Is this a monochrome?

[Saorsa]

Reading the definitions for a competition I found that a monochrome was


PSA.
A monochrome image is defined as having varying shades of no more than one colour (various shades of that colour from very light to very dark) but it may be any single colour. Multi-
toned images (various shades of two or more colours) and greyscale images with added accent colour are not acceptable in Monochrome Class sections and must be entered in Colour Class sections



This is actually a color image but so permeated by the sand that I think it is all shades of a single colour.

Opinions?

[DanK]

I see bits of gray-blue, so I think not.

[Shadowman]

I see green.

[Saorsa]

Yes, I see the touch of blue green in the foliage there so, I tried a sepia conversion



That looked nice so I tried it on a sunset I had.

[Brev00]

I like the sunset image quite a bit but am not so fond of either of the branch/sand shots. What was the original like and if the first was the original, what would it be like with a more neutral white balance? I might think a straightforward black and white might be a good place to start and then experiment with different tones.

[Saorsa]

Well, the sand shot was taken inside a slot canyon in Arizona. Everything inside is pretty much some shade of red.

Here it is as a straight B/W



Here is a different shot of the same general area of the canyon.



As you can see, the only place you see something other than red is the direct sunshine outside the opening. The nearest you can get to it with the driftwood is the little bit of light on the left hand side. In fact, if there is a breeze (and there usually is due to temperature differentials) you come out with quite a bit of red on you and your gear.

[Glenn NK]

I downloaded three of your images; the canyon shots and driftwood, then looked at them in Lightroom's histogram.

The canyon shots (particular the first) are loaded with colour in the histogram; the drifwood shot has none at all.

The original images captured by the sensor will always have RGB, but when converted to BW, the colours seem to get lost.

But apart from that, I can see quite a range of colours in the canyon shots.

Glenn

[ajohnw]

I wonder how RGB black and white fits in with this? What I mean is when the image whilst in the editor is represented by 3 colour channels rather than the usual desaturate result.

On Glenn's question if toned there will be colour - any one to any degree that is chosen. If full red 0-255 for instance a grey scale just becomes a red scale and fits in with the rules as only that colour is used. Odd thing is ruling out toning because if an image is toned it still uses a scale of one colour, a sort of tinted grey scale or could and should still meet the rules.

John
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[Saorsa]

Yes. This is half humorous. I recognize that there are other colors in the mix there but, I would be hard pressed to find anywhere that did not have some red component. I often do a straight B/W conversion just to see the image without the distraction of color. Things like sunsets can overwhelm you in that regard.

Since Sepia toning brings in other colors, blue not so much, I was trying to think of what other toning might be permitted beyond the conventional. Maybe I'll try to drop everything but the red channel. I have a lot of fun experimenting with this stuff.

I do agree with Glenn that the sunset actually looks nice in Sepia, it brings just enough of an expected color in to make it interesting compared to a straight B/W.

[chauncey]

Brian, assuming that you have Photoshop...apply a B&W adjustment layer with the layer style set to luminosity and fiddle with the various sliders. That will illustrate what colors are present.

[Saorsa]

The only Photoshop I have is Photoshop elements 2 that came with an old computer. I use it to take out dust spots. Most of my post processing is in Capture NX2 and I don't do much of that beyond the quick-fix options and a bit of sharpening.

[Mike Buckley]

Most of my post processing is in Capture NX2

The colors or lack of them will be evident when you display the histogram. If there is no "color," the entire histogram data will be white. Otherwise, the pertinent color channel(s) will be displayed. That's true whether you use the "Black and White Conversion" edit step to convert or the "Saturation/Warmth" edit step to desaturate.

Hopefully you use the conversion process rather than the desaturation process in all but very few circumstances. The desaturation process results in a file that has one-third the data.

[Mike Buckley]

when the image whilst in the editor is represented by 3 colour channels rather than the usual desaturate result.

See my previous post for an explanation of why desaturating should NOT be the usual process.

[ajohnw]

See my previous post for an explanation of why desaturating should NOT be the usual process.

I wasn't entirely clear Mike. It's possible to have a black and white image that consists of the usual 3 colour channels. They are perfectly capable of producing black and white but any toning will have an effect on one or more of the colour channels.

John
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[Mike Buckley]

Completely agreed, John.

[ajohnw]

It's interesting actually. This is an instantaneous B&W of something I have been practising one or two new PP steps on. I suspect that the improvement is part down to retaining the original images gamma. It now looks a bit over the top to me.



Not tinted so as far as I know all channels are equal.

John
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[Saorsa]

The colors or lack of them will be evident when you display the histogram. If there is no "color," the entire histogram data will be white. Otherwise, the pertinent color channel(s) will be displayed. That's true whether you use the "Black and White Conversion" edit step to convert or the "Saturation/Warmth" edit step to desaturate.

Hopefully you use the conversion process rather than the desaturation process in all but very few circumstances. The desaturation process results in a file that has one-third the data.

I use the NX2 BW conversion since it offers me the old school option of selecting a filter color. I do sometimes play with saturation before applying the conversion filters. I play with contrast afterwards.

[Mike Buckley]

That workflow is ideal, Brian. You might be interested in Jason Odell's ebook, Black & White with Capture NX2. I highly recommend it. He occasionally runs sales at a 20% discount.

[Brev00]

Well, I really like the straight black and white conversion. Excellent gradation of tones. So easy to view. The shadows give a nice depth to the image. The sepia version lacks contrast and the contrast in the color version, the gradation of red from dark to light, is not as pleasant as in the black and white. To me, the black and white is a winner.

[Saorsa]

I agree, the sepia was an experiment. I think it worked on the sunset and failed on the driftwood. I've entered both in a couple of salons, I'll see how it goes.