This is my second attempt at producing a high key image as described in B & W Digital Photography by Michael Freeman. It's quite the hardest thing I've tried to do this month, in fact since I started my project 7 weeks ago. I don't much care for the genre, which perhaps explains why I am finding it so difficult to do.
Technically, as described by Freeman, this is a high-key image. Artistically... I await your comments - thanks in advance.
it is very high key - I know when I've like it was white on white shots - a white flower or shell on a white background. I was playing today, but much of what I did was in the editing.
I quite like it. I like white on white images, and this composition is wonderful with the concentric circles and hint of textures. I'm not good at hi-key, but I think this is lovely.
@vignouse Sorry I just don't know this genre and don't know what to say. It's is interesting the white on white on white. But I don't have the words to say just wanted to let you know I stopped by. And by interesting I mean the kind of thing you put into your mind and mull over.
I think you nailed it. I'm struggling a bit with the current chapter. I found that I like high contrast and I can see where low contrast would have its applications. High and low key though, I'm a little lost.
Wow. I don't know what "high key" means, but how on earth do you do white on white on white and still have all the textures be so clear? Nothing is lost in this photo. Each layer is distinct & distinctly it's own. It's doesn't phase/fade/blur into one another and its all the same color. I'm overwhelming impressed by the skill involved. I can't fav it because I really don't like white on white, but I am very impressed.
@northy I tried reprocessing this and got a better result with much clearer detail... but too late. This one was converted to mono on import and then processed; the 'better' version I processed in colour and only converted to mono at the end - interesting! It also looks good in colour - I might post the colour version later today, if I get time.
@joansmor@johenn@vignouse I'm with Joan and Jo. Interesting. I certainly admire it. It's well composed and exquisitely lit, full of detail yet the upper right side of the plate sort of dissapears in a mystical manner. But somehow it doesn't speak to me. Maybe because I don't "get" food photography in the first place (or still lifes on canvass, for that matter!)
@johenn@joansmor@therubysusan@fishers Thank you for commenting ladies and I have to say that, on the whole, I agree with you. I too find the image rather uninteresting, but it was done as part of my experimentation with the techniques described by Michael Freeman in his book. I've posted a colour version in my Doubletakes album for comparison... but this is an effect I shan't be trying much in the future I think!
i think you're always better off converting to mono at the end of processing... gives you that much more to work with, plus you're making your own choices about how to convert, not relying on the software, y'know?
@northy Well, the conversion was done in Lightroom in exactly the same way in both cases. The only difference was with one I adjusted, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, contrast, etc in colour and then converted, and with the other, I converted and then made the adjustments. I shall try this experiment again with virtual copies of another photo and report back.
I think you are amazing for persevering. I like the simplicity of the white on white along with the textures, but not as much as I loved your whisky glass! I tried the low key thing yesterday and gave up. So busy over the weekend but maybe I will be able to try again...
Richard - there was a thread on this not too long ago... something about workflow and sharpness and then i think it got into black and white conversion and whether it was done early in the processing or more towards the end... even if you're just using LR for the conversion you can play around with how the conversion is done (i can't explain it, but you should see sliders for the colours and if you move them around you'll likely see what i mean)...
@northy Yes, I did all that in both cases; adjusted the colour sliders to change the tones in B&W, and I used exactly the same numbers for each slider. The only difference is the point in the process at which I clicked the (same) conversion button.
February 22nd, 2014
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