So, B&W February 2015 is off and running... and here's my first entry. This is actually a 'twofer' because it's also a Lensbaby shot. There has been quite a bit of on and off-line discussion recently about Lensbaby images with some people suggesting that buying a Lensbaby is just an expensive way of producing a blurry image.
It's one way of using a LB but, in fact, the lenses (there are several different types) are designed to have an in-focus 'sweet spot' surrounded by controllable blur which becomes more extreme at the edges of the frame and the sweet spot varies in size depending on where you choose to position it in the frame and the aperture in use - f/4 here. In this image the sweet spot is centred on the cat's right eye - the rest of the image displays varying degrees of blur and distortion. The image has been quadtoned to produce a softer effect than pure B&W processing.
@graemestevens Nah! No chance - her evasion skills have been honed to a peak of efficiency through multiple daily sparring sessions with Mitzi (our K9)!
@ksyvarth Thanks Krystina - there are a lot of classic lenses you should invest in before spending your money on a LB but they are great fun to use. Yes, you can do something similar in post-production but you'd miss out on the fun and the unpredictability of doing it at the point of capture. You can produce a limited DoF in PP but it's not the same as using a wide aperture prime lens. Essentially, it's a big boy's (or girl's) toy... but great fun nevertheless!
@northy Photoshop/Image/Mode/Duotone - you'll find there about 250 duotone/tritone and quadtone presets. You'll need first (under the mode tab) to convert your image to greyscale and 8 bit and when you've finished, convert it back to RGB colour for exporting. Beware - you can waste a lot of time trying these out!
Wonderful looking tabby.....great lensbaby shot, love the explanation of the quadtone process, I will refrain from exploring it as I am already stretched thin for time, but terrific explanation nonetheless....and, Following!
I do wish "people" on this site would quit coming up with reasons I need to move up to full photoshop. Quad tone sounds fun. I love the slight toning in some b&w's.
Love the strong focus on the cat and how it draws us into the center of interest quickly.
Great shot for b&w February Richard.