High Contrast BW

[meetshany]

Hi,

I wanted to try out High Contrast Black and White processing. I edited the photo in GIMP.

Steps:
1. Converted the photo into Gray using Color Mixer
2. Duplicated the layer Layer in normal mode in and used the "Unsharp Mask"
3. Changed the transparency of the Duplicated layer
4. Tweaked the Brightness and Contrast

Please critique on the Processing. Have I been able to create a High Contrast BW photo?
Also, Please suggest better ways to create a High Contrast BW photo.


[IMG][/IMG]

EXIF:
ISO: 200
F: 5.6
Speed: 1/200 s
Focal Length 200mm

[plangereis]

I like the tonality of this photo, and the composition. It is too bad you cannot see the woman's face. I think you did a great job on the conversion. I have also been working on B&W conversions, except that I am using Lightroom 2. I have never used Gimp, but have heard good things about the program (and the price is right!). In Lightroom, I usually convert using the grayscale conversion (after I have set exposure., fill light, black levels and contradt), and then tweak the sliders that cover the colour range of the photo. I then tweak the camera calibration settings, and go back and tweak exposure etc. I may tweak the tonal curve as well. Good luck!

[Chip]

For other ways to create B&W, here a nice tutorial put together by wulf. He uses GIMP.

I use GIMP, too. Another way to convert is to go to "colors", then click on the "use GCGL operations" (or something similar). Then, go to "tools" and click on the "use GCGL" (or something similar). (I don't have GIMP on this computer, so I'm doing this by memory. ) Once you're in the GCGL dialogue box, then you can use either "c2g" or "monomixer."

Monomixer seems largely the same as the channel mixer in the regular part of GIMP, but I have better results with the GCGL's monomixer for some reason.

c2g is interesting. I'm just starting to play with it, and it makes both very contrasty and very textured images. To get the image a bit less contrasty and textured, you can move the number in the top box up pretty high, to 1000-1500, and/or you can dial down the strenght to 0.7 or 0.8. To me, the effects produced by c2g don't look too good for people (especially faces), but they can produce interesting effects on other types of photos. It seems pretty easy to produce photos that are "over the top" with c2g, which I guess is either good or bad, depending on your point of view.

Finally, another thing I do at times is once the image is converted, if it looks a bit flat, I'll duplicate the layer. Then, on the duplicate, I'll go to colors, then auto, then do equalized, which I think is the option to enhance contrast. Then, you can keep the mode of the duplicate as normal, change it to overlay or any other mode that suits that image. I'm still new to all this, but at times experimenting with this type of thing has bumped up the contrast in a way that's pleasing.

Hope this helps.

And, the monitor I'm on right now is pretty dark. But, from what I can tell, you did a nice job with th e conversion.

[meetshany]

plangereis,

Thanks for the reply. I do not have lightroom. GIMP is a great open source software. I love it

Chip,

Thanks so the steps on GIMP. I did not have he option you mentioned in my GIMP, then I realised I had not updated the software for long. So upgraded and now I will try your steps out. Thanks again!

[kurtwall]

Originally Posted by Chip

For other ways to create B&W, here a nice tutorial put together by wulf. He uses GIMP.

I use GIMP, too. Another way to convert is to go to "colors", then click on the "use GCGL operations" (or something similar). Then, go to "tools" and click on the "use GCGL" (or something similar). (I don't have GIMP on this computer, so I'm doing this by memory. ) Once you're in the GCGL dialogue box, then you can use either "c2g" or "monomixer."

Chip, I think you mean "GEGL."

[Chip]

Originally Posted by kurtwall

Chip, I think you mean "GEGL."

Yep. Thanks. Too many passwords and acronyms in my brain - I can't keep them all straight.