# B&W Shootout No.1



## 480sparky (Feb 8, 2014)

*New, fun challenge for TPF members!*.....  *B&W Shootouts!*

We all take a single image from a (gracious) member, and we all do our best PP B&W conversion and post the result!  It's a knock-off the the HDR shootouts we used to do.

A few simple rules:
1. Post your processing step(s) with your resulting version of the image, including the software used!
2. No other use of the resulting images will be allowed (after all, they won't be your images to start with!) Let's maintain the respect for others work & their rights to it.
3. The linked image must be JPEG, but _additional_ formats such as TIF, CR2, NEFand the like _can _be included if you wish.  
4. Full-res images would be preferred to allow participants as much data as possible to work with.
5. Please resize your posted results to no more than 1000 pixels along the long edge.
6. No colors allowed in posted results.  Monochrome, grayscale, black & white, desaturated.... whatever you want to call it.  But NO COLOR.  No selective coloring, or tints such as sepia or cyanotype either.


Fun fun fun!

I'll start off with offering this image.  It's a few years old, and certainly not a show-stopper.  But that's not the point........ _the real gist is to teach & learn better black and white vision and technique!
_


*Looking forward to the results!
*


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## timor (Feb 9, 2014)

Nice starter image Ken. :thumbup:
I am curious what's gonna happen.


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## vipgraphx (Feb 9, 2014)

Here is my go at 480sparky's

opened in photoshop and then used silver efex plug in


Brightness 0
Contrast 43
Structure 22


Red -17
Yellow -12
Green -5
cyan -28
blue +34
violet +14


Vignett -16
size 62%


duplicate layer
TOPAZ Adjust  - Spicy
Creat Layer Mask
invert 
mask in details at 23%


merge Layers


Nik Color Effex
Detail Extractor 25%


Nik Color Effex
Graduated Fog
Opacity 50%
Blend 25%
Verticle Shift 50%
Rotation 180


Glamour Glow
Glow 41%


Graduated Neutral Density
Upper Tonality -42%
Lower Tonality -5
Blend 25


Create Layer mask
Mask in under bridge  and water back in detail


Flatten


Done






D7K_3934 by VIPGraphX, on Flickr


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## Rick58 (Feb 9, 2014)

Not near as impressive as the guy above me but...

Paintshop 5

Desaturate
Increase overall brightness
Slightly increase highlights
Lower the shadows
Bring up the mid tones
Dash of contrast
Sharpen


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## jenko (Feb 9, 2014)

^^Nice job guys. Fun challenge. 



I wanted to play, but I could not save the image off photobucket?


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## Rick58 (Feb 9, 2014)

jenko said:


> ^^Nice job guys. Fun challenge.
> 
> 
> 
> I wanted to play, but I could not save the image off photobucket?


I had the same problem. I had to enlarge it one time and "save picture as". The largest enlargement wouldn't save.


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## Parker219 (Feb 9, 2014)

Ok, so here is the original and my edit.

I opened in Perfect Photo Suite 8 to do the b&w conversion.

Then I cleaned up some of the little rocks in the foreground that kept drawing my eye down. Then I cleaned up under the bridge a little. Then I removed the 2 big rocks on the right of the bridge.

I adjusted some of the sliders for contrast.

Then I brought it in to photoshop and tried to fix some of the distortion, the trees on the right side were especially leaning bad to the left. Then selective added clarity to the bridge.

I think that was it.






Woods-Bridge by linktheworld219, on Flickr





Final-1-Woods-Bridge by linktheworld219, on Flickr


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## Rick58 (Feb 9, 2014)

@Parker: :hail: Nice job


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## Designer (Feb 9, 2014)

Aperture3

white balance
saturation
highlights and shadows
sharpen
red filter


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## weepete (Feb 9, 2014)

I'll Play





Edited in Lightroom 5

Basic Adjustments:
Exposure +36
Contrast +60
Highlights -67
Shadows -33
Whites +29
Blacks -31
Clarity +19

