Lesson No 1. If it isn't broken don't fix it

Just prior to printing 12 10"x10" for assignment one I ordered some new paper, Canson Baryta Photographique 310g. Also at this time I had started to read some of "The Digital Print" by Jeff Schrewe, in particular anything relating to gamut, rendering intent and black point compensation. My current paper and workflow combination was working fine but one is always curious that something better is hidden around the corner. After a day of changes, many of which were not properly thought through and therefore any difference was not easily attributed to any specific method. I returned to my original paper and settings so that the assignment can proceed and will come back to the new paper in the future. Lesson learnt is dont experiment with assignment output. Carry out experiments at a suitable time, make one change at a time, make contemporaneous records and be methodical. I have a friend who works in science research who's diary (after a day of experiments) often reads "Results: nothing happened, no change". That may happen here.

Assignment 1 - Style change.

I am getting a little concerned with the time I am taking to produce this assignment, which according to the course notes should take zero hours. Two three hour visits have been made to the old quarter of the town and a large number of images taken. A few images have been processed (see previous post) and prints made in a style similar to that of Eugene Atget era in Paris around the turn of the last century. This hasnt worked as I predicted as the toning is not correct. It is too yellow/brown and too close to a clichéd sepia tone although processed with a bespoke process and not from a simply "click here for Sepia" routine. I am looking at two alternatives, both of which are acceptable and the final choice will be made when the portfolio is seen.

Assignment 1

Nikon D3 24mm T/S

Workflow

Current workflow is detailed here as an aide memoir for future use and removes a number of post it notes from the desk.

Workflow for Monochrome - Assignment  1

1. Raw file conversion

1.       Open in ACR

2.       Lens correction

3.       Curve to Linear

4.       No sharpening

5.       Colour Temp - check as this can make difference

6.       Remove clipping

7.       No changes to contrast etc made here

8.       Open in PS

9.       Save Raw in Raw Folder

2. Photoshop basic monochrome conversion

1.       Open in CS5

2.       Save as 16 bit Tiff in Tiff 1 folder

3.       Capture sharpen with Photokit  capture sharp Digital High Res - Medium. Check at 100%.

4.       View at 100% Ctrl +1   Ctrl +0 Fill Screen

5.       Flatten Ctrl +E twice

6.       Save as basic Tiff for use in Tiff 1 folder

7.       Correct perspective.

8.       Crop to new aspect ratio. Removal of part of the file will change histogram, reset  000 and 255

9.       Convert to mono using channel mixer, use a film preset

10.   Save as basic mono Tiff in Mono Tiff folder (with linear curve)

To this point the workflow is a standard technical procedure. From here the workflow will need to provide control and artistry that defines the presence of the image .

3. Photoshop - Diagnose the image.

1.       Always work on new layer.

2.       Add Layer Ctrl + J

3.       Add 10 Gausian Blur, stand well back from screen, 10 feet or so and analyse the tonal range, out of place areas of dark/light, low/high contrast and make note of requirements.

4.       Delete Layer

4. Photoshop - Adjust Tonal Range, add toning, retouch, adjust for printing.

Tone mapping with masks to introduce curves to various areas, some areas low contrast, maybe some high. NB Image has no curve at this stage.

5. Typically

1.       Add Layer Ctrl + J

2.       Work on Layer, Ctrl + L to open curves. Small areas at a time with small amounts of adjustment, say no more than 20% of image is under consideration. Possible with this method to have low contrast and high contrast within the same image.

3.       Alt + add vector mask, Adjustments will disappear behind a black mask

4.       Take a soft brush with 20 - 50 % opacity and set to white.

5.       With tablet pen paint in the adjustment to area under consideration

6.       Error corrections are made by changing brush to black and painting in correction.

7.       On completion, Ctrl +E to flatten or if need to return make next Layer for next area.

With any partial adjustment Layer  using curves (and never touching the endpoints) will result in an image with full tonal range and retained  000 and 255 limits as set in the Raw conversion.

Additional partial contrast can be applied with USM at 20,60,4

6. Additionally

The History Brush is used to make minor adjustments

1.       Multiply - darkens a local area

2.       Screen - lightens a local area

3.       Colour Dodge - lightens extreme small highlights

4.       Colour Burn - darkens extreme small shadows

5.       Soft Light - increases contrast in areas of light and dark

7. Edges

Paint with History Brush  (very small brush)  along edges

1.       Multiply 10-20%

2.       Colour Dodge 7-10%

Save As at any stage in the process to allow retrieval of part completed image.

When complete Save in Mono Tiffs folder with text to describe adjustments.

For this assignment I need a toned image and the Colour Balance method is chosen

8. Photoshop - Add Colour to simulate Albumen print.

1.       Add colour balance Layer

2.       Shadows       +26

3.                           +3

4.                           -31

5.       Highlights        0             

6.                             0

7.                           -15

8.       Delete White layer mask

9.       Add Black Layer mask

10.   Paint colour as required, mostly close too all over at 100%, but mask and opacity allows to lighten if required.

11.   Flatten Image

12.   Add Hue/Saturation Layer

13.   Set Saturation to -23

14.   Levels - set output to 251, not 255 to prevent bleed and paper white in printing.

15.   Flatten Image

16.   Return to adding a layer and changing curve locally to darken/vignette etc.

17.   Flatten Image

18.   Save As Fully Modified Tiff in Tiff Folder

9. Notes:

For printed output activate Soft Proof Ctrl+Y with paper type in custom set up.

For web change profile to sRGB

Image is unsharpened.

For web resize to 1024 on longest side, Photokit output sharp for web, changed to SRGB.

For printing, no change, output through Qimage at 12.

For stock (Alamy) no sharpening. Follow Alamy spec.

Assignment 1 - Style

Spent time today working on the major element of presentation style with a new workflow (which I will detail later) to deliver a feeling for the buildings and streets I am showing in this assignment. Discussed below we know I am only looking at the old areas of the town and I need a style that enhances that.
This is a proof of the style, it is not likely to be in the portfolio.

Nikon D3 24mm T/S 1/125 f8 ISO 640