Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: michael ellis on March 20, 2013, 11:43:23 am

Title: Door of Life
Post by: michael ellis on March 20, 2013, 11:43:23 am
Here is a picture from San Miguel de Allende. I keep expecting Michael to post a shot of this door. This was scanned from slide film. I was attracted to all the symbols of life presented here. Thanks for looking.

Michael
Title: Re: Door of Life
Post by: Chris Calohan on March 20, 2013, 11:56:42 am
Seemed to me to have an overall yellowish cast without any real definition to the colors or details of the door. My edit removes the color cast and puts the emphasis on the color and detail...and it looks pretty dang good as a B&W.

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8522/8574279227_d81a480856_o.jpg)
Title: Re: Door of Life
Post by: michael ellis on March 20, 2013, 12:15:04 pm
Hi Chris-

I haven't tried this as B&W yet! I actually had moved from a red cast to the yellow. I may have gone too far. Did you do some sharpening or is the enhanced detail due to the color change? I have been working on this one off and on for a while and am still trying to come up with my "best" version. Now I want to try it in B&W.

Thanks,

Michael
Title: Re: Door of Life
Post by: David Eckels on March 23, 2013, 03:46:20 pm
I see why you're working on this one. Very intriguing. Also agree toning somewhere in between the "yellow" and "red" versions. What about opening up the shadows at the top a bit?
Title: Re: Door of Life
Post by: Chris Calohan on March 23, 2013, 07:39:12 pm
Hi Chris-

I haven't tried this as B&W yet! I actually had moved from a red cast to the yellow. I may have gone too far. Did you do some sharpening or is the enhanced detail due to the color change? I have been working on this one off and on for a while and am still trying to come up with my "best" version. Now I want to try it in B&W.

Thanks,

Michael

I used a SEP2 adjustment layer and it tends to sharpen somewhat.

David: Look at it in Photoshop and you'll see the shadows are opened up quite a bit.
Title: Re: Door of Life
Post by: michael ellis on March 24, 2013, 02:05:36 pm
I used a SEP2 adjustment layer and it tends to sharpen somewhat.

Hi Chris-

What is a SEP2 layer? I am not familiar with the term.

Thanks,
Michael
Title: Re: Door of Life
Post by: Chris Calohan on March 24, 2013, 02:15:01 pm
Silver Efex Pro 2. A Nik program for converting to B&W. I use it to create a somewhat high contrast B&W image, then blend it into the color image on luminosity. If you don't have SEP2, you can accomplish the same thing by duplicating your original, using the B&W adjustment layer, adjust the color scrollers where you like, add a Brightness and Contrast layer atop that then blend it all again with luminosity.

Using SEP allows a bit of extra grain to be tossed in if desired.
Title: Re: Door of Life
Post by: michael ellis on March 24, 2013, 02:20:29 pm
I see why you're working on this one. Very intriguing. Also agree toning somewhere in between the "yellow" and "red" versions. What about opening up the shadows at the top a bit?

Hi David-

Thanks for taking a look. I too find my first version a bit off in color, especially next to Chris' redder version! The shadows are full of blotchy noise but are more open than the jpeg shows. If lightened too much they look really blotchy. I am still bothered by the red around the doorway but I think the wall by the door is receiving reflected red light from the door. Taking that cast out makes the whole scene too yellow.
Title: Re: Door of Life
Post by: michael ellis on March 24, 2013, 02:27:42 pm
Thanks for the info Chris. I don't use that program but have used channel blending and luminosity layers to enhance detail. I'll have to look into it for B&W conversion. I am often pleased by the conversions I make in Photoshop and Lightroom but every now and then I run into one that I can't make a decent B&W from.

Michael
Title: Re: Door of Life
Post by: David Eckels on March 24, 2013, 03:22:10 pm
Chris, I see in PS, you're right. Michael, I understand. How about just a quarter of a stop here and there? It's a fine image in B/W, too, though I did bump the shadows with a curve adjustment, just to be difficult ;)
Title: Re: Door of Life new scan
Post by: michael ellis on March 26, 2013, 02:36:20 pm
Here is a color and B&W version. I rescanned the slide and seem to have lost the weird color balance but I kind of miss it! This one is more neutral. I opened up the shadows more, they have less noise in this scan. I would like to see your take in B&W if you still have it.

Thanks,

Michael
Title: Re: Door of Life
Post by: David Eckels on March 27, 2013, 04:54:22 pm
I converted to B/W and bumped the lower 1/6th or so of the curve to open the shadowed part of the door just a bit. I put two "anchor" points above to keep the rest of the exposure the same. Not better, just different. BTW, I used the original image. Didn't look too hard for noise but had the impression there is less, as you said. I like doors.