Spot removal for one of the white rocks in the foreground

Tone Curve:
Highlights -28
Lights -61
Darks +13
Shadows -34

HSL:
Saturation -100 all colours
Luminance:
Red -58
Orange -78
Yellow -2
Green +84
Aqua -100
Blue -29
Purple -49
Magenta +9

Sharpening 57
Radius 0.8
Detail 6
Masking 92

NR:
Luminance 19
Detail 44
Contrast 29

Lens corrections:
Vertical -33
Horizontal +5

Mask1 Bridge:
Exposure 1.43
Contrast 60
Highlights -38

Mask 2 LHS of Bridge:
Exposure 1.43
Contrast 95

Mask 3 Water:
Exposure 2.29
Contrast 55
Highlights -52
Shadows -33
Clarity 40

Mask 4 LHS Trees:
Exposure 1.14
Shadows 43
Sharpness 40

Mask 5 Sand:
Exposure 1.71
Contrast 25
Highlights -43

Mask 6 Tree Trunks:
Exposure 2.95
Contrast 25
Shadows 71

Output Shapening: for screen, Standard


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## timor (Feb 9, 2014)

So far my vote goes to vipgraphx. I like the nice, soft rendition of the trees. It makes the bridge really to stand out. Texture in the sand on the far bank is excellent, something, nobody else achieved. Most others conversions is or harsher or flatter.


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## usayit (Feb 9, 2014)

We've been doing this on another site with great success... not just B&W but with color too.   Its pretty fun and substitutes the lack of time behind the camera...

LR3 (flatten) -> SilverFX -> LR3.  Is my usual for B&W.  Then I apply subtle changes with the image in LR3 depending.

1) Lightroom 3 -> flatten out the image.  Bring everything neutral (since we are working with B&W).  Also correct distortion to keep the tree upright which means crop.
2) SilverFX -> high contrast full structure to start.  Apply a red filter and some adjustment to bring the leaves back.  Pure black on print always looks "unnatural".  As such, I always convert to B&W leaving a tiny little bit of sepia.
3) Back in LR3, Soften the entire photo with a reduction of clarity and and pulling back contrast.
4) Mask out the bridge.... apply a little contrast back and curves adjustment.
5) Gradient... darken the bottom half of the frame without impacting the sky.
6) Tiny bit of vignette.  If you can tell, its too much.

Done.

In another shootout, we would start with full raw... After the crop, I was running out of image to work with.  I hope it looks okay... I'm in a rush and didn't calibrate the monitor since my son adjusted it for his use.  It maybe on the dark side.

[EDIT]

Oh darn...  Just noticed the whole bit about "no sepia".  Its part of my workflow for B&W so I just do it automatically.   Attaching the other version that has been completely desaturated to pure B&W.


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## Rick58 (Feb 9, 2014)

My vote would go to Parker. To my eye his looks the most natural, but I'm a fan for natural, as seen, photography.


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## Parker219 (Feb 9, 2014)

^ thank you. I don't know if the most "likes" is the indicator or if there is actually a poll made or if we all win equally just for participating.  :mrgreen:


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## 480sparky (Feb 9, 2014)

In GIMP:

Create 2 identical layers.

Working on bottom layer first, go to Colors > Components > Channel Mixer.  Check the Monochrome and Preserve Luminosity boxes.  Set Red channel to 100, Green channel to +40 and Blue channel to -40.  Then to Filters > Enhance > Sharpen, set to 50.

On top layer, perform Tools > Use GEGL Operations > c2g operation.  When that is done, copy that layer to create a third layer.

In middle layer (which was original c2g layer), set opacity to 50%.

On third, top layer, mask out everything except the bridge and make it transparent.  This retains the original bridge contrast from c2g operation.

Flatten the entire layer stack.

Perform a Perspective correction on result.

Resize to 800x530 pixels, export to JPEG.


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## 480sparky (Feb 9, 2014)

jenko said:


> ^^Nice job guys. Fun challenge.
> 
> 
> 
> I wanted to play, but I could not save the image off photobucket?



Right-click, then Save As......


