Notes on Black and White

Advanced Digital Black and White Photography by John Beardsworth Copyright The Ilex Press Ltd 2007 is a book which contains 5 sections covering every aspect of digital black and white photography, Capturing the Black and White Image, Converting to Black and White, Fine-Tuning the Photograph, Creative Effects and Presentation and Output.

Dealing with the latest features in Adobe Photoshop CS3 many of these techniques can be applied to more up-to-date versions. Reading through the sections in preparation for Assignment 3 has helped me understand how I could use the most creative ways to convert my pictures to black and white, how to fine-tune the monochrome image, and how to emphasize a subject's qualities.

A quick summary of the sections would be to say 1) the best place to begin for a top quality Black and White picture is a correctly exposed and well composed RAW file with all the colour information still intact. 2) Conversion is all about tonal separation, distribution of greyscale tones and image balance. 3) Controlling contrast and adjustments to selective areas using dodge and burn and sharpening. 4) Creative effects but not manipulation in the realms of weird or offbeat, more to do with toning, simulating litho prints, solarisation, pinhole camera effects, infrared film etc. 5) Borders and techniques such as edge burning. Sharpening for print or web. Specialized black and white inks. Solutions for outputting entire shoots as black and white.

So what images lend themselves to black and white? Well, my first instinct is reply surely anything? When photography first came into being did people shy away from certain topics or subjects because they could only capture it in monochrome? Admittedly now scenes can be captured in colour would a sunset be as stunning in black and white? Conversely as Beardsworth points “Would Cartier-Bresson's images have been any less arresting if they had been in color? Or Mapplethorpe's  nudes any less striking?”  (p16) In conclusion it is probably safe to say, a well-composed picture, with interesting subject matter, will be great in black and white.

Within black and white all that is available to the photographer are shades of grey so it is very important to recognise tonal contrast, as colours that are very different when “in colour” appear the same tone when converted to monochrome. As touched upon earlier, shoot in colour, then you can exploit the colour differences.

There are several “quick fixes” to conversion, two being convert to greyscale and de-saturating but these are destructive conversions and also ignore the colour channels. Gradient Mapping gives slightly better results but only operates on the image luminosity, once again ignoring the colour channels. Other methods mentioned are Colour Match, Lightness, Calculations and Colour Blend. I have never used the last four but it maybe interesting to experiment just to see what results they actually give!

This book states that “today’s best black-and-white conversion techniques rely on adjustment layers” (p62) I can only make the assumption that this holds as true now, only several years after this book was published. Adjustment layers and layer masks have the advantage of allowing different mono conversions in different parts of the picture, using the channel values that are right for those areas.

I really enjoyed reading through this book and noting the many techniques contained within it. An example of a tool I never knew existed and I have never used before is the targeted adjustment tool. This will come in very handy with any image I wish to manipulate.I have only borrowed this book and will never be able to commit to memory everything it contains...it may be added to my wish list ;o)

Video tutorial on the TAT Adobe Photoshop CS4 Target Adjust Tool Demonstration on Vimeo

Another book I have had a flick through is Black and White in Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop Lightroom Leslie Alsheimer and Bryan O'Neil Hughes 2009 Elsevier/Focal Press.

This book bring home the need to think differently when photographing for black and white. You need to visualize and look for clues to create more impact in your B&W images. These would be texture, lines, contrast, shapes, shadows, patterns and silhouettes. It echos the advice given by Beardsworth with regards to needing to begin with a good quality RAW file and employing non-destructive conversion techniques using layers and blending. The authors explain the need for caution when making drastic contrast or colour corrections as this is when posterization can occur, poserization being the loss of tones which result in transitions that are abrupt (banding). A very good book for learning how to do B&W conversions.

Harold Davis' Creative Black and White Digital Photography Tips and Techniques Wiley Publishing Inc 2010 is yet another I could recommend, I haven't read it in depth as much of it covers the same issues as the previous other two, however there are some super images and ideas inside. He also details high key and low key shots and the use of HDR.

Am looking forward to this section :o) Hope I can do it justice.

Spending Money ;o)

Not a vast amount... but I felt it would come in handy. I have decided that some of my images will no doubt be some kind of still life. In fact there may be experimentation with still life for Assignment 2, if successful they will be submitted...if not there will be another topic chosen ;o)

Discovering over the years that playing with some of the papers/fabrics/card I possess don't always give the best results, the proverbial bullet was bitten and a couple of yards of black cotton velvet has been purchased...now all that needs to happen is the production of some decent images...it's the lighting that needs to be explored as well :o) Watch this space....I may even upload the disasters!

Years ago I was told about the virtues and properties of black velvet. Reading up online about it it seems to still be a recommended product, though some photographers use black muslin as a backdrop with success.

I found this tutorial for product photography which I thought would come in handy, although I don't have the impressive array of lights that he does!

