Black and White Chef

Savageduck wrote:

>On 2011-05-14 18:20:12 -0700, Dudley Hanks
> said:
>
>> Just playing around with writing a BW conversion
>> program.
>>
>> Here's my first attempt:
>>
>> http://www.blind-apertures.ca/images/TheChefSmall.jpg (Fast
>> Loading)
>>
>> http://www.blind-apertures.ca/images/TheChef.jpg (Full
>> Size)
>>
>> Just wondering if it can pass as a run-of-the-mill BW
>> conversion...
>>
>> Take Care,
>> Dudley
>
>That works pretty good as a B&W.
>You have got most everything straight and in focus. Though you could
>have used the center porch upright, or the edge of the porch as a
>straightening reference with PS or whatever SW you are using.
>
>Exposure looks right. Grays, whites, blacks seem about right.
>
>Now when you say you are playing around "with writing a BW conversion
>program" just what exactly are you trying to achieve? There are
>certainly several methods you can tackle this conversion in PS. Writing
>a program or script to do that seems somewhat strange. Unless you are
>planing to improve on NIK Silver Efex Pro.
>
>--
>Regards,
>
>Savageduck
>
>


Thanks, SD, I appreciate the feedback.

The pic was shot last year, in colour. I cobbled together a
perl script to convert it to a BW image.

I know it's a bit strange to write one's own algorithms when
perfectly good, even suprerb pro versions are abundant, but I
like to tackle the art from all sides.

Commercial versions aren't all that accessible when using
screen readers, so they don't work for me.

Besides, I'm a bit of a pixel freak; I like to mess wid tings
and see wat coms out ...

With a bit of a modification, the routine that did this
conversion (hopefully) will lend itself to pulling details out
of shadows or highlights -- processess that I currently can't
access in Adobe.

The programming is actually pretty straightforward. The real
trick is finding the information to put the algorithms
together.

Once again, thanks for the feedback. It appears I'm on the
right track.

Take Care,
Dudley
 >> Stay informed about: Black and White Chef 

On Sat, 14 May 2011 20:20:12 -0500, Dudley Hanks
wrote:

>Just playing around with writing a BW conversion
>program.
>
>Here's my first attempt:
>
>http://www.blind-apertures.ca/images/TheChefSmall.jpg (Fast
>Loading)
>
>http://www.blind-apertures.ca/images/TheChef.jpg (Full
>Size)
>
>Just wondering if it can pass as a run-of-the-mill BW
>conversion...

You have successfully converted a color photograph to a black and
white photograph. I don't understand what you are asking, though.

There are dozens of programs that do this; some of them - like
Irfanview and FastStone free downloads. Why did you need to write
your own program?

The conversion you made is no more than passable. It looks like a
simple desaturation or conversion to grayscale. It lacks contrast,
but that can be increased in any program.

"Run-of-the-mill" is a good description. A custom program should do
more than that.




--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
 >> Stay informed about: Black and White Chef 

tony cooper wrote:

>On Sat, 14 May 2011 20:20:12 -0500, Dudley Hanks
> wrote:
>
>>Just playing around with writing a BW conversion
>>program.
>>
>>Here's my first attempt:
>>
>>http://www.blind-apertures.ca/images/TheChefSmall.jpg (Fast
>>Loading)
>>
>>http://www.blind-apertures.ca/images/TheChef.jpg (Full
>>Size)
>>
>>Just wondering if it can pass as a run-of-the-mill BW
>>conversion...
>
>You have successfully converted a color photograph to a black and
>white photograph. I don't understand what you are asking, though.
>
>There are dozens of programs that do this; some of them - like
>Irfanview and FastStone free downloads. Why did you need to write
>your own program?
>
>The conversion you made is no more than passable. It looks like a
>simple desaturation or conversion to grayscale. It lacks contrast,
>but that can be increased in any program.
>
>"Run-of-the-mill" is a good description. A custom program should do
>more than that.
>


Thanks, Tony, that's what I wanted to hear...


I wouldn't exactly call it a custom program -- more like a 20
line script.

Indeed, it's just a straightforward conversion of the rgb
values to greyscale equivs...

The part about needing more contrast gives me somewhat of a
direction to point further effort, and coincides nicely with
local feedback I've gotten from folks here at home.


Take Care,
Dudley
 >> Stay informed about: Black and White Chef