This is the 20th installment of the monthly photo contest on NAM.

Follow this link for the: Rules and Submission Instructions The deadline for entry is the 25th of this month.

NOTE: The photo contest is held to encourage people to take new photos with the topic in mind. As a result, please do not submit any photos taken before the contest topic was announced (see contest rules regarding EXIF data).



Since I haven't had a chance to confirm the prize yet, I'll leave it TBD, though I would assume it will be similar to past month's prize. Again, thanks to OctaneGuy for supporting the photo contest.






Interpret that how you will, keeping in mind that the photos must be MINI related and that only one photo per member per month may be submitted.

 

Time to take a crack @ another photo contest.

 

Oh, yes...I love black and white. Time to go wax the MINI.

 

Yeah!

 

I MUST go get some black white film! Digital just won't cut it.

 

Ansel Adams is August topic. Great... now I have to think even more about light contrast with this full-auto camera. And sunsets are out. :^(

I converted this to b&w, with some basic tweaking. Another excuse to learn something.

 

Ive got the perfect one... Change the upload catagory to august so I can submit it... Please.

Hey Dave, you going to be at the open house on tuesday? You better be!

-Brian

 

Be glad you're not competing against a Robert Frank or Diane Arbus.

This is gonna be a great month!

 

I'm guessing atleast 30 entries

 

yay! .. i got to take scrappy out for some updated photos too!

 

Really? They look good to me. Here's some quick remixes of your recent sunset photos...

 

Just in case this can be useful for anyone, here's my notes on black & white conversion of color photos in Photoshop:

Black & White photo conversion in PS:

1. Create an adjustment layer (Hue / Saturation, mode= NORMAL).
2. Create a second adjustment layer on top (Hue / Saturation, -100% Saturation, mode=COLOR).
3. In the lower adjustment layer adjust the HUE until you are pleased with the B&W rendition.
4. If you would like to tint the photo (i.e. Sepia tone), on the top hue/sat layer select in it's settings "colorize". Adjust hue to the tone color you want and the saturation to the desired strength.

flatten
voila!

OR

Channel mixer set-up:

From Photoshop menu bar select "Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Channel Mixer". Make sure "Monochrome" is selected.

By selecting the "Monochrome" checkbox we are instructing Photoshop to convert the full colour RGB image into a monochrome preview, but the image still retains all the colour channel information. Note that in the "Channel Mixer" dialog that the "Output Channel" is Gray; we cannot change it. However, even though the red channel is initially at 100% and the green and yellow channels are at 0% we are free to mix them as we see fit. The objective is to optimise the image whilst ensuring that total percentage for the three channels adds up to 100% or as near as is possible. Interestingly combinations adding up to more or less than 100% will be either darker or lighter than the original colour image. So don't be afraid to experiment!

Adjustments for full colour toning a black and white image
Whilst our image is now giving the appearance of a black and white picture it's still in RGB colour mode. We can now add colour in a number of different ways. The description that follows is for a Sepia tone effect, but we can adjust for blue, pink, etc.
From Photoshop menu bar select "Layer > New Adjustment layer > Color Balance".
When the "Color Balance" dialog appears we make sure the "Tone Balanceî is set for "Midtones".
Next we adjust each of the colour channel "sliders" until the desired colour effect is obtained. Remember that since we are using adjustment layers the changes can be modified and fine-tuned at any time.
Now we repeat the "Color Balance" adjustments with the "Tone Balance" set for "Shadows". The actual balance of colours should normally be roughly the same as used for the "Midtones" adjustment.
Once we're happy with the balance we can flatten the image using "Layer > Flatten Image".

 

Fixed. Upload away.

not looking like I'll make it out for MITM.

 

You slacker! Would have been nice to see you again.

-Brian

 

What if someone decides to reshoot an image to fall within the contest window?

I shot this the day before the topic was announced.



-Juan

 

Somebody's always gotta push the envelope.

speednut: Not with those pictures, but keeping b&w in mind when shooting keeping in mind how important lighting is (almost typed lightning for some reason) might make a decent shot. Look at an old classic film, compared to the colorized version... blah. Taking any color photo and grinding it through Photocheat won't make a great B&W! Now somebody will prove me wrong...

 

Yeah, I still need to figure out the correct lighting for B&W. My assumption is I need to really find a contrasty scene with lots of different strengths of illumination (wide gamut?), especially to emphasize the photo subject.

I've seen several from Scooby and others here that IMHO could do so.
I think when us retro-grouches romanticize about B&W however, we are looking at prints rather than the film strip. How is photocheat really different that what the printing masters did with enlargers, chemicals and their other specialized tools? Wasn't it Ansel who said "Once the shutter has closed, the work is only half done"? In our modern digital age, what we get out of the camera is analogous to the film strip and what we do on the computer is very specialized darkroom techniques. I'm feeling blessed by this because I am now the lab and not at the mercy of most modern printers that don't care or want to reproduce my negative/positive the way I see it. I see photocheat as the darkroom that allows me to accurately convey what I saw with my eyes when the photo was taken. That's my $.02, probably worth even less.

Juan, very nice photo and excellent usage of the new Mini font!

BTW, did someone say (grainy) Ansel?

 

I love it! But that is really cheating.
I just don't have the will (or time) to learn something I don't make a living at. I know a professional photographer, he described what it takes to use a darkrooom. IMHO Photocheating can look "fake" when not done well.

 

I want one!

 

 

Sweet, I put mine in.

-Cody

 

On my way to the Prescott Antique Auto Club car show this morning I paused at the new turn-out off AZ89 at Watson Lake. Can anyone else see color on the car? Not sure if it's the program or monitor or what.

 

negative space
zone system

Keep shooting Kurt. I mean it.
You're getting better by the day!

==============
Y'all should really check out Kurt's Flickr.

 

woo hoo another great topic.

maybe i can get 2 votes this month

 

This is going to be a great topic. I need to get out there and shoot away... I've been out of it the last two months. This really gets me thinking though! Good Topic Dave.

Thanks to Octane for the sponsorship!