B/W attempt

[Speedster]

Playing around with B/W, using a neat image I found as a backplate and my GG1 Electric Locomotive.  Used the "grid" to establish perspective and FL.  "Warehouse" HDR dome, which was a perfect fit for this image.  Used the backplate in the KS image for reference, but rendered the locomotive in color as a TIFF with alpha, followed by a clown pass.  Brought the whole thing, including the backplate,  into CS5, and played with all the levels, hue/saturation, curves and filters.  It was a fun and educational exercise, as I don't get to play in B/W like I did 40 years ago!  And my office doesn't smell like photo chemicals!  But in some wierd way I sort of miss the hands-on of the "old days".
Bill G

[PhilippeV8]

I think ... add a tiny tiny amount of gausian blur to your train ... it's kinda sharp compared to the old photo background ?

[Speedster]

Wow!  Thanks for the tip!  I keep forgetting about gausian blur, and it has a huge impact in leveling things out.  Added 0.8 to the loco, and 0.6 to the backplate.
Bill G

[guest84672]

You could also increase the Pixel Filter size to a higher value in the render tab. Great work! Could be a tad bit brighter. But this may just be me.

[Speedster]

Thanks, Thomas- good point, as we seldom play with pixel size. 

It's amazing that what started as a simple test to KeyShoot a B/W image has turned into quite an educational experience.  We never stop learning, especially from others!

I still want to work on creating the "blackness" of the GG1 blacks to better match the depth of the backplate.  I know now that the original color (dark green) is not the best, and that a "dark red", or even a black, for the body would be a better choice. 

So the takeaway is that if the goal is B/W, we need to chose appropriate colors in the first place, and experiment first.

The image below was retouched by our Master Tim Feher.  He used like 12 adjustment layers in Photoshop, adding dust, haze, you name it.  Thanks Tim!  We all learn from you!  I added the "Retouched by Tim Feher" to make sure he gets his proper due!

Now I want to tackle a new project as a B/W from the ground up.  Too bad Ansel Adams didn't have KeyShot!

Bill G

[Chad Holton]

Nice one!