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## timor (Feb 9, 2014)

Parker219 said:


> ^ thank you. I don't know if the most "likes" is the indicator or if there is actually a poll made or if we all win equally just for participating.  :mrgreen:


"Win" I think is in this dialog between photographers, by comparing own methods and effects with others. I think the whole idea of this club is a confrontation of opinions, a digital global village equivalent of a Montmartre cafe. (Only everyone pays for own wine .)
Already so many entries, it is really interesting how different they are.


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## Parker219 (Feb 9, 2014)

^ True


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## timor (Feb 9, 2014)

usayit said:


> LR3 (flatten) -> SilverFX -> LR3.  Is my usual for B&W.  Then I apply subtle changes with the image in LR3 depending.
> 
> 1) Lightroom 3 -> flatten out the image.  Bring everything neutral (since we are working with B&W).  Also correct distortion to keep the tree upright which means crop.
> 2) SilverFX -> high contrast full structure to start.  Apply a red filter and some adjustment to bring the leaves back.  Pure black on print always looks "unnatural".  As such, I always convert to B&W leaving a tiny little bit of sepia.
> ...


Very intense. Like HDR.
With such a sky rendition, IMO you lost the depth of the scene. Strong sky values "moved" it visually forward, right up to the bridge plan. Plus it made the picture visually busy everywhere, the bridge lost its "importance" as a centrepiece.


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## Ysarex (Feb 9, 2014)

I used Photoshop only.

I used the Channel Mixer selectively to do the B&W conversion.
I took out a little of the keystoning.
I used Levels and blending modes to adjust the final tone response.
And since in 40 years I've never seen a good B&W print that didn't have a hint of color I added a hint of color.

Joe

P.S. Sparky, my wife says she likes your photo.


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## timor (Feb 9, 2014)

^^ Very nice to.


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## usayit (Feb 9, 2014)

Appreciate the critique but an open discussion generally influences the shootout and voting from being completely unbiased and more towards the preferences being expressed.   Furthermore it influences the direction of those applicants that have yet to process their entry.

In the other shootout I have participated we encouraged those who wish to go all out and take the image to as far far as they want to a or remain as subtle in their processing.    It was fun... sometimes silly...  but we all experimented and discovered together.  

If a bunch of people express they prefer more subtle natural look, some may hesitate to submit submission counter even though it may be more truthful to their artistic intent.

Just something to consider


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## timor (Feb 9, 2014)

usayit said:


> Appreciate the critique but an open discussion generally influences the shootout and voting from being completely unbiased and more towards the preferences being expressed.   Furthermore it influences the direction of those applicants that have yet to process their entry.
> 
> In the other shootout I have participated we encouraged those who wish to go all out and take the image to as far far as they want to a or remain as subtle in their processing.    It was fun... sometimes silly...  but we all experimented and discovered together.
> 
> ...


OK. I understand your point.


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## BGeise (Feb 9, 2014)

used Picasa 
changed to b&w
removed some unwanted objects
added a little grain
brought up fill light
fairly simple edit


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## usayit (Feb 9, 2014)

It's ok...  again it's up to who ever to decide how the shootout will be conducted.   I just want to see what people come up with given free reign... 

As it stands...  vipgraphx already showed me some thing that I tend to forget.....  to leverage nik software other color filters before processing in silverfx for even more creative options.   I have a habit to stock to silverfx for one work flow and colorfx for another without consideration of using both.  

If he didn't take the step beyond the subtle....


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## Rick58 (Feb 9, 2014)

Just an observation: It appears many go for the #29 red filter look when it comes to B&W conversions


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## ronlane (Feb 9, 2014)

Opened in PSE11, then went to Nik Silver Efex Pro 2, selected the 014 Grad ND (EV-2) as the preset. Then changed the highlights, mids and shadows and added structure with 15% contrast. Changed the film type to Ilford PAN F Plus 50. Then I opened it in Color Efex Pro 4 where I used the default brillance/warmth, default detail extractor, and darken/lighten center.


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## usayit (Feb 9, 2014)

Rick58 said:


> Just an observation: It appears many go for the #29 red filter look when it comes to B&W conversions



Yes.. very common.  Seems SilverFX is pretty popular too.


