A couple B&Ws for critiques

**tweeksound** · **09-16-07, 07:54 PM**

Here are 2 of my B&Ws. Feel free to edit, critique, or post your own!

Photobucket.com is a great free photo hosting site.

**Sonnie** · **09-16-07, 11:16 PM**

**tweeksound** · **09-17-07, 10:36 AM**

Is that a good or bad surprised?

Eitehr way, it may be helpful to note that both were taken with a $200 Panasonic camera.

My Photography budget kinda takes a back seat to my studio budget!

I'm looking at some real nice SLRs for a future purchase

**Sonnie** · **09-17-07, 01:14 PM**

Oh that's an unbelievable surprise... those images have excellent detail. How did you color the one leaf?

**tweeksound** · **09-17-07, 04:09 PM**

Thanks!

To keep the color, I use the different flexible selection tools that Photoshop has and select just the one part of the photo that I want to keep colored.

I then either invert the selection so that everything else but my color target is slected, or I just copy the color selection to a new layer.

I do whatever B&W processing I see fit for the rest of the original photo and then paste the colored part back in.

I will post one or two more selective color B&Ws shortly.

**tweeksound** · **09-17-07, 04:10 PM**

Any one else got some B&Ws or selective color B&Ws to share?

**tweeksound** · **09-18-07, 06:18 PM**

Here are a few mor B&Ws.

This one is the face of a CD that I designed for a band I recorded.

**jwhite8086** · **10-13-07, 01:41 AM**

my baby girl

**thewire** · **10-15-07, 08:31 PM**

Quote:

tweeksound wrote:

This one is the face of a CD that I designed for a band I recorded.

Very nice. It almost looks 3d also.

**tweeksound** · **10-16-07, 07:34 AM**

Thanks thewire,

I love adding color to B&W. It really jumps out sometimes and creates another dimension like you mentioned.

I love this picture jwhite8086.Did you use a flash or set up lighting?

**jwhite8086** · **10-16-07, 10:38 PM**

I have a sb-800 on or wireless for D-80 with 50mm 1.8 dont remember if i used it I'll check the exif,
i think it was a quik shot while she was crawling at me on the floor.

I like this one because it is so sharp you can see all the little hairs, and may be better than my contest entry.

I may do some selective coloring too, maybe the lips .

The smart select tool in cs3 makes selecting the images very easy.

**Fincave** · **10-17-07, 03:37 AM**

I must admit that I really like black and white photographs, they seem to have more feeling or be more intense somehow. Here are a couple of rather bad photos, the first is my girlfriend's former cat and the second is of a tomato plant/flower.

bw-cat.jpg

tomato-bw.jpg

**tweeksound** · **10-17-07, 06:59 AM**

Quote:

The smart select tool in cs3 makes selecting the images very easy.

Is that the same as the color select tool in CS?
Are there considerable improvements?

Great B&Ws, Fincave!

The whiskers on the cat are great. The fact that they're white really makes them stand out.

**jwhite8086** · **10-17-07, 01:50 PM**

No its an improvment over the magic wand instead of selecting every texture and line in the image it actualy selects what you want the can be perfected with + and - to get it just right then refine selection to fether the edges and other stuff .

**tweeksound** · **10-18-07, 05:29 PM**

There's a lot to PS that I'd love to learn.

So much time and so little to do.... wait, scratch that, reverse it.

I'm still trying to teach myself HTML.

**psyc** · **10-23-07, 12:39 AM**

don't have much bw, but here's a couple

I mostly shoot cars... mostly because they don't fuss too much

**Mazsteruk** · **10-23-07, 12:54 PM**

Hi,

The first image is very good, you can feel the texture of the leaves. The spiky ball thing looks alright on its own. There is potential.
The second image is devoid of inciting any emotion. This is a simple snapshot image and does not hold the viewers interest.

When you next take a photograph - Ask yourself:
Who would want to view the image, and Why?
What would hold their interest?
Where shall i draw the viewers eye ie what is the subject of interest.
Am i using a basic technique of the "rule of thirds" for this image or, am i going to break this "rule" as i have developed my own style and use that instead.
What angles look good.

I would advise on "thinking outside the box". I dont know what photographic experience you have so please do not be offended with my suggestions.

Suggestions:
Get a photography book and learn from the skills of a seasoned photographer. What i would esp advise on is Rule of thirds, Angles, Textures, Shapes and colours and very importantly DOF (Depth of focus).
Get a Digital workflow book for techniques on post processing images. Half the work is a good quality photographic image and the second half (and in some cases the the majority) is in the post processing of the said image.

Can i also point out that you have done remarkabley well with the first image considering it was with a point and shoot camera.

One last point i would make is to add POP to your images by use of local contrast enhancemnet via photoshop.

Keep the coming - Cheers

M

**Mazsteruk** · **10-23-07, 12:56 PM**

PSYC

Very Nice images. I would still "pop" them though lol.

M

**tweeksound** · **10-23-07, 03:39 PM**

Quote:

Mazsteruk wrote:

Hi,

The first image is very good, you can feel the texture of the leaves. The spiky ball thing looks alright on its own. There is potential.
The second image is devoid of inciting any emotion. This is a simple snapshot image and does not hold the viewers interest.

