monet

[jjbacoomba]

This is a B&W conversion I did of a water lilly.I use Paintshop ProX2. I played with the curves a little and added some Infra red.


IMGP8517AB&W by ebamismoi, on Flickr

[DonS]

Why there is a gloomy shadow around the flower petals???

[Kit]

Joe, this has much more the look of a painting rather than a photograph and if this was your intention, it has worked. I like the way the single flower takes prominence because of the light falling on the tips of the petals. It makes the flower somewhat ethereal in appearance. I also like the way the shadow of the flower appears in a somewhat lighter area of water.

[nickjohnson]

Joe, I find the translucent glow in the petals, and the dark shadow on the water in the foreground very attractive. For me – that's the picture. The top half of the frame and the light leaves I find to be a distraction. IMHO there is a very beautiful piece of work in there – trying to get out.

[chrisc]

I would like to see the original image to see the progression of how you got to thispoint. I suspect, via painshop pro, there was a conversion process that took place too soon in the PP which allowed a (for lack of a better term) "dulling film" to permeate the overall tonal range.

I've found, once this happens, no other PP can make it go away. I suspect this happened when you were tweeking the curve. At this point, rather than setting the black point, you let the curve droop in the middle with both a shallow foot and shallow shoulder adjustment, both slightly above the midline. As a result, wha ti am seeing is a very muddy gray where I should be seeing crisp blacks and whites that are defined by the gray, not muted.

I took your posted image and redefined the curve set in CS5, then changed the crop ratio to 7:5 which I feel helps lead the eye through the image with fewer distractions.

[katynoelle]

You're right, Joe! Just like Monet!!! NEATO! Now, you have to have that upper part with the leaves and the ripples in the water and whatever you've done with the murkiness, etc. has made it have that very same feel that Monet gets. I love the translucence of the petals and the shadow and the smoothness of the water.

I see why Chris wants to brighten it and make the flower whiter but, then, it's moving away from that texture and feel that you've got that makes it look so much like the painting and it's starting to look more like a photograph. I'm not saying one is better or not. Just observing.

One other thing - is that some sort of weird halo around the flower petals? What is that? curious...

I like it Joe!!!

[The Wirefox]

Joe, I think this works really well and I like what you have done. Whatever filters or settings you have used in Paint Shop has probably used some kind of light smoothing to bring out the detail in the high contrasting image by controlling the contrast variations. This has caused haloing where there is extreme difference of tonal value in close proximity (eg the petals and water) This can also happen simply by over manipulating the tonal curve. As others have said above I actually like the glow around the petals. It is a unusual subject for b/w conversion and its good to see that you are stepping beyond the comfort zone. The other likely culprit for haloing is large radius sharpening with USM

If you did want to remove haloing (and in this case I dont think you should) you would need to use highlight smoothing function but I am not familiar with Paint Shop so not sure if you will have the equivalent. This haloing is most typical in extreme processing such as tone mapping or Lomo plugings where detail is enhanced by light smoothing

[jjbacoomba]

Thanks for all the replies guys and gals. Man o man sure does give me alot to think about in what I am doing here. I am posting the original for Chris and a cropped version for Nick. CC welcome please!

[jjbacoomba]

Here is a version I did without infrared filter. Just straight B&W.This is how I did it.
From the original I started with Backlighting filter. Dont know why I started with this , I just did. I set it @ 63 %. I then adjusted Bright and contrast setting at -10 and 10. I then adjusted the channel mixer with Red @ 55 %, Green @ 28 %, and Blue @ 15 %. I then used the curves setting and and set them, the lowest point 0>0,2nd @ 81>42, 3rd @ 175>1-8, and the highest @ 255>255. Not sure what all the numbers mean for the curves but I just selected what I liked in the results it gave me.I do that everytime I use it on other photos. The last thing I did was adjust the bright and contrast @ -11 and -5 to make the petals not look so bright and hopefully define the lines. Well thats it. CC welcome.
I do like the original photo I posted as it does have an ethereal appearance to it. The way it glows makes me thing of angels. I was going to name this one' Monets Angel" I also feel that the halo was a result of my original curves and contrast adjustment, but when I readjusted I lost the heavenly feel . One thing I dont like is how it looks grainy after PP. Looks different on flickr and in Paintshop Pro. Thanks everyone for your comments. I can see that I will be learning alot here. ;D

[nickjohnson]

Joe, Thanks for posting “my” version – that is exactly what I had in mind. Now that I've seen the original I'm a bit sad. From my viewpoint the basic problem I have is that the sharpest thing I can see is the flower shadow in the water. So for me there is not enough that is sharp for this image to work. Now that is only my opinion, and it's my problem that I can't quite see past the issue I've mentioned. For me it's such a shame since the small original you just posted looks very beautiful. I hope you don't feel that I've mislead you.

[chrisc]

I was sort of getting to the same conclusion as you, Nick. Part of the magic is the infrared effect but it is on an image which is significantly out of focus and that in itself leaves a non-recoverable flatness to the tonal scale. I breifly played with the color version in hopes of restoring some pop, but no can do.

I think the intent is great, and would hope you would return to the scene and give it another shot.