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## usayit (Feb 9, 2014)

timor said:


> OK. I understand your point.



Certainly... what I posted doesn't mean you shouldn't participate at all....  

 Have some fun with the image and post an entry.


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## timor (Feb 9, 2014)

usayit said:


> timor said:
> 
> 
> > OK. I understand your point.
> ...


I can't the same way you guys do. I am not a digital, can only comment on final effects, not the process. Maybe after posting time is over.


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## vipgraphx (Feb 9, 2014)

Here is another version of the original one I did. This time having some major fun in digital graphics.

Added fog around the bottom right.

Duplicated layer and added in the painting like style with various settings.

Added in glowing eyes to the left.

adjusted a little bit of other settings I forgot sorry..




D7K_3934 by VIPGraphX, on Flickr


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## jenko (Feb 10, 2014)

Really nice job, everyone. I like the subtle differences in them all. 

Okay here's mine. 








Process:





curves
levels
mask to suck out some highlights in sky
b&w--default with some tinkering on sliders
texture
burned a highlight on rt side


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## Trblmkr (Feb 10, 2014)

Here's my take on the picture, all edits were done in Lightroom 5

-17 Color
+24 Tint

+.24 Exposure
+50 Contrast
+12 High lights
-40 Shadow
+19 White
-17 Black
+40 Clarity

Curves
+14 Light
-11 Dark
-9 Shadow

Colors
-33 Red
-4 Orange
+7 Yellow
-2 Green
-27 Aqua
-11 Blue
+11 Purple
-31 Magenta

+50 Sharp

-5 Vignette

Graduated Filter - Middle of the filter is right at the limb in the middle of the screen, bottom bar right on top of the bridge.
-.75 Exposure
-5 Contrast
-55 High Lights
+14 Shadows


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## bianni (Feb 10, 2014)

Done in CS2. duplicated the image 4 times, added a blank layer on top and filled with black and changed the blend mode to color. Made different contrasts using levels and shadows and highlights on the 4 duplicate images and with layer masks, brushed away portions of the duplicates to reveal different effects on the layers. Flattened and touched up with dodge and burn


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## xj0hnx (Feb 10, 2014)

Perfect Effects 8 ->B&W Conversion with Chrome preset
Photoshop -> Tiffen DFX3 Difussion FX -> Adjustment layer, removed effect from bridge and stream.


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## RoyalCaptures (Feb 11, 2014)

Here is my go 

More on a negative film style.

Done in Photoshop CS6.


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## usayit (Feb 11, 2014)

timor said:


> usayit said:
> 
> 
> > timor said:
> ...



A while ago before digital (shot film for many years), I would participate online by taking photos of my prints with a P&S and process them in GIMP.   Then graduated to a cheap Epson scanner from a garage sale, then a primefilm negative u1800 scanner, and to the Epson v700.   The computer+scanner was right in my darkroom and integrated into my process.  It was fun.  I highly recommend it.   I did that with 135 and MF negatives for a while until life got busy and convenience necessitate for me to spend more time with digital starting with a used Canon D30 3.2mp and on.    Even now, my film workflow consists of B&W negative, developed in the bathroom, scanned via the v700, and sent out for print as I no longer have access to a darkroom.

You have computer.  You can save a copy of the shootout image.  Load up GIMP (free) and have fun.  Post.  One person many years ago used a cellphone... he was homeless.  The cellphone and service was "donated" and he used the library computer to post.

Just sayin...  Much of our discussions are equipment driven ($$$) but I'd like to say you can do a lot with very little in photography.


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## usayit (Feb 11, 2014)

usayit said:


> In another shootout, we would start with full raw... After the crop, I was running out of image to work with.



Oops... didn't realize you can enlarge two levels on photobucket.. then save.  That will give you a better quality image to start working with.   I only enlarged it to the first level before saving the smallish image to work with.


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## usayit (Feb 11, 2014)

Just another trying out a different process out of curiosity.

Completely done on my nexus 7.
Aviary editor.
Reduced brightness
Enhance HD filter
Effects metropolis filter twice.

Look ma no computer... Lol





Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


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