Howth Black and White

Borderfox

I went out to Howth today to see if I could get some nice black and white shots of some of the local landmarks. I dont do a lot of landscape work so always good to keep my eye in. I wanted a vivid colour shot that would make a good B&W conversion without too much fiddling around.

I shot with the Canon 1dmk3 17-40L with a polariser and mostly using the 5 shot bracketing with a 1 stop spread, converted shots using Photomatix Pro and then using the enhance contrast setting in Topaz Labs and the reduce noise setting of 5, in curves used medium contrast and channel mixer to monochrome. Applied curves with medium contrast again.

Saying all that I wanted over the top results so thats what I got
C&C welcome as always

1:Looking back from the road to the Bailey Lighthouse


2: Conversion of above


3: Looking towards Howth Harbour


4: Conversion of above


5: Howth Lighthouse (I have seen the green bin)


6: Conversion of above


7: Panoramic from Bailey to Dublin view (8 shot panorama with 15mm fisheye)


8: Conversion of above

thebaz

Keith - the first one is my favorite , definitly in b & w , the colour looks too unnatural for my eyes -

The second one works for me in colour ,

The 3rd one also looks better in colour,

The last one is probably the weakest , but is best in b & w .

they are just my thoughts from a quick look, but they are certainly different , giving Dublin a David Lynch look , nice one

Borderfox

Thanks Barry, I agree the colours ones are a bit Yahoo but to get to the black and white was all I wanted.

thebaz

The 3rd one for me is much stronger in colour , it just suits the image - well to my eyes - which are tiring before i hit the hay

ThOnda

In fairness, I prefer the BW versions, the colour ones look a little too much unrealistic for my tired eyes. It is wonderful idea to process the picture to enhance colours and than use that picture for BW conversion! You are getting not only tonality range, but increased colour range. Brilliant!

countryjimbo

Its interesting looking at the colour versions to see how they convert, the OTT colours convert very nicely in the first two.
The lighthouse shot is the strongest, I think that the sky is a bit over bearing, and that stonework would "pop" more if the sky was lighter.
Undecided on the last one!

Borderfox

I wanted the world is going to end from the sky in the lighthouse one, also with the vivid colours I wanted my black and white shots to have some repeatablity.

kjt

Great set of shots Keith, clearly a very well spent few hours!!
I love #1 & #2, I'm not sure which I prefer but I think the colour wins. #6 is my favourite and a great black and white shot! You seem to be using a fair bit of the Topaz Labs of late, I think I may have to take a closer gander at it.

Good work!

achtungbarry

Some fantastic shots. I really love the black and whites. The monochrome really adds drama to the shots especially with those skies. The only thing I noticed is that in the black and white skys, there are blown out highlights in most of them that don't exist in the colour versions. Was this maybe caused by pushing the contrast slider too far. I usually use curves to prevent this or create a layer, increase the contrast slider and then erase the blown out areas to reveal the detail from the layer below. All in all, very dramatic shots and moody shots which I love.

TheNorthBank

I like them all but my 2 cents: The first one is better in B&W, 2nd and 3rd better in colour and the 4th (which is my least favourite) is much better in B&W.
My favourite is the 3rd one though, particularly the rich colours in the stonework. Good stuff!

dreamer_ire

Both lighthouse shots are the best imo. I'm also quite drawn to the last B&W... there's something about it, kind of bleak but welcoming at the same time. Good days work!

nameandanumber

Yep, like this technique alright. Definitely works for the sky in particular. Provides great contrast.

I'm not a fan of the overly-processed HDR look but, as you say, it really works when converted to B&W

kgiller

Excellent. One word for you, excellent. I love the conversion. The HDR converted to B+W really brings out a lot of detail in the highlights and shadows. #8 in my opinion might be a bit bright in the sky (only a tad). #6 is brilliant, detail in the building is incredible.

Great work Keith

oshead

It is very difficult to critise these. They are very good, both HDRs and BWs. It's obivious you had a very clear idea in you head of what you were trying to achieve when you set about taking these. I find this can make all the difference to the finished images.

All I can say really is, well done!

AnimalRights

I'm a big fan of Topaz after seeing Brian use it, must get my hands on it soon.
Fantastic photos btw, all good and my favourites would be 1 and 5.

edit
It's a plug in for PS which I don't use.

Borderfox

Many thanks for all the comments and I have said on Pix.ie that the black and white shots are the destination and the colour ones are the journey. Before I went out I sat down and thought of the finished pictures that I wanted to make and the process was to match the real world with the picture in my head, I find this is often the way I work (and have done in the past in realtion to other subjects too)

The first two and last two shots are on the private road down to the Bailey Lighthouse and is alone worth a visit by other Boardsies, so much to see in terms of landscapes as you can see.

Borderfox

AnimalRights wrote: »

I'm a big fan of Topaz after seeing Brian use it, must get my hands on it soon.
Fantastic photos btw, all good and my favourites would be 1 and 5.

edit
It's a plug in for PS which I don't use.

It will also work in photoshop elements which is within the grasp of many more people

Borderfox

Two more from the same set

TheNorthBank

That last one of the B&W lighthouse is fantastic.

kgiller

Brilliant

paulkellypix

I love the way you treat the contrast in the BW conversions.

Number 8 for me is the best - the way you captured the swirling cloud movements are class

Well Done.

Paul

GhostInTheRuins

Lovely shots

Borderfox

thanks for the comments

Borderfox

Start images






HDR Tonemapped with Photomatix Pro


Topaz Enhance Contrast Preset


Gradient Map and Medium Contrast in Curves in PS CS3

Masada

Great shots there man.,:)

I actually find the colour shots a lot more interesting, I dont think theres enough in the B&W shots to grab your attention and really stand out.

No.3 would be my favourate one, what kind of lens did you use for no.5?