[Larne]

Still trying to do a mono conversion I am happy with. The lighting for this one was a bit flat in colour so thought I would try for a mono effect.



C&C appreciated.

[Markulous]

Problem you've here is an empty featureless sky which is doing you no favours. I'd be tempted to crop the image, removing half the sky (and that'll also get away from the 50:50 look), either to arrive at letterbox or keeping aspect ratio. Then do a graduated layer to put something into that sky - or drop in a sky from another image!

[fionaB]

agree with Mark, the other thing is to add a gradient fill to the sky, it wont give it detail but it will give it some gradation in tones.

Fi

[Dabhand16]

Originally Posted by fionaB

agree with Mark, the other thing is to add a gradient fill to the sky, it wont give it detail but it will give it some gradation in tones.

Fi

That's what I was thinking too. The image will not look right with a different/interesting sky as the lighting is flat and even.

I think a curves tweak will give it a bit more punch too.

[Larne]

Hmmm....hadn't thought about applying a gradient after the fact. That's a side of post-processing I haven't explored. I'll also crop as suggested and see what it looks like.

Thanks for the advice. I find it really annoying that I can visualise a mono image through the viewfinder and then print it from film onto paper and be happy with the result but I just can't get a feel for doing it digitally.

[plugsnpixels]

I keep a collection of my own stock photos on an external drive for situations like this. In this case, I would open one of my puffy cloud photos and pop it in the blank sky area (probably using the magic wand select/paste into technique).

[Larne]

Here is my second attempt, based on the suggestions above (I haven't tried a different sky as yet). Although I can't decide if it truly works on this image the graduated layer is going to make an interesting addition to my photoshop skills, thanks very much for that one.



Comments welcome.

[fionaB]

well personally i think it makes a big improvement! the eye is not being drawn by a glaring empty white patch now!

[Dabhand16]

Yep - I think it is better too. I still think a bit more contrast with levels will improve it even more though

[Larne]

Thanks for the feedback!

The contrast is already pushed pretty high, although using a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer. (Elements user here so no native curves - I do have a plug in but not entirely happy with how to use it.) Problem is it was a really flat day (one of those days when the sky is like one huge softbox set way too bright) so pushing the contrast any higher seems to start burning out highlights. I'll have to have another fiddle with it and see what I can do.

Really appreciate all the help though. When I shot print film I used to view B&W as 'easy' and colour as 'hard'. With digital it seems (comparatively) to be the other way around.

[Markulous]

OK, here's my attempt - think yours looks good but thought I'd do an alternative! Slightly different crop, gradient sky, dodged/burned bits (field/inside tractor), toned

[Larne]

I intentionally left the back of the tractor dark as I didn't like the clutter but I like what you have done with the field; that wouldn't have occured to me. Toning is also something I need to play with I can see.

Lots of good tips and ideas for improving my photoshop skills coming out of this thread. Really appreciate all the help!

What is interesting is when I took this picture I knew it would be rubbish in colour but I am used to 'seeing' in mono (after years of B&W print film work) and so I shot it with a view to seeing if I could produce the image I envisioned via Photoshop in the same way I once would have done in a darkroom. Aside from the toning what you have produced there Markulus is remarkably close to my original vision for the scene and you have given me a lot more confidence that over time I will be able to produce mono prints from digital shots I am actually happy with.