and thank you once again for all your effort in putting this together!
Thank you Ann! I am really enjoying this challenge and am learning so much, I have found the book and your posts very helpful. Checking the histogram has become part of my routine so I do feel like I am more in control of my shots now. Still lots to read and try on the post-processing so I will definitely be re-visiting these chapters in the future! Thanks!
Thank you so much Ann for having done this. I have learnt loads about myself and my photography in doing this flashofred project. I really appreciate all the hard work you have done each week in writing all the summaries and the assignments that you put together for us. Thank you so much again.
Thank you for all your kind words and thanks! It's been my pleasure and I've learned just as much as you have in the process. I've been so impressed with how much everyone has gotten out of the book and my summaries.
@cristinaledesma33 My apologies Cristina- apparently I missed you when I typed up the list. I've added you on to my master now so you'll get tagged next year when we start up again!
@olivetreeann Here it is the last day of the month, and I can't thank you enough for your wonderful work leading us through the book and through all 29 days of February! I really appreciate the time you spent helping and encouraging us. I learned so much and look forward to learning even more as time goes on!
@janetb You are welcome Janet! I learned so much too. Of course it's always a pleasure to put something together for some of the most appreciative photographers I know!
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Since I didn't see any corrections last week, I'm assuming they're all correct. Have a great black and white week everyone!!
It has been good fun though and thank you once again for all your effort in putting this together!
Thank you for all your kind words and thanks! It's been my pleasure and I've learned just as much as you have in the process. I've been so impressed with how much everyone has gotten out of the book and my summaries.
@cristinaledesma33 My apologies Cristina- apparently I missed you when I typed up the list. I've added you on to my master now so you'll get tagged next year when we start up again!
@homeschoolmom I used to scrapbook until I got on 365!