This image was taken back in 2008 with my first Digital camera, the Fuji S5 Pro. Nikon 500 M/F lens.
It is almost FF.
I am presently going through old images, and have decided to try my hand at B/W, being inspired by Gabriela and Carl. The image was started as a Monochrome form the Basic Palette in LR, then tweaked in PS.
No Presets, just wholesome PS...
The old Warlord was captured in Kruger, Nov 2008.
Selective sharpening for web.
Fuji S5Pro with Nikon Manual Focus 500F4
ISO 400
1/200 @ F7.1
Hi Andre,
like the tight portrait of this old male.Conversion looking nice , but a tad light for my taste.
The IQ is not that good , i think due to equipment you used, i got blamed by Steve in the past not to dig out that old stuff……LOL, i told him i will start to go through my slides and will start topmost old film scans……..!!!!! No answer came from him , wonder why .
The DOF is quite shallow and the parts that are OOF are looking smudgy, due to equipment , i think.
But after all , besides the technical stuff , i like it.
Hi Andre, baring in mind how far you have come since then, this is good, however if this was shot now, then there are some fundamentals that would have been easily addressed.
Yes the chin is very sharp compared to the eye and perhaps more DOF could have helped, but you may have needed to go for a lot more and the SS may have suffered then? I agree with Andreas that it looks light and so I would suggest being quite 'brutal' and push things. Mr D is perhaps you best person to help on this, but it does lack some depth. You may need to use several layers to build the image, with exposure adj, expanding mid tones, Curves to address the whites extra, but YOU have all the knowledge now to do that.
Andre, I converted my original B/W to a Quad tone which has softened things and may not be the direction you wish to go and prefer the more 'stark' look of the B/W, just a thought, however i do have the B/W too.
i got blamed by Steve in the past not to dig out that old stuff……LOL, i told him i will start to go through my slides and will start topmost old film scans……..!!!!! No answer came from him
Andreas, by all means do so, but it won't be a patch on what you are producing now, your call.
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
My call is , not to go back to my old 10D or earlier images, even if there is some really nice stuff, but for todays level not good enough , just the content is good, so i am too afraid , to get some honest comments…………..
Hi Andre - I like the comp and close framing. I too feel that the op is a bit bright and light. I like the direction Steve has taken the image. It's fun to go back and look at images taken earlier or with different equipment and see how much we've learned. I also find that as I learn more about pp I can sometimes improve an earlier processed image.
Andreas - the key is just not to show those images to Steve .
Neat portrait Andre, He's seen some action.
I thought the OP was a bit too bright in places and like Steve's update.
Like you as I learn more about PP I do go back and look at old images, wondering if i should re-process them, but almost always find that the IQ is not as good as I would like and that it is better to spend the time on recent captures.
Steve's RP is great - Steve, would you share the details of your Quad-tone with the rest of us? It's a nice sepia tone without being sepia, if you see what I mean.
Ed
Like you as I learn more about PP I do go back and look at old images, wondering if i should re-process them, but almost always find that the IQ is not as good as I would like and that it is better to spend the time on recent captures.
Martin, good thinking and always worth the punt. IMHO as we grow in knowledge I do think it is worthwhile revisiting images, as it can only be the 'learning' aspect of PP that has not quite brought out all that you captured in the original image. However, if the IQ isn't there in the first place then don't hold onto it, bin it and save space for better ones, as you can never develop an image with poor IQ.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Hi Ed, it's not rocket science and really depends on the original B/W. As I have said before, you have to think totally differently in B/W and Peter D is perhaps the best when it comes to this, it needs perhaps to be more edgy and at times, with more 'tonal' contrast. Within PS you can do so much, just making things high contrast, or making it a tad more gritty by upping the clarity, the world is your lobster as they say...
Below is my version of the OP, you then, sadly chop it down to an 8bit Tiff/JPEG depending on what you have. Change the Mode to Greyscale and discard and colour, tick the box. Go to Duotone, in there, PS has a raft of various options in colours, plus you can have a Duo, Tri or Quad tone, just pick & click. Once you have found you colour remember to revert back to RGB. You may then need to adjust the blacks & whites, tones etc, but as I said, this is only an 8bit, not 16 so you are loosing data.
IMHO there are only a few colours that really work, however you have to try it yourself as one colour may suit me, but not you.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.