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Software for digital b&w

Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 9:50 am
by bfitzgerald
There are a few interesting ones, a friend of mine has this...

http://www.niksoftware.com/silverefexpro/en/entry.php

Only had a brief play, but it looks decent, not cheap though..

I like exposure 2 myself

http://www.alienskin.com/exposure/

Though I would say, whilst some profiles appear near to the original, not all are, and a lack of histogram is a bit of a downer. But they offer a quick way to get some interesting b&w effects.

Re: Software for digital b&w

Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:20 pm
by paulmurphy
I was suprised there was no traffic in the B+W section, I find I'm using it a lot more recently (entering camera club competitions is one way to get you working)

I mostly use either BW Styler plug in or the conversion tool in CS3, however recently I've found a method that gives me results I like, using the RedynamixHDR plug in and the black and white option - also pretty low cost. It gives a contrasty look which prints brilliantly on my HP B9180.

Here are a few recent examples

Image

Image

Image

Image

Cheers

Murph

Re: Software for digital b&w

Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:06 pm
by Dr. Harout
Kind of a nostalgia is hitting me whenever I see a B&W picture. :(

Serengeti National Park

Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:31 pm
by Winston
This image from my recent trip to Tanzania was processed with Lightroom 2.1 RC

Click for larger:
Image

Re: Serengeti National Park

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 1:17 pm
by Dr. Harout
Winston wrote:This image from my recent trip to Tanzania was processed with Lightroom 2.1 RC

Click for larger:
Image
That is a very very very beautiful and stunning photo. Wow and wow again. :o :D

Re: Software for digital b&w

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:50 pm
by Winston
Thank you, Dr.

Re: Software for digital b&w

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 5:23 pm
by aster
Congratulations Winston,

Just the kind of opportunity a photographer could ask for: being there at the time when nature decides to display its magnificent show...

Thanks for sharing :D
Yildiz

Re: Serengeti National Park

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:48 pm
by bossel
Dr. Harout wrote:That is a very very very beautiful and stunning photo. Wow and wow again. :o :D
I have to second that. I think the tree makes the difference and I am happy it's not in the center!!

Re: Software for digital b&w

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 9:14 pm
by Winston
Thanks for the comments...it made Photo of the Week over at Dyxum.com

Re: Software for digital b&w

Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 1:00 am
by Birma
Great to see some more B&W pictures. I love Murph's #1 and 2 especially.

Thanks to Murph, Sonolta and Winston for those shots, and to Barry for starting the thread.

Re: Software for digital b&w

Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 4:07 am
by bakubo
I love B&W. Here are just a few of mine that were all taken in color (except the last) and then converted:

Ghost Elephants in Botswana:
Image

Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi, Vietnam:
Image

Sunday morning after a hard Saturday night in Shinjuku, Tokyo:
Image

Hilltribe school girl and little brother in northern Thailand:
Image

Self-portrait:
Image

Children in Otavalo, Ecuador:
Image

Self-portrait from 1974:
Image

I often use the channel mixer when converting to B&W. Also, I sometimes use the free Photo-Plugins B&W converter.

Re: Software for digital b&w

Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 9:19 am
by Dr. Harout
Excellent pictures Henry. I think I like most #1-2-4 & 6. Sorry I couldn't understand your self portraits.
But if I have to pick just one, that would be either 1 or 2. :D

Re: Software for digital b&w

Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 5:14 pm
by bakubo
Dr. Harout wrote:Excellent pictures Henry. I think I like most #1-2-4 & 6. Sorry I couldn't understand your self portraits.
But if I have to pick just one, that would be either 1 or 2. :D
Thanks, Doc! I have quite a few self-portraits over the years, I guess because I always found myself a willing subject. :) Last fall I was in Tokyo going to school and one of my teachers, Takahashi-sensei, really liked my Hanoi Hoan Kiem Lake photo so I made an enlargement and brought it to class to give him one day. He worked in Hanoi as a Japanese language teacher about 15 years ago and he said he walked along the lake many times while he was there.

Re: Software for digital b&w

Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 7:01 pm
by Winston
I particularly like the two pictures of the kids.

Re: Software for digital b&w

Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 6:22 pm
by bakubo
Winston wrote:I particularly like the two pictures of the kids.
Thanks, Winston. Children are always good subjects because they are usually not self-conscious and often actually want you to take their photo. :)