B&W Conversion

[HarlanBear]

I've been working on B&W conversion as learned here at Dgrin. This one is using LAB Lightness channel only. Like to know what others think about the image itself and the conversion. I call it "Cafe Conversations". Thanks.


http://mburkey.smugmug.com/photos/143656703-M.jpg

[gefillmore]

phot's a little drab-

go to the tutorial section and go through andy's bw tutorial with this pic-

there are a million ways to skin this cat and if you want to bw you need to check 'em all (or try to) eventually-

1) something needs to be vertical, or needs to be horizontal-
probably the tree and the vertical edges of the buildings-

2) need some black-

3) need some contrast-

4) need some pop (see tute section)-

5) some toning would be nice-

6) needs sharpening-

other than all this, great shot!-

seriously, these are my thoughts only-

obviously, you can get the pic; now learn the different ways to process it-


sent you a pm-

[HarlanBear]

Thanks to George's suggestions and an example, I did some more work on this image:


http://mburkey.smugmug.com/photos/144110933-M.jpg

Comments welcome.

Thanks.

[gefillmore]

gee, I think it looks pretty good!-

maybe some others will add some c&c-

[jdryan3]

I like the changes you did compared to the first posting. I think the slanted table being in the foreground is distacting, especially the stuff under it. I would a) crop out the portion below the center line of the table and then b) straighten out the table. I'm almost sure my first idea is needed, but the second may throw the whole thing off kilter.

[Swartzy]

as a tilted shot. It looks like the camera wasn't lined up correctly before the button was pushed. The 2nd conversion is much better as it adds contrast..well done. I might be crazy (wouldn't be the first time accused of such a thing :wink) but might even clone the girl out on the left (her head w/sunglasses as I seem to want to keep looking to see what's she's interested in.

[pathfinder]

George gave such good suggestions that I find little to add.:thumb

The second image is a much better conversion.

I keep trying to crop the image to hone in more on the fellows face and his hand on his forehead, but i find it rather hard to crop much closer without losing a sense of the street scene and setting. I agree that the edge of the table in the forground might be trimmed and straightened a bit though.

I like the second image - interesting capture.

[HarlanBear]

Hey, thanks to all for the input. Certainly got me to look at again.

This is a street grab shot. Just firing away and see what I get. Trying not to be too intrusive. And this one, for me, seemed to have the most interesting look and a bit of drama, at least to our foreground couple. The tilt doesn't bother me too much and perhaps even adds to the drama. Okay, maybe not, :bs

And yep, camera was not totally level, I'm sure. But as I was straightening the table in PS I noticed that the water in the beaker is not on the same plane as the table? Now I no physicist, but can only surmise that the table was leaning or on a bit of a upgrade. And on closer inspection I see that, indeed, the foreground table is not even with the second table - it's leaning down to the left. So if I do straighten it, the water seems to be leaning uphill to the left even more. Makes the guy look like he's trying to figure out how that could be. What a conundrum :scratch because there's a lot I like about this image. Perhaps cropping at the bottom would help with the crookedness?

[pathfinder]

I agree that the water level in the pitcher won't lie!!:thumb

[chopsky]

The main focus of the photo is definitely on the guy with his hand on his forehead and I LOVE his worried "Oh god..." look youve caught.
crop out the guy on the far right and the visible area under the table and youre on your way to a better photo.
cheers

[HarlanBear]

Thanks for the input, chopsky. I had wanted to keep all the people in the shot since I see it as many conversations going on, but doing a quick and dirty crop, I think you have a point. Bring it down to it's most important points, so I'll give it a try.

I love getting fresh eyes on these images. Helps me see.

Thanks, agiain.

[gpphotos]

this one doesn't do much for me. i probably would have posted it in Finishing School, since you wanted help with a black and white conversion.