What is Product Photography?: Tabletop Product Photography | eHow.com

Assignment 2: Digital image qualities

Produce a set of images, approximately six, with a common theme but it must include at least one each of the following lighting conditions :-

• A high-dynamic range scene
• A low-dynamic range scene
• Low-light conditions which require a high ISO setting
• Mixed lighting conditions.

Make notes of the technical challenges that each situation presented and how I attempted to meet them in the shooting, ie altering the composition, camera position/settings and in post production.

Exercise 10: Colour cast and white balance Part 2 Review

For the second part of this exercise I needed to find and shoot a mixed-lighting source scene. I chose to shoot an image of a local pub at dusk when the interior lights had been switched on. The sun was still out and shining onto the building giving a warmish glow, I think the interior lighting was incandescent. Three seperate shots were taken using three different white-balance settings, Daylight,Tungsten and Auto.

Daylight

file temperature read 5150



The image shot using the Daylight setting has given the white paintwork a slightly yellow cast, more than the dusky late afternoon sun was producing.The interior walls and logs have a warmer appearance than they should.

Tungsten



file temperature read 3250



This image has a very distinctive blue cast. This has a very unnatural feel about the exterior although the colour of the interior lights are more correct.

Auto



file temperature read 4550




























The auto white balance has provided the closest colour balance to the scene as perceived by the human eye. As the sun sinks lower in the sky the colour temperature alters to approximately 4000K The camera's automatic setting has read the colour temperature of the outside of the building producing a truer result and the interior colours temperature is not far off. If I had to choose one of these images without any post-processing I would opt for the Auto setting as it is closer to the scene as it was "seen". The interior is not that visible in this particular shot to have been overly affected by the white balance choice. Had the interior been more visible/ or had the shots been taken from inside it maybe that the results would have been different, with the camera taking it's readings from the interior lighting.

Compromise

As  the images were shot in RAW I could experiment with the settings and sliders to find a compromise shot. To be honest I think my final choice is quite close to the auto setting but possibly a little warmer. When shooting under mixed lighting conditions, if using the cameras built in white balance settings you will need to decide at the outset which light is the most dominant and which will affect the overall outcome and what you are willing to compromise on/perform post production with. If time allows you can set a custom white balance setting.

What Makes an Image not just a Snapshot?

Or....Merit, and Why it is so Rare.....chapter 3 from On Looking at Photographs *, David Hurn and Bill Jay also cover this topic which is of paramount importance to anyone who picks up a camera with a view to capturing something.

Taking photographs and looking at images is always subjective. I so often hear people say "I wouldn't hang that on my wall!" Well to be honest there are an awful lot of photographs that I wouldn't hang on my wall either but that doesn't stop me liking the image. Conversely there are images that I wouldn't hang on my wall, I don't like the photograph but it doesn't stop me appreciating the art and craft that produced them. Having said all of that there are also pictures that are raved over that I can't apply any of the former to at all!

Off topic but strangely relevant, last night I watched Educating Rita for the first time in ages, she wanted to be able to write educational essays, to be like the other students, comment on plays and books with the correct vocabulary. Her professor was reluctant to teach her because he liked her refreshing outlook on life, her honest approach to books and the fact if she thought a book crap she said so! I often wonder if in learning to "read" a photograph, to analyse it, apply a certain level of critique, appreciate the lines or composition we become too engrossed in the technical aspect and either lose sight of the image itself, either not seeing the beauty or the horror it is trying to portray, or even shock horror feel obliged to find something "good" about it while our inner self is screaming "actually I think it's crap!"

Some will argue that an image, which on its own is irrelevant, will take on a different meaning when part of a body of work. I guess this can be true, but I still have this little devil sitting on my shoulder whispering, "but why is that iconic? It's naff....say so...."

The meaning of images are malleable and can be manipulated in order to provoke the correct response, be that by titles or composition, but when contemplating the merit of a photograph, and why is it that one is seen to be better than another, it helps to be clear about the purpose behind its capture. As Hurn and Jay point out "a successful picture is not dependent on the size of the appreciative audience." (p43)

To help make this point they give certain examples IE. an x-ray finding an illness will be appreciated by a doctor and patient alike. It may then come to nothing or possibly could be part of some ground breaking medical advancement, revered by practitioners for years. Or they discuss a recent astronomical photograph which just looked like a "fuzzy white splotch in a black background" (p44) but transpired to be the first alien solar system ever photographed. As an image it was exceedingly poor, but the significance and interest generated by it was immense.

Their final example is that iconic shot of a young girl in Vietnam running away from her napalmed village. Not one of these examples had been dependent on the "aesthetic rightness of the image " (p45) and in fact "photographs are unique in that this lack of perfection may actually contribute to the power of the images by implying their closer relationship to real life, shorn of artistic pretensions." (p45)

Paradoxically the opposite can also be true, and this time they give an example of a family snap shot with a general appeal due to its interlocking forms and shapes; The Beach at Villerville 1904 Jacques Henri-Lartigue

http://www.oswaldgallery.com/artists/jacques-henri-lartigue

The ideal to producing a photograph of merit is the combination of a subject with wide appeal but containing a high degree of craftsmanship and visual design.

