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martinimages
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From first capture to Mono
This new section is designed for newcomers in monochrome where things can sound complex and difficult, here we will walk you through step by step in a way that's easy to understand and in a non technical jargon
I will start this off with a simple channel mixer conversion and USM contrast increasing, then once that's got going I will ask Crimbo [ if that's ok with Chris] to set up a thread here do the same using HDR Technique conversion.
First thing to do is go to the link below and download this raw file, once downloaded lets us know and we will start you off, i will show go to this link and click on the "English Mountain" Raw file,
http://www.filemonster.net/en/file/11670/GX1G8747-CR2.html
Martin
Thanks for idea Chris 
Last edited by martinimages, 5/Nov/08, 9:23 pm
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30/May/07, 6:08 pm
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martinimages
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Re: From first capture to Mono
The first step in producing a good mono image is to as Chris mentioned in the HDR thread is getting a good colour image with as many range of tones to suit your vision of the finished article, if you are after a shot that you want to have as many tones as possible then the colour image needs to have as much detail in it as possible from deep shadows to bright highlights with out clipping the tonal range, by clipping we mean detail in the deepest areas visible and the same for the highlights as bright as poss but not blown in any way, this is not a rule its meant to be broken for the effect your after, my self i tend to underexpose to give a certain mood to the picture but still retain a certain dynamic range in the highlights, three ways to go then.
The methods outlined below will be my own way of BW imagery, I try to create images with luminosity and mood that if at all possible in this digital world look film like [they do in print form]as far as practical, Chris has posted the way to use HDR [High Dynamic Range] I personally never use it but wont knock the wizadry behind it and have seen some stunning images produced by using HDR, examples can be found on this forum, for HDR take a look at Chris tutorial
low key, =deep blacks strong looking sky's,
high key= brighter looking shots blacks not as strong and sky's not as menacing,
Tonal range= a mixture of the above two
The decision needs to be made which way you want the image to go at taking stage or in processing, before you create what is termed a colour master image this will determine the look of your mono image when converting.
So first thing is to try an visualise the scene in mono keeping in mind the above points
1/ underexpose will move the tonal range down the grey scale giving a sombre look.
2/ Over exposure will move the tonal up the grey scale and give images a brighter look
3/ Tonal range is in between the two and will give a more natural look in terms of grey scale
Here's a link explaining the theory behind this
http://www.digital-monochrome.com/TO%20SEE%20IN%20B&W.htm
Always remember your camera is calibrated to produce the Average exposure of 18% grey which then all the scales move up and down from this, if you take a auto exposed picture with your camera of a piece of pure white card and then the same for a pure black card your camera will evaluate that as 18% grey and you will get that as the finished result ,no pure black and no pure white they will end up the same "18%" grey, this is a fundamental part of photography to understand exposure and the way the camera "sees", its a capture tool but not fool proof you are the one who decides where you want the image to go as detailed in the three point above
To Get an image with this feel to it
You need to create a colour master like [similar] this from the down load Raw file
The way to do it is by opening the Raw file into PS as it was captured by the camera, then opening the same raw file AGAIN but this time reducing the exposure slider to darken the sky [moving the grey scale down]the open this into PS,there are now two files in there, the one as camera exp and the one with the darkened sky, go to select all on the second image[sky darkened one] go to edit copy then close that image, now go to edit paste, the second image is now on top of the first [of course you cant see the first image know] now press the Alt key and keep it pressed while you click the add layer mask icon at the bottom of the layers palette, now you can see the first image and the second image is hidden by the mask, all you do now is pick a softish brush and paint in the darkened sky and any areas within the photo that you think need darkening,make sure the background colour in the tools pallete is set to white, if you over darken then change the background colour in the tools palette to black and paint the effect out, you can also control the effect by reducing the brush opacity.
Treat the work as though you are painting a picture with varying densities of colour and depth be artistic,.
One thing that I do not tend to do is apply capture or any in camera sharpening this is done in the conversion stage, when your happy with the colour version save it as a Tiff file, name it as file Number then "master colour"
Anyway that's enough for now, see how you go and post your colour master before we go to next stage.
Any questions FIRE AWAY
Martin
Last edited by martinimages, 30/May/07, 9:45 pm
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30/May/07, 7:35 pm
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martinimages
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Re: From first capture to Mono
Another important factor in mono conversion is the use of USM sharpening and diffusion~ high key and low key settings.
USM is a way of adding texture and contrast to an image, this is done in various ways ie, unsharpe mask at high settings
http://www.digital-monochrome.com/USM%20CONTRAST%20TUT.HTM
or using other sharpening techniques such as this [one of the best on the market]
http://www.pixelgenius.com/sharpener/index.html
For diffusion glows go here
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/TLRDiffuseGlows.htm
The importance not only in adding contrast when using sharpening effects is also the ability when used selectively with layer mask and brush is you can give the image apparent visual depth.
The examples below show this both images converted in Channel mixer, The top one has had only capture sharpen and another fine sharpen applied.
Th bottom image has had no capture sharpen In selected areas such as the main trees, the hotel in between them the sky have all been sharpened with USM, the remaining areas have had USM but at a lot lower amounts the effect as you can see gives more contrast, better blacks and whites and a better feeling of depth, using diffusion glows selectively i have also softened the hills in the back ground to make the hotel separate from it and used the high key glow selectively in parts of the sky to give added luminosity
1/
2/
Although theses are subtle effects and can be seen far better on the full size images than on these small web ones it is a very important area to practice on for mono conversion and after conversion editing techniques without it one can struggle to gain a strong image with power ,depth, texture and improved luminosity.
Compare the two images above and you can see the depth that sharpening has done,
A word of caution though,
Over doing any form of sharpening can cause undesirable effects such as halos from light the dark edges, artifacts in the image usualy black or white specs and the complete blocking of shadow detail, [goes black]
Practice makes perfect
1dmk2 17~40L
Martin
Last edited by martinimages, 2/Jun/07, 7:56 pm
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2/Jun/07, 7:44 pm
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I Simonius
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Re: From first capture to Mono
RAW file link broken?
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Mac PPC Dual 2.3, 6GB Ram, LR2.5 , PsCS4 11.0.1, 5Dmk2 fw 1.1.0,
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4/Mar/08, 11:21 am
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I Simonius
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Re: From first capture to Mono
RAW file still not available? 
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Mac PPC Dual 2.3, 6GB Ram, LR2.5 , PsCS4 11.0.1, 5Dmk2 fw 1.1.0,
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4/Nov/08, 10:57 pm
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martinimages
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Re: From first capture to Mono
quote:
I Simonius wrote:
RAW file still not available?
Sorry Simon it is available now
http://www.filemonster.net/en/file/11670/GX1G8747-CR2.html
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5/Nov/08, 9:24 pm
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JustDave
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Re: From first capture to Mono
Here is mine.
Regards,
Dave
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9/Nov/08, 12:01 am
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martinimages
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Re: From first capture to Mono
quote:
JustDave wrote:
Here is mine.
Regards,
Dave
Where is your mono conversion Dave 
Martin
Last edited by martinimages, 9/Nov/08, 12:06 am
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9/Nov/08, 12:05 am
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JustDave
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Re: From first capture to Mono
My mistake  , thought I was just to post the color. I will start to work on that. 
Regards,
Dave
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9/Nov/08, 12:25 am
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