Colour, black and white or both?

Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia

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Took a selection of pictures when viewing a band called 'The convulsions', a band with serious energy. Caught the lead singer on the harmonica and I love the way it has captured his eyes in what I have dubbed a 'Romero' moment.

However, colour or black and white?

I am going to present some 7 x 5 pics to the band at the end of May when we next hook up and want to choose the best shot.

Your opinions welcome, shot taken on 350D with nifty fifty. May use CS2 to blur the background slightly to :)

Diego.



 
black and white for me. Although it may need some work to open out the tones between his hair and the background, make him stand out a bit more.

I'm sure there are plenty of shots of me with my eyes like that kickin around, but that's another story ;)
 
The eyes look freaky :eek: and do nothing for me at all (but that's just my personal opinion ;) ). I'd go for the mono version, but think it could do with some more tonal range in there
 
OK thanks, whats the best way to bring out the tones? Dodge and burn?

Out of interest, this was coverted to black and white with picassa so may go back to the drawing board with CS2.

Diego.
 
Bit beyond my scope that one, but DJW did suggest doint two different conversions with the channel mixer to highlight different areas, then use masks to blend the two together.

I'm sure he'll see this soon and offer some friendly advice ;)
 
Aha, yes as someone today advised me that channel mixer will yield even better results than desaturation....how exiting...come on DJW, where are you :D
 
LOL....

Few different ways to process then : -


Ensure Colours are right
One thing that is important before making a conversion is to get the colour version right first. This ensures you get a good tonal range. Just look how good the tones in the Mono are on the hands.....now go back to Colour shot & see why....the colours look right.

Simple conversion with CM
The next step is to use CM (Channel Mixer) to convert to Mono. Then play with different %'s for each of RGB (ensure Moni is ticked in CM Mixer). Example below is a pure CM conversion with no other work
70% RED & 30% BLUE

R70B30.jpg


Another one at 30% RED, 30% GREEN & 40% BLUE

R30G30B40.jpg


It's all down to personal taste, but you can see how you can change the tones.

Now use Layers & Mask
More advanced method is to Use step above on multiple layers changing CM mixture to suit the part of the picture you are concentrating on. Then use layer masks to bring all relevant parts of the different layers together.

Hope that helps rather than confuse ;)
 
Mono for me too ... but he does look kind of ghoulish and freaky ... almost out of a scary movie ! Will he appreciate the look when you hand over the pics ?

Dave's second version looks best imo !
 
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