26 Jul 12. Just as there are now available multiple pieces of software that allow for bringing out the fine detail in an image, as we observed yesterday, there are also several software programs dedicated to the creation of B&W images. These programs allow for the imitation of old B&W papers, B&W films including the associated grain structure of the individual films and papers, plus other additional tools that give those talented enough the kind of control as employed by Ansel Adams, except of course that he did it by hand in the dark room during the processing of the film and print. If Ansel was fond of saying "the negative is the score and the print the performance", then today's digital captures are the score the the digital software the instrument of performance. Let's return to the image I used yesterday and look at it in a B&W version of the enhanced (right) side. The original RAW image was first converted to grayscale in Camera Raw, then "adjusted" using a piece of software called Silver Efex Pro2 to get the final output. I first increased the overall contrast and fine detail, then did some small selective fine detail manipulation, added a thin black border, and completed the work by applying a slight vignette to force your eye to the shell in the middle. Nikon D300s; Aperture Priority; 18 - 200; ISO 200; 1/100 sec @ f / 5.6.
27 Jul 12. Back to another B&W white image for today. This time I was working to see if, by removing the distraction of color, I could place everything on an even keel so to speak, and draw your attention immediately to the stamen and pistol. To further control where your eye travels, I've added a very subtle vignette to keep your eyes from wandering at the edges. I've also attempted to bring out the very detailed surface of the leaves and petals of the plant while at the same time using a very fine grain paper simulation in order to not have the image appear noisy. And I've obviously put a couple pixel white border around the entire image. The one thing I don't like about how this all turned out is how the conversion handled the light fall off on top the large petal on the left side of the flower. I need to learn how to deal with this kind of stuff and when I do I'll share the technique; I have an approach in mind. Nikon D300s; Aperture Priority; 105 macro; ISO 200; 1/500 sec @ f/11.
28 Jul 12. Something fun for today. While preparing meals for the reptiles, Maggie, ever vigilant dog that she is, went to the sun room and began barking her fool head off. I decided I'd better have a look to see what all the commotion was about and it turned out to be a set of Black Tail fawns. They looked to be about a month old and still had a few of their spots. I shut Maggie out so she would stop barking, grabbed the camera, and quietly went through the bedroom out onto the deck to attempt a few portrait shots. Didn't get any portraits, but several full body shots of which a couple proved interesting. It being a very dark morning, the fawns constantly in movement, and me not quite as steady as I would have liked, the images didn't turn out as sharp as I wanted, but still good enough to share one of them. Here is the male and he is showing a rather bloated belly; looks like he swallowed a beach ball. I'm not sure if this is a normal thing or if there is something wrong with him, but either way, here he is. Bet he makes you smile. Nikon D300s; Aperture Priority; 18 - 200; ISO 400; 1/125 sec @ f/ 7.1.
