Sin City is a (R-rated) neo-noir comic book series that was written and drawn by Frank Miller about the dark, violent, and corrupt underworld of a fictional place called Basin City, nicknamed “Sin City.”
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
So far, I have resisted buying into Adobe’s subscription service for Photoshop but I recognize that active pros need to have the latest tools. All the Photoshop tips and tools you see on this blog were made using Photoshop CS6. For an interesting perspective on this choice, please read the last paragraph on this post that recounts my experience talking with a respected and successful travel photographer about the imaging software that he usesto make a living.
Looking Good in Black & White
Proving that you can, in fact, change your tune, Paul Simon altered the lyrics of his 1973 hit song Kodachrome from the original “…everything looks worse in black and white.” When he performed the song at a concert in Central Park on August 15, 1991 he sang that “everything looked “better” in black and white.
There are lots of ways to create monochrome digital images but the easiest way to create a black and white digital image is in camera at the time of capture. Most DSLRs and mirrorless cameras have built-in monochrome options that include the (digital) application of color filters. Some even have modes, like Canon’s Picture Styles, that enhance gray tones while making the rest of the colors look less vibrant creating an old-fashioned even hand-colored look. Worried about losing that color original? Tip: Shoot your images in RAW+JPEG and you’ll simultaneously capture two files: A color RAW file along with a monochrome JPEG image.
This beautiful collection of classic fifties cars was found at the Vehicle Vault collection in Parker, Colorado and the image I captured was intended, almost from the moment of snapping the shutter as an homage to the cars featured in the (R-rated) film Sin City. I know that the classic Thunderbird plays a pivotal role in the film and while I know one of the which-way-is-it-going Studebaker appears in either this film of Sin City 2, It; not sure if this 1954 Studebaker President is in either film but I like its style. This image was originally photographed (above right) as a color RAW file using a Nikon D780 with VR 24-120mm f/4G lens. The exposure was 1/200 sec at f/10 and ISO 8000. Noise? Even at such a high ISO setting was insignificant.
Before it was converted to monochrome, the image was slightly cropped from ts original 2:3 ratio using Photoshop’s crop tool to clean up it’s edges. Then it was converted to monochrome using the High Structure (harsh) preset from Silver Efex. The edges were dodged using a layer from PhotoKit 2 before using the Tonal Contrast filter from color Efex to both control and enhance the images contrast before applying the Glamour Glow filter also from Color Efex to add a little nostalgia,
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to treat me to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50), please click here. And if you do, thanks so much.
Along with photographer Barry Staver, I’m co-author of Better Available Light Digital Photography that’s available from Amazon for $24.50 with used copies selling at around twelve bucks, as I write this. The Kindle version is extremely expensive for some reason.