First time posting in this group. I've been doing a few black and white conversions lately. This is one of them that, in my opinion turned out well. This is a location I would drive by frequently, but have never taken a photo until just the other day. What is everyone's experience in converting a color image to black and white?
I really like the tones of the conversion (especially the house and trees), but there is something about the subtle gradients in the sky that is ... a little off. The clouds look a little soft, too, as if they were a casualty of the conversion from a JPEG original. I would also crop a little off the top as the empty sky isn't doing anything for the photo.
What software did you use for the conversion and does it have an option that simulates the effect of a colored filter placed in front of the lens (i.e., when using actual B&W film)? I ask because this can be detrimental to the image quality if you turn it way up and the original can't handle the change. If you started with a RAW image, try editing the color version to enhance the blue sky so that when you convert to B&W, the sky can be controlled exclusively without affecting the rest of the image and you can really darken it down, a la Ansel Adams.
Silver Efex Pro 2 is pretty much the gold standard for B&W conversions and it's free. Originally developed by Nik, the app (and the entire Nik Collection) was purchased by Google a few years ago and ever since then all the apps in the collection have been free to use. The app can simulate about a dozen different film emulsions right down to the grain structure, but you can also tweak every parameter to taste. I heartily recommend you give SEP a try if you want to expand further into B&W photography.
It would also be worth checking out the profile browser in LR (Basic panel). This offers 17 B&W conversion options including simulated filters.
Although perhaps not as rich in features as SEP2 this can provide at least a quick view of possibilities and act as a starting point.
Phillip - have you seen any quality degradation round-tripping into SEP2 from LR? I've steered away from using since the addition of LR profiles and as I'm unsure if the quality is maintained when popping back & forth.
I use Capture One and export the round trip files for SEP as 16-bit TIFFs. I can’t speak to any issues in Lightroom, but I haven’t noticed any problems in my workflow.
nice shot i have only played with converting a small bit but i like the fact that in PS you can convert to B&W but still manipulate using color sliders using the information from the raw file ...Phillip is always on point with a fantastic eye for B&W he knows his shit and i would recommend soaking up his knowledge
Thank you for the vote of confidence, but I would say that I'm always learning.
I guess we all are but some are more learned than others
Phillip Breske, thanks for the advise. I use Lightroom to process all my images and always shoot raw. I played around with the blue tones(saturation and luminance). I also played around the the cyan hue and made it a little more blue. I then converted to a black and white by clicking on the black and white tab. Then continued to play around with the color sliders to give the image a little more punch.
I’ll look into the software you mentioned
Take a look at the Black & White Photography group here on FS and submit a few conversions to get more feedback on that specific aspect of photography. :)
Will do!
Nice b&w picture. I like that the house is almost an elevation of the fasade. It simplifies the story of the picture, and the trees also looks like they are in line with the house.
I´m not sure if I like the road in the foreground. Would sugest to crop out the road.
I also is unsure about the sky. I feel its like the trees and clouds almost touch. Perhaps lighten the background would separate the trees better from the sky/clouds.
I like the picture, but think a little more work of refining the result.
My taste and opinion, might not be right.
I have a few variations of this scene. I have one that is slightly cropped to remove the road and one that is zoomed in a bit more which shows less sky, but I think I prefer this one a little more. I like the relationship between the big sky and house. In chose include the house because I feel it grounds the image a bit.
Google was not maintaining Nik Filters and ultimately sold it to DXO. They now maintain it and sell it. Price is $69 - just checked it.