B & W attempt

[AdamW]

Hey--

I tried a B & W conversion of this shot of a somthing-or-other at an electrical substation. Which version do you prefer, color or black and white?

Thanks---

[Lilchilichoco]

Hi Adam........I think the b/w one is fabulous........personally I think b/w adds mystery to things.......and something that stops time somehow.......and I also think metal is best done in monochrome......just my opinion....that shot is beautiful.......
here's my b/w.....from a phone cam so will be blurry.....


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[AdamW]

Thanks, Lilchilichoco. And your daughter has beautiful eyes!

[danidabi]

I really like the b&w. Great idea for a picture

[AdamW]

Thanks, Dani. I like the b&w too, but I've not got the method down yet. I'm not quite satisfied with the results.

My daughters came with me when I took it, and my older daughter was using her new Polaroid. When the security guard came out of his booth and asked us gruffly what we were doing, I used my standard line, "This is for an assignment for a photography class." His attitude changed immediately, and he became a lot more pleasant. Works every time! I even had my daughter teach me to say it in Spanish, and got an old lady in the meat market to let me take her picture!:D ;)

[TNB]

I made a hybrid photo today, so I guess it was a B&W attempt as well.

http://image.rcuniverse.com/forum/upfiles/70716/Tr50900.jpg

[AdamW]

TNB--Wow! Nice hybrid!

[danidabi]

Did u do that in PS CS. I've been trying to do that. I have a pic I want the child to be color and the rest b&w, can't figure out how to do it.

[TNB]

Thanks Adam.

Dan,
I used CS2 and yes, it took me a while to figure out too. Basically, I created two layers (original background and a copy). Then I desaturized the background copy to remove the color. Then I "erased" the parts I wanted to be shown in color. In the end the full color "original" background shines through the erased portions of the converted B&W copy/layer.

[danidabi]

See I tried it a slightly different way. I created a new layer via cutting the background vs copying. I tried to change just the layer of the background but it wouldn't work. It applied the change to both layers.

I'll have to try again.

[500mL]

Did u do that in PS CS. I've been trying to do that. I have a pic I want the child to be color and the rest b&w, can't figure out how to do it.

You can try using the Quick Mask method. What it does is you can select the subject you want to isolate by using the paintbrush. When you're done, you can exit the Quick Mask mode and you'll notice the dotted lines on your image. Do Select>Inverse to select the subject you want to isolate. You can copy and paste that selected subject to a new layer. You can now change color/apply filters/add effects etc to the pasted subject.

LoL, it sounds very complicated but I'm pretty sure there are other easy ways to do it other than what I just explained, but if you wanna do it the detailed way, this is one of em tee hee :D .