Going back to a point I made in my third paragraph with regards to the audience no longer actually seeing the image itself it Hurn and Jay also broach this topic and give the example of Don McCullin who returning from war-torn Biafra was frustrated when colleagues complimented his beautiful pictures and did not see what he had intended "That's not a great picture, that's an actual young mother who is starving to death in Biafra right now!" (p46)

Another lesson to learn; the best photographs can function in different contexts. Take for example a photograph by Timothy O'Sullivan White House Ruins, Canyon de Chelly, 1873 , originally taken to prove that the canyon was created by glacial scouring it now seems to symbolize the smallness of man against the towering power of nature and many trip out to this iconic site for that reason alone.

Thinking back to my original ponderings and the title of this chapter, it seems many things make a photograph of merit or a photograph "good", though no-one can absolutely put their finger on what elements they are as they can vary.

As Hurn and Jay point out ' "Good" is not the same as "Important" "Good" is not the same as "Useful" "Good is not the same as "Interesting" and "Good" is not the same as "Liking"' (p49)  A good place to start is to ask yourself the following three questions 1) What was the intent of the photographer? 2) How well has the intent been realized? 3) Was the intent worth the effort in the first place? (p51) Whilst not necessarily providing the definitive answer asking these questions and getting the answer is  the first step in understanding how merit "is rooted in a specific purpose....the picture can blossom, into something that transcends the original intent to become a more universal symbolic image." (p51)

Ultimately there is no rule book but the more you photograph something the more it feels right, you learn to recognise, before you even press the shutter that what is in front of you will not translate into a flat image.

I found this link which shows some of the iconic photographs that changed the world....judge for yourself if they are technically brilliant or just marvels.....we all aspire to maybe one day produce just that one shot......

http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0309/lm01.html




*On Looking at Photographs. Text by Bill Jay and David Hurn. LensWork Publishing, Portland, 1999

Playing With Blog

Taking a few days out of taking photos due to being back at work, the weather not playing ball and the light fading fast! Decided to work a little on this learning blog. I am adding pages and gadgets and enjoying discovering others also studying with the OCA. I have found a few blogs covering the same modules so it is reassuring to see I am on the same lines as them <phew>. Flickr has an OCA group which I have joined and in a few weeks time am attending a London get together which I am really looking forward to.

My flashgun has been found YAY! Surprisingly enough it was in the cupboard in my bedroom where I keep photo albums, negatives, a few books and other photographic related stuff that isn't used much. Safe place to keep it but am so used to finding my stuff (whatever it is) under piles of paper on my PC desk was shocked not to find it there when I looked ;o)

Exercise 10: Colour cast and white balance Part 1 Review.

Sunny Day

The first set of photographs I took were on a sunny day at approximately 2pm, the four different white balance results are shown below :-

 

File temperature read 5650



File temperature read 5150










File temperature read 6750








File temperature read 5850

 

Out of interest I noted down the colour temperature readings on the RAW files and noted that the AWB value was very similar to the Cloudy.

I was surprised that although I can see there is a variation in the colour cast it was not more pronounced. The AWB I feel has represented the truer colours, the daylight setting has added a touch of blue which although makes the sky a lovely shade gives the grass an odd hue. The Shade WB setting is the least satisfactory giving the image a very orange appearance with the Cloudy setting not too bad a result but still a little on the yellow side.

Cloudy Day

The next set were taken on a cloudy day at approximately 3.30pm.

File temperature read 5550

File temperature read 5150



File temperature read 6750




File temperature read 6750



Once again I noted the colour temperatures and the AWB @ 5550 was closest to the Cloudy WB setting @ 5850.

I think that the variations were more noticable under the cloudy conditions. The AWB rendered the image quite well but the image seemed a little flat, while the daylight setting once more gave the image a cold blue cast. The Shade setting made the brickwork much warmer but gave the overall shot an orange/yellow hue, the Cloudy WB seems to have been the best option but is not that disimilar to the AWB.

Open Shade

This set of images were taken in open shade on a sunny day at about 2pm

File temperature read 4500



File temperature read 5150




File temperature read 6750




File temperature read 5850



Noting the file temperatures in RAW once more it was interesting to see just how far out the AWB reading was from the other settings on this occasion.

I felt that the variations were more striking with these shots. The AWB has left the image dark and with a blue cast as has the daylight setting. Once again the Shade setting has given a very warm orange cast with the cloudy also not giving a very true result, erring on the yellow/orange side. The daylight setting seems to have the closest colour representation if I was pushed to choose.

This was an interesting experiment to undertake. A lot of the time when shooting outside I rely quite heavily on the AWB setting due to the changing nature of the weather and therefore the light. From these results I conclude that the AWB setting on my camera performs quite well on most occasions, with the Shade setting giving a very unsatisfactory result even in the shade. This will help with my decision making when shooting outside as far as white balance settings are concerned. I have as yet to experiment with the custom function but I can't see me always carrying a white card about or not always having the time to use it in certain circumstances ;o)