Black & White Tonalities

[Jeff D. Welker]

My fine associates. As you may know, this old man has an affinity for monochrome/b&w images. I also have an absolute addiction to platinum and palladium prints. I've recently been trying the various tools within Lightroom to see if I can duplicate some of the platinum/palladium tones in my digital images that I've always loved in traditional prints. Platinum tends to be a 'cooler' tone and palladium leans to the 'warm' side of things. Without going overboard, I've tried to achieve a mix where the 'cooler' tones are found in the shadows and the 'warmer' tones are found in the brighter parts of the image. If I achieve my goal, I should have an almost 'neutral' image with a slight lean towards palladium-like warmth. If I can make this work, it will save me a ton of money investing in chemicals and contact printing equipment. Here is a benign SWA 737 that I've used for practice. C&C always encouraged and welcome.

[Tower Guy]

I find it amazing that with digital photography and processing that this type of image is even a possibility. It really shows that this hobby "my words for myself" has endless creative outlets for every taste. I too am a fan of B & W/ monochrome, this is amazing quality Jeff. I applaud your patience to experiment to get to this level. Keep up the good work, I will admit that I learn a lot from you, Jay, Joe, Scott and the other great photographers in AzAP.  Thanks for sharing. 

[Jeff D. Welker]

I find it amazing that with digital photography and processing that this type of image is even a possibility. It really shows that this hobby "my words for myself" has endless creative outlets for every taste. I too am a fan of B & W/ monochrome, this is amazing quality Jeff. I applaud your patience to experiment to get to this level. Keep up the good work, I will admit that I learn a lot from you, Jay, Joe, Scott and the other great photographers in AzAP.  Thanks for sharing. 

You're waaaaaay to generous Harvey. I'm always in a learning mode with the fine shooters at AzAP. I consider you one of my exemplars 

[Jeff D. Welker]

I'm still experimenting with differing tonalities on my monochrome conversions. Here are a couple of recent efforts. C&C welcomed and sincerely appreciated.

[Scott Youmans]

Jeff, Like the Harrier a lot.  Great tonal range and warmth.  The B-52 doesn't quite do as much for me.  Maybe it's the large areas of blackness and lack of detail.  Not having the nose in the shot, while certainly not mandatory, removes a lot of the potential for "personality" that noses and cockpits/canopies bring.  For me the Harrier shot has a lot more going on in terms of interesting details, graphics etc.  The B-52 is a lot more static and while there is potential in simplicity I don't think the big basic shapes add up to being as interesting as one might hope.  Back to the Harrier, I like the combination of perfectly smooth forms as in the intake area and nose in combination with the more primitive/rough fasteners and panels.  The pipes and building structure in the background add an almost 1930's or 40's feel and the sharp angular lines enhance the curvy fuselage shapes.  Definitely a keeper!  A real art piece.

[Jeff D. Welker]

Thanks for the thorough comments Scott. Your input is sincerely appreciated and valued.

With the B-52, I was going for a minimalist look and purposely left the nose out to avoid the "personality" you mentioned. More of blending the prominent shapes with a nearly vacant background. The large black areas were part of my "experimenting" in my post processing. I wanted to help isolate and emphasize the larger intersecting elements (i.e. wing, engine, fuselage, & tail) from the smaller detail that would have shown in the landing gears near the wing. The only concession I gave to detail is the small surface structure structure that is evident in the rear of the fuselage. Accordingly, I applied a little extra platinum toning that I felt helped the overall "feel" of the isolation. Kind of a Walter De Maria "look". It is definitely one of those love it or leave it images.

As you note, the Harrier is the polar opposite image of the Buff. I applied a tad more palladium toning to ever so slightly "cool" the image; which I hoped would "soften" the gritty exterior elements of the Harrier. Like you, I really liked the hangar background and tried to create a Copalman juxtaposition between the window directly above the intake. Hoping that the intake might serve as a window into the empty engine compartment. While most will not likely see that abstract concept, I was pleased that it even occurred to me. Generally, I walk right past that stuff and then marvel at how Joe, Harvey and others see this stuff so readily.

Again, thanks for your input.

[Joe Copalman]

I think the Harrier shot definitely has a lot more going on with it, and I really like it, but the BUFF shot stands out because it's a pretty hardcore departure for you.  One of the hallmarks of most of your shots is a remarkable amount of detail in the shadows - made even more remarkable by how noise-free they are in those shadow areas.  With this, you seem to have gone anti-Welker, not just letting shadows be shadows, but going way beyond that and making them consume around 50% of the image.  Always cool to see guys stepping out of their comfort zones and trying something new. 

I also thinks it's a far more expressive shot than the Harrier one - I'm much more struck by the "mood" of the image than by the technical details of it.  Composition really isn't a problem for me, everything seems to fit together very well.  Going back to the "mood," I have a hunch that it would be amplified a bit by backing off on the warm tones and going with a more traditional grayscale processing, but I may be wrong about that.  It just looks like a chilly winter shot, and the warmth of the platinum tones kind of neutralizes that a bit. 

[Jeff D. Welker]

Thanks much Joe.

As you note, the BUFF was a serious departure from the norm for me. I've never had that much dead black space in an image before and it was difficult for me to deepen the dark shadows rather than open them up. The warmer tone was also something I struggled with and continue to refine. It is very easy for me to let things become too warm, and I'm still trying to develop a cooler tone that doesn't go too "blue". It is a balance I've yet to find - more work will be forthcoming on this image. The LR split-toning sliders and I are becoming well acquainted.

The Harrier was a much easier image for me. Beside the tonality work, there was an abundance of interesting detail and elements in the frame. It almost felt as if my major challenge was not to screw it up by over-processing.

Your comments are certainly encouraging and cause me to consider other options. Muchas Gracias

[Joe Copalman]

The warmer tone was also something I struggled with and continue to refine. It is very easy for me to let things become too warm, and I'm still trying to develop a cooler tone that doesn't go too "blue". It is a balance I've yet to find - more work will be forthcoming on this image. The LR split-toning sliders and I are becoming well acquainted.

This is one of my frustrations in black and white conversions as well - most of my attempts come out too warm, and in trying to neutralize the grays, I end up making them look blue.  That said, I'm not a big monochrome guy, so I haven't really invested the time in learning how to do better conversions.  But I've been liking where you've been going with the B&W stuff lately, so I may pick your brain a bit about this.