When you next take a photograph - Ask yourself:
Who would want to view the image, and Why?
What would hold their interest?
Where shall i draw the viewers eye ie what is the subject of interest.
Am i using a basic technique of the "rule of thirds" for this image or, am i going to break this "rule" as i have developed my own style and use that instead.
What angles look good.

I would advise on "thinking outside the box". I dont know what photographic experience you have so please do not be offended with my suggestions.

Suggestions:
Get a photography book and learn from the skills of a seasoned photographer. What i would esp advise on is Rule of thirds, Angles, Textures, Shapes and colours and very importantly DOF (Depth of focus).
Get a Digital workflow book for techniques on post processing images. Half the work is a good quality photographic image and the second half (and in some cases the the majority) is in the post processing of the said image.

Can i also point out that you have done remarkabley well with the first image considering it was with a point and shoot camera.

One last point i would make is to add POP to your images by use of local contrast enhancemnet via photoshop.

Keep the coming - Cheers

M

Thank you!

This is pretty great advice.

What is POP?
I have taken a lot of pictures but have never studied photography of any sort.

**Mazsteruk** · **10-23-07, 04:46 PM**

Hi,

"pop" is my expression for whats better known as "local contrast enhancement".
What this does is get rid of any haze on an image. It can be very useful for some images. Only you can decide if it is better or not.

Example using your images (1st normal, 2nd popped. Better in the second image as a demo):

Original

Local Contrast Enhancement

Original

Local Contrast Enhancement

Basically, change picture in photoshop (PS) from rgb to lab mode (Image, Mode, LAB). on channels go and click the lightness channel (it should be the only one highlighted).
Goto Filter, Sharpen, Unsharp Mask and use settings like Amount 20%/Radious 50%/Threshold 0%. and press ok. Then change back to RGB mode. Presto - done.

You can find more info here:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tu...ancement.shtml

Rule of Thirds:
http://digital-photography-school.co...ule-of-thirds/
http://www.lunacore.com/photoshop/tutorials/tut023.htm
http://www.photocritic.org/2007/the-rule-of-thirds/

Also very important in digital photography, you need to know about colour management. You can make all the tweaks that you want but if the end image looks different on other people PC's - then it can all be a bit of a waste esp when it comes to printing and the images come out diferent to what you had anticipated.
http://www.normankoren.com/color_management.html
http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/color_management.htm

Cheers

M

**tweeksound** · **10-23-07, 04:59 PM**

I see. Cool. Thanks.

I did change the contrast of the spike ball from the original.
I did like 10 things but I can't remember anymore :0)

I tried for a balance of good contrast vs distractingly blown out.

I'm def. gonna check out those links.

Quote:

Also very important in digital photography, you need to know about colour management. You can make all the tweaks that you want but if the end image looks different on other people PC's - then it can all be a bit of a waste esp when it comes to printing and the images come out different to what you had anticipated

.

Coming from an audio background, I def. hear that. Your monitor (VGA or studio) is one of the most important links in the chain.

Thanks for the critique and edits!

**Mazsteruk** · **10-23-07, 05:20 PM**

No prob.

Seeing as you have never studied photography, im sure once you learn the basics your "photographers eye" will be much improved. It just takes a bit of time and/knowledge to get the best out of it.
I dont know how much you are into photography but getting a slr camera would be the best way to learn.
I can thoroughly recommend any of the fuji pro camera's ie S2, S3, S5.
I use the S2, and on the second hand market they must be very cheap now. Coupled with a Nikon 50mm f1.8 lens it will definitely keep you on your toes and the lens will be useful in a variety of conditions esp lowlight. Start with the prime lens mentioned as this will force you to move to better vantage points and this will teach you not to rely or be lazy and use zooming (with a zoom lens).

Cheers

M

**tweeksound** · **10-23-07, 05:37 PM**

I'd love an SLR. I'm between getting a new mic or a camera.

The S2 looks great.
I can't get one new at this point for $1700 but used might be great.

Do you know of a good place to look for used photo gear?
I've never bought used over the net and am kind of nervous about it.

What's this about a "Black Death" CCD problem with the S2?
Would this be a concern if I did find a used one?

Thank you!

**Mazsteruk** · **10-23-07, 06:05 PM**

The S2 pro is about 5 years old now. It was replaced by the S3 and then the S5. The japanese see the number 4 as a unlucky or bad number and hence they did went straight to S5 rather than S4.
I was offered in the UK a used S2 Pro approx 3-4 months ago for £200 thats about 400$. However in the US it should be cheaper than that.
I will PM you of where a good starting place would be to get the S2 from in the US as i cant advise other than flea bay lol. However this will now be tommorow as its past my bedtime and i dont want to be late for work tommorow (yet again lol).

The dead ccd prob maybe related to the newer S Pro's ie 3 or 5. The S2 did have a ccd problem in the early batches. In the PM i will explain how to get the relevant info from the serial number.

S2 BW pics and to highlight the main attraction to this camera by portrait and wedding photographers - The colours (good esp for skintone and improved upon on later reincarnbations):

BW non Pro images:

BW Pro - Dont ask how i got this type of BW, i cant remember, i really wish i could

Colour Play

Colour Pro Images:

saturation boost

Cheers

M

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