# Critique: NYC Images



## ray5 (Jan 5, 2015)

Hi,
Attached are a couple of images I took recently. With little work in PS. I like the color version but with my limited PS skills I am not too happy with the B&W. I miss the punch. Please critique and suggest ways how I could enhance the B&W. Thanks,
Ray


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## dcm (Jan 5, 2015)

ray5 said:


> Hi,
> Attached are a couple of images I took recently. With little work in PS. I like the color version but with my limited PS skills I am not too happy with the B&W. I miss the punch. Please critique and suggest ways how I could enhance the B&W. Thanks,
> Ray




A lot of middle gray when you look at the curves. Increasing the contrast or adjust the curves (drop the center of the curve below the diagonal) are two quick suggestions.


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## ray5 (Jan 6, 2015)

dcm said:


> ray5 said:
> 
> 
> > Hi,
> ...



Thanks. Tried both but didn't work out the way I would like it.


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## ray5 (Jan 6, 2015)

Marsu42 said:


> ray5 said:
> 
> 
> > I like the color version but with my limited PS skills I am not too happy with the B&W. I miss the punch.
> ...


I agree, perhaps there just isn't any true white/blacks and as you mentioned the city lights are bright. Likely not a great subject area/time for a B&W.
Thanks


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## f1rstx (Jan 6, 2015)

Some clarity, contrast, blacks/whites and few brushes


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## ray5 (Jan 6, 2015)

f1rstx said:


> Some clarity, contrast, blacks/whites and few brushes


Nice. What all did you do and how?
I tired something similar but since I know nothing about layers all my stuff was global and none regional. 
When I did that I got some of the brooding look but thought it too dark for my taste or the mood I have in mind. But forever learning. So feel free to educate.
Thanks


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## f1rstx (Jan 6, 2015)

Marsu42 said:


> I dunno, the shadows are really caved in now, imho a good demonstration why you cannot polish a turd


 yeah, hard to polish JPEG  shadows kinda OK on my monitor though


ray5 said:


> f1rstx said:
> 
> 
> > Some clarity, contrast, blacks/whites and few brushes
> ...


i used lightroom, played with blacks/white sliders, added some local clarity and +/- exposure on some areas with few brushes. Nothing rly hard!


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## andarx (Jan 6, 2015)

Used just one of the presets in NIK's Silver Efex Pro 2. You could get better result working on original file.


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## ray5 (Jan 6, 2015)

andarx said:


> Used just one of the presets in NIK's Silver Efex Pro 2. You could get better result working on original file.


Now, this I like! The thing that I was missing in mine was though the color had the pop the monochrome was a bit flat. The tweaks in PS made it too dark for me but what you did is not too dark but adds a brooding look.
I liked what f1rstx did to the sky, but it made the bridge too dark loosing detail but in what you did the bridge still has the detail.Thx


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## andarx (Jan 6, 2015)

ray5 said:


> andarx said:
> 
> 
> > Used just one of the presets in NIK's Silver Efex Pro 2. You could get better result working on original file.
> ...


I find Silver Efex an excellent plugin for PS, I haven't had a need for any other app for BW conversion since I started using SFX.A breeze to use, just start with a preset and work the sliders, it shows the adjustments in real time.


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## ray5 (Jan 6, 2015)

andarx said:


> ray5 said:
> 
> 
> > andarx said:
> ...


Sorry, this may sound silly. How do I get it? Is it a separate program to use in which I tweak the image after PS or does it work in PS?


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## f1rstx (Jan 6, 2015)

ray5 said:


> I liked what f1rstx did to the sky, but it made the bridge too dark loosing detail


one swing of the brush, here you go  Also, try Lightroom instead of Ps, rly easy to work with it!


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## andarx (Jan 6, 2015)

ray5 said:


> andarx said:
> 
> 
> > ray5 said:
> ...


You'll get all the info you need here:
https://www.google.com/nikcollection/


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## ray5 (Jan 6, 2015)

f1rstx said:


> ray5 said:
> 
> 
> > I liked what f1rstx did to the sky, but it made the bridge too dark loosing detail
> ...


Nice. I have been toying with getting LR. I bought CS5 4-5 years ago with a lot of enthusiasm but quickly got discouraged between lack of time and complexity. Have picked it back up a few months ago but going slow.


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## ray5 (Jan 7, 2015)

Can someone tell me the different things that LR offers compared to PS? I want to make life easier. And LR is reasonably cheap. So to keep my life easy and use only one program like LR what does it offer that PS doesn't? I assume it is much easier to use and since I don't spend enough time on editing anyway, can I make it my default program and not miss much? With a student discount it's only $79. 
Thanks,
Ray


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## dcm (Jan 8, 2015)

There are a variety of tools and techniques you can apply. I guess the key question is what would make the image "pop" for you. We might each have a different answer to that question - "I'll know it when I see it" 

Here's a couple of quick attempts with DxO Optics Pro and FilmPack. The Optics Pro version uses the B&W Low Key preset. The FilmPack version set the film rendering to Ilford Pan 100 and dropped the red to -50 in the channel mixer to eliminate some brightness in the sky while preserving the reflections on the water. That's similar to the effect of shooting b&w film with a red filter to increase contrast and reduce haze in my film days. No other fancy processing required. The possibilities are end less.


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## ray5 (Jan 8, 2015)

dcm said:


> There are a variety of tools and techniques you can apply. I guess the key question is what would make the image "pop" for you. We might each have a different answer to that question - "I'll know it when I see it"
> 
> Here's a couple of quick attempts with DxO Optics Pro and FilmPack. The Optics Pro version uses the B&W Low Key preset. The FilmPack version set the film rendering to Ilford Pan 100 and dropped the red to -50 in the channel mixer to eliminate some brightness in the sky while preserving the reflections on the water. That's similar to the effect of shooting b&w film with a red filter to increase contrast and reduce haze in my film days. No other fancy processing required. The possibilities are end less.


Nice. I like the sky from the top one and the rest in the bottom one. I am sure you can achieve that too. The endless possibilities is what might be good but also overwhelming. I guess that's a problem or asset, depends on how you look at it.
I have been suggested either the Nik software or the DXO filmpak before. Might play around a bit but time is so limited that so far I have been concentrating on the composition and being very lazy at editing! Thanks


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