martinimages
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Registered: 01-2006
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 4145
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March~ April
Another round up for the month of March [ish], forum has been a little slow, but I have noticed it in other forums as
well so must be time year with spring approaching, having said that its quality not quantity that counts and there
have been some superb posts, it really shows that with sharing knowledge on a dedicated site works. One thing that
can be seen from posts from members just starting in mono is not so much highlights but shadow areas prove a real
problem at times especially in higher contrast outdoor scenes, the lack of detail restricts tonal range and the
overall quality within an image, the best advice that can be given is to look at more advanced workers posts, study
"why" the images are good, and you will find that its the tonal range thats the key, if you where to view say Ansel
Adams original landscape prints, he was a specialist in the art of composition and capturing the light and transferring
that data to paper, although done with film and chemicals his images can sometimes be very dark in the shadow
regions but detail is always present, the images give a wonderful range from pure black right through to base white,
thats why there so good. most now have dispensed with the chemical process and digital is the medium most use, [if
digital was in Adams day I am sure he would have used it as well].
The way to look at is to ask your self what is the end product of your hobby, most advanced people would say the
print, because until you have the real thing, you image is just binary code, your hard drive explodes and bingo
everything is gone, most images posted here are 800px on the longest side, if you where to print your pic from a 10
meg cam at 16inch 360 dpi that size would go to 5760px longest side, a massive difference, over 7 times larger,
so it follows that any defects in editing will be magnified 7 times, the print tells the story at the end of the
day, so what looks OK on screen would not transfer to print always, any areas that are totally black give no data
thats why there blocked as we say here, ask your self, was the view in front of me like that, the answer would
probably be no, we can create mood and a different look to the scene but try to keep the tonal range going, there
are ways of doing this that are documented on the forum but putting this into practice can seem daunting,
I have people coming to me with images that they think are good, yes some are great, but with experience one can tell just by looking if it will print right, and the answer to most is no it wont, the mistake made is judging from whats on screen and not enough care applied for print out, if the same people had to print there work it would seem obvious where the mistakes are made, this is rectified on screen and a far better "on screen image" is made and better prints reproduced.
Here's a few tips to try and help
Keep your work flow as simple as possible, and try to perfect it, its not rocket science
Do try plugins from others they can be better for mono than PS in my opinion
Before conversion always get the best possible colour image as a master file, check that you have detail in all
regions, this can be from one raw file or 3 files all blened to one.
Don't crop your image until your totally happy with the black and white image because you might want to use the raw
file or master file again to fine tune small areas, if cropped early on alignment can be difficult.
Don't over sharpen, this will kill delicate tones and block shadows. Only us capture sharpen, then use sharpening
selectively where needed to for example, highlight a particular area, the only other form of sharpening should be
output for printing.
Try to edit with print in mind, and remember the tonal range on screen will be greater than on paper, [luminance] so the image
needs help in retaining this range, you might think it looks fine on screen, but in print it probably will be to
dark so a slight adjustment in curves will produce a better look by pushing up the the curve line from the centre
slightly will effectively "open the tones", sane that curves adjustment, and you can load it every time from the curves box, in fact save a few adjustment at differring levels of intensity for ease of use.
Do you use contrast masking after you have edited, you will be amazed how different the tones will look after the
effect.
Use your brushes in PS not like a sign-writer would but more how an artist would, shading light rather than been to
accurate, blend the light.
Before ypu edit, study the picture in colour and try to envisage the final monochrome look you want, better to have a target to aim for than running blind.
I have people coming to me with images that they think are good, yes some are great, but with experience one can tell just by looking if it will print right, and the answer to most is no it wont, the mistake is judging from whats on screen and not enough care applied, if the same people had to print there work it would seem obvious where the mistakes are made.
The other thing I would like to mention is that I am going to get in touch with Ilford Harman and see if they will sponsor our monthly competition with a prize to the winner each month, I not sure of there response but it might get some of us more into the printing side of our hobby, i will keep ypu updated on this.
Anyway thats it for this month, keep the posts going, thanks to all who help witin the forum, membership should be over two hundred this year, might not sound much to the bigger forums but to us its important.
Martin
Last edited by martinimages, 12/Apr/08, 3:11 pm
--- One to one workshop in monochrome, from capture to fine art print, printing service available
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12/Apr/08, 3:10 pm
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Eukendei
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Registered: 08-2007
Location: Netherlands
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Re: March~ April
Hi Martin,
Just printed your great tips to hang above my bed, or even better; my monitor !
Just can't refrain from saying a few things; (I hope I find the right words in English, I find it not so easy to be subtle in a foreign language..)
Obviously we're all amazed by your artistic and technical skills; what amazes me even more (if at all possible) is your willingness to share these qualities with this community in the constructive and gentle way you do. This, to me, is a very special thing to find these days and anyone, a beginner like me or a more skilled photographer can (if willing to be vulnerable and learn) benefit from the insight view in the overwhelming experience you offer,
Thank you for that, Leon
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12/Apr/08, 11:05 pm
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crimbo
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Registered: 02-2006
Location: Shetland, UK
Posts: 3731
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Re: March~ April
Hear! Hear! Leon
This is unusual in being a sharing community for learning, and long may it remain so
---
Chris
60N
1W
http://www.paddle.shetland.co.uk
http://www.paddle.shetland.co.uk/my%20piccys/index.htm
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13/Apr/08, 6:21 am
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I Simonius
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Registered: 07-2007
Location: Norfolk UK
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Re: March~ April
second that, Good for Martin! 
To my nostalgic way of thinking it's part of the 'Old British' way of being i.e. helping out and sharing, unlike the self obsessed culture the UK is turning into now ( like some others - won't mention which), or maybe I'm just turning into an old fuddy duddy?
---
Mac PPC Dual 2.3, 6GB Ram, LR2.5 , PsCS4 11.0.1, 5Dmk2 fw 1.1.0,
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13/Apr/08, 9:26 am
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HughR
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Registered: 04-2008
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire
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Re: March~ April
Hi Martin,
Very interesting and informative read, I will be bookmarking this page so I can refer back to it.
I was really unsure about joining this forum at first. I have seen a lot of your beautiful images on the EOS Forum and on you galleries. I was concerned that, as I have still a lot to learn, that it would be a bit elitists and intimidating. But nothing could be further from the truth, the willingness to share information and knowledge is fantastic, so I will be sticking around.
Regards.
Hugh
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13/Apr/08, 2:36 pm
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