Majestic Tetons in Black and White

[bjtindle]

Let me know what you think and how to improve. Thanks!

[Sebastien B]

I like the sencond and third best, the blurry tree on the first one is distracting (in my opinion). Your pictures seem flat (some haze, it was probably a sunny day?). If these are digital I would try to improve contrast. If these are color converted to B&W you can try with photoshop to only convert one of the 3 RGB layers to B&W sometimes it gives better results.

Seb

[bjtindle]

I like the sencond and third best, the blurry tree on the first one is distracting (in my opinion). Your pictures seem flat (some haze, it was probably a sunny day?). If these are digital I would try to improve contrast. If these are color converted to B&W you can try with photoshop to only convert one of the 3 RGB layers to B&W sometimes it gives better results.

Seb

None are converted to black and white, all are black and white. It was a very sunny day, you are right. I have a polarizer on order, do you think that will help the flatness?? And another question, I sent these to York to be developed, they put them online and I downloaded them, don't have the copies yet, can that make any difference?

Thanks for the comments too!

Betty

[Chunk]

None are converted to black and white, all are black and white. It was a very sunny day, you are right. I have a polarizer on order, do you think that will help the flatness?? And another question, I sent these to York to be developed, they put them online and I downloaded them, don't have the copies yet, can that make any difference?

Thanks for the comments too!

Betty

I took a look at these earlier. I think the compositions are good but agree that they seem a bit hazy.
After reading this I realized that the shots seemed to be toned rather than B/W. I copied one into Paintshop pro to look at it some more. Just grayscaling it improved it a little to my eye. I split it into RGB and convinced myself that there were slight differences and the red channel was clearest. The differences aren't huge. I then messed with the histogram adjustment a little and had this. I'm not sure there is enough difference to be worth the conversion though. Did York say anything about toning the prints?

[bjtindle]

I took a look at these earlier. I think the compositions are good but agree that they seem a bit hazy.
After reading this I realized that the shots seemed to be toned rather than B/W. I copied one into Paintshop pro to look at it some more. Just grayscaling it improved it a little to my eye. I split it into RGB and convinced myself that there were slight differences and the red channel was clearest. The differences aren't huge. I then messed with the histogram adjustment a little and had this. I'm not sure there is enough difference to be worth the conversion though. Did York say anything about toning the prints?

I DO see a difference. Shouldn't they look more like that in the first place? York did not say anything about toning the pictures, should I ask them? Request it? Or request it NOT to be done? hmmm..now that I think about it, what do you mean they "appear" to be toned rather than black and white??? As in they did something to my black and white film? I know it was in black and white as I ran out of color film while passing thru the Tetons and I do use C-41 black and white. New to this. I read what you did and as I am learning the names/options are known to me but I still don't know what all they do, such as histogram and split the RGB??? Know what RGB is, but don't know what splitting it means. I like how the one you messed with turned out, it seems deeper, if that makes sense? Thank you so much for the tips and the comments!!

Betty

[Chunk]

I DO see a difference. Shouldn't they look more like that in the first place? York did not say anything about toning the pictures, should I ask them? Request it? Or request it NOT to be done? hmmm..now that I think about it, what do you mean they "appear" to be toned rather than black and white??? As in they did something to my black and white film? I know it was in black and white as I ran out of color film while passing thru the Tetons and I do use C-41 black and white. New to this. I read what you did and as I am learning the names/options are known to me but I still don't know what all they do, such as histogram and split the RGB??? Know what RGB is, but don't know what splitting it means. I like how the one you messed with turned out, it seems deeper, if that makes sense? Thank you so much for the tips and the comments!!

Betty

I didn't realize these were C41 shots. The C41 b/w usually has a toned appearence so York probably didn't do anything unusual.
I don't know what you are using for image processing, so what I usually use (Paint shop Pro v7) may not translate directly into your program but it probably has something similar.
Questions on digital manipulation would probably be best answered in the Digital Imaging forum. The folks who hang out there will have a lot more experience in explaining this stuff.
In PSP splitting the image results in 3 new b/w images (red, green, and blue)where the lightness of an area depends on the amount of that color in the original photo.For example, the first 3 attachments here are the red, green, and blue b/w images from splitting my avatar.
A histogram is a graph of how frequently a given value shows up in your picture. The histogram adjustment in PSP combines the levels adjustment (allows you to set your darkest values to black and lightest to white) and the curves adjustment which lets you control the relationships between the values throughout the shot (kinda like contrast I guess).
Sorry if this is more confusing than enlightening.

[bjtindle]

I didn't realize these were C41 shots. The C41 b/w usually has a toned appearence so York probably didn't do anything unusual.
I don't know what you are using for image processing, so what I usually use (Paint shop Pro v7) may not translate directly into your program but it probably has something similar.
Questions on digital manipulation would probably be best answered in the Digital Imaging forum. The folks who hang out there will have a lot more experience in explaining this stuff.
In PSP splitting the image results in 3 new b/w images (red, green, and blue)where the lightness of an area depends on the amount of that color in the original photo.For example, the first 3 attachments here are the red, green, and blue b/w images from splitting my avatar.
A histogram is a graph of how frequently a given value shows up in your picture. The histogram adjustment in PSP combines the levels adjustment (allows you to set your darkest values to black and lightest to white) and the curves adjustment which lets you control the relationships between the values throughout the shot (kinda like contrast I guess).
Sorry if this is more confusing than enlightening.

I have been told that it is better to use C-41 and that using regular black and white is no longer widely available and is more expensive. Is this true? York also won't develop regular black and white, have already received credits cuz they can't do it. I try to send it away to get developed because the place in town I can take it to will charge me almost $30 to develop 3 roll of film and I can get 4 or 5 rolls developed by York for much less. I live in a rural area so there aren't many options altho Wal-Mart is nearby (don't know how they are) but even that is a 45 min drive one way. I have Paint Shop Pro v8 downloaded for trial on my computer and I also have Ulead Photo Impact but haven't used it much yet. I will look around and check out the splitting and histogram options to try and become more knowledgable about them. Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me, I really do appreciate it very much.

[Lava Lamp]

Let me know what you think and how to improve. Thanks!

I like #1 the best. The thing I try to remember with B&W is that you should have pure white, pure black and a wide range of grays in between. Your shots are mostly gray in a a few variations. I'm not B&W expert, but there are a host of techniques and filters to get it just so. Still in all, the shots are good.

[bjtindle]

I like #1 the best. The thing I try to remember with B&W is that you should have pure white, pure black and a wide range of grays in between. Your shots are mostly gray in a a few variations. I'm not B&W expert, but there are a host of techniques and filters to get it just so. Still in all, the shots are good.

Thank you for the nice comment. I probably should have waited until I actually see the photos. Anxious me I guess. I like the first the most myself. When I do get them I will see how they look and repost one of them. Just to see what happens! Thanks again!

Betty