[Lunatique]

I can't decide if I like the colored versions better, or the B/W versions better. What do you guys think?

#1





#2





#3





#4





The rest of these were easier to decide on.
#5


#6


#7


#8


#9


#10


#11


#12


#13


#14


#15


#16



Another session:














Help me pick again--which one of these two?
Du Do 1:


Du Do 2:

[B0b]

fatastic shots !!!

colour for the full length, b+w for the portrait what process do you use to turn you pics to b+w? image > mode > grayscale? or do you use a more complex method?

i like the crop on du do 1

PS: can u putt a little more compression on the pics

[Lunatique]

Thanks!

For conversion to B/W, you can't simply just desaturate the picture, because different color channels directly affect different value frequencies in B/W. If you simply desaturate, you'll get a very boring and flat translation of your color picture. One should think of the B/W conversion process as more of an interpretation, not a direct translation. I use the Channel Mixer to convert my B/W images.

You know, I used to compress my images at 80% Jpeg, but one day, I saw my images on someone else's monitor, which was set to a much lower resolution than mine (I keep it at 1600x1200), and I saw jpeg artifacts that totally shocked me. Now, I only compress at 90%, at most 85%. For tiny thumbnails I do 80%. I use XnView (freeware) to do my compression, as it outputs a cleaner looking file at smaller file size compared to all the commercial products out there.

The way I see it--if my stuff is good enough, people will wait a little longer to see it. If my stuff sucks, they won't care to look anyway.

[Impaler]

Another quick and dirty Black and White tut:

1. Make two Hue/Saturation/Lightness adjustment layers, and a brightness/contrast adjustment layer.

2. Set the first HSL layer's mode to "Color"

3. Set the second HSL layer's Saturation to -100%

4. Double click on the first HSL layer, and move the hue slider up and down until you find the desired look. You can even adjust grey levels for specific colors in the drop down menu (reds, greens, blues, etc). You can ALSO mess with saturation and lighting for even more control.

5. To get that rich film look that's missing from most black and white digital shots, adjust your brightness/contrast layer. Tada!

6. It doesn't hurt to add more Brightness/Contrast Layers for a little extra control.

I'll look at the photography when I get a chance, luna. Right now I'm on dial-up, so I'll need to sneak over to a FWB's (friend-with-broadband) house later.
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QED, sort of.

[jfrancis]

It's interesting to hear the different ideas here for converting to b&w

http://www.digitalartform.com/archives/2004/10/color_vs_value.html

[Lunatique]

Impaler - dude, that is awesome! Where did you learn that from?

[Spooky]

Beautiful photos! Your photography is always great to see. How about just keeping your wife(Elana?) in color in the top two with B/W backgrounds?

Chad
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http://www.digitaldreammachine.com/

[Yarik]

Lunatique, I enjoy the color photos, and the brown and white photos (2nd photo that is brown and white, and photo #12-14...)
BTW STOP POSTING PICS OF YOUR GIRLFRIEND. It's making me jealous....

[Lunatique]

Spooky - I'm personally not a big fan of the "B/W with only one color" thing because it's sort of become the lensflare of the photography world. If other dorks didn't overdo it to death, I'd still give it a shot.

Yarik - Elena's actually my wife, not GF. We've been married for 2 years now. She's my only available model, so I don't have a choice but to shoot her for my fashion/glamour/candid photography. I'm kind of a recluse--meaning I don't see a lot of people, so she's all I've got usually (and that aint a bad thing. She's absolutely a delight to be around of 24/7).

[Cicinimo]

This thread is so painfully useful. Thanks for the links and tips, everyone.

These photos are some of your best Luna. I really dig your color use.
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artpad.org

[DeadbeaT]

Concerning the red dress i'd say that the BW pictures makes the texture of the dress more visible though it kind of kills the whole idea of "the seduction of red" I love the black splits in the red dress which is allmost only visible on the BW pics, i'd say that you should mostly go with the black and white ones. The again, how to convert to BW.. I also just need to say that the last costume and the second costume are less style in than that red dress, but then again, thats just an opinion
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DeadbeaT was here

[opticillusion]

First, these are gorgeous photos. Some of them really evoke the mood of the pose, which is realll nice. Secondly, if you still want suggestions - 1,2 and 3 look great in color to me. But #4 seems just perfect in black and white, specially because you don't have any colors from the flowers keeping your eyes off the focus, which is her face. And Do Du 2, I like better, because she put her chin up a smidge and the lower angle helps the pose a bit more too...if only that background went up further, but it's not too distracting.

Just curious, what camera are you using for these? Again, Nice work!

- Optic

[Lunatique]

Thanks for the comments! Very helpful.

opticillusion - I'm shooting with a Canon 1D Mark II and various lenses--mostly the Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 DI, Canon EF 50 f/1.4, and Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 IS.

[Dizzogg]

Wow! Those are all really beautiful! You take great photos. Im more a fan of your photography. Not that I dont enjoy your other artwork, but feel your photography eye is really nice. I really like all of them. Color and BW are both really nice...Composition is very nice too.

[Spooky]

I know what you mean about the Lensflare thing so I can agree with you.
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[Lunatique]