My next Black and White Processing class will be hosted by the fine folks at Looking Glass Photo starting March 21. The owners, Jon and Jen, have built an incredible photo community in Berkeley, and are one of the great local camera stores that we need to keep supporting for the value they bring us. Really looking forward to working with them and their customers again. Sign up today if you want to join us! This will be my last B&W workshop for several months as I have a few other classes in the works to announce soon. https://www.lookingglassphoto.com/intro-to-classic-black-white-photographs-complete.html
Are you ready to start processing your black and white photographs like a master?
In the last year, I’ve helped hundreds of photographers improve their B&W processing through my talks and workshops, and I’d like to help you, too. Wednesday, January 12, I’ll be starting another round of my popular four-session Zoom class, Classic Black and White Digital Processing.
My talk at the B&H Photo Event Space provides a great (and free!) introduction to the workshop. It touches on many of the subjects this class will explore in greater depth.
Every time I teach this class, it’s rewarding to see how the participants improve their photography and processing skills each week. Here’s what my students have to say about the class:
I have found the class to be outstanding, not only for learning techniques that are new to me in creating a B&W image, but also the creative ideas to draw the viewer into the scene. – Brad K.
I want to thank you for your classes and all the extra effort you’re devoting to your students. The information is worth far more than than the price of admission. – Al H.
This class has introduced me to new tools for vastly improving my images. – Dennis W.
We’ll meet for four online sessions, each Tuesday through February 2. Each session lasts two hours. The first hour is live instruction, where I teach the techniques I use. During the second hour, I show how I apply those techniques to YOUR photographs, providing insight and critique that will help you learn and grow.
Each session will be available to re-watch online for two weeks after the class, allowing you to go over the content again, or watch at a different time if you have a schedule conflict.
The beauty and elegance of classic black and white photography has captivated viewers for over a century. This series of workshops teaches the tools and techniques used to create this beauty using digital tools.
In Part 1, we’ll introduce the “look” we are going for by looking at prints and discussing the characteristics and intent that create the classic look.
We’ll then cover the three primary elements in creating this look. First, We’ll learn to apply the “classic” intent to RAW files to create a base for further processing. Second, converting our color digital files to B&W with a creative vision will be explored through various tools and techniques. Third, we’ll learn the foundational approaches to creating contrast in our photographs that creates form, volume, beauty, and visual tension. These three pieces are inextricably linked. How you use any one of them directly affects your ability to use the others to achieve your desired result.
Throughout the workshop, we’ll be making small 8×10 proof prints to test our work and get around the limitations for monitors to display the full beauty of the B&W image.
This workshop is limited to four students to maximize learning potential of the one day format. We’ll be working in Photoshop, taking advantage of some of its unique properties that are difficult to replicate in other software. You do not need to be a fluent Photoshop user, but you should be comfortable using editing software with intermediate experience in file processing.
Saturday January 25, 10am—4pm Technology Engagement Center 306 Minerva DriveMurfreesboro, TN
That’s the problem one of my workshop participants was having and asked what could be causing it. This is actually a pretty common problem, but it can be easy to miss until you’ve trained your eyes to see it.
The prints in question were made with the Epson Stylus Photo R1900, which lacks the Light Gray and Light Light Gray found in some other Epson models. That means when it prints a B&W photo, most shades of gray are being made up from the color inks.
It’s very difficult to make a neutral gray from color inks, hence the color cast. The 24 and 44 inch epson and Canon printers, as well as some smaller printers, use two shades of light gray in addition to black to solve this.
Yet even with those extra shades of gray, profiles can be to blame. You need an accurate profile to get neutral color, and canned profiles (the ones that came with your printer or you downloaded from the paper manufacturer) rarely achieve perfect neutrality.
In the case of the Epson R1900, if the photographer wants a better result, they will have to print on a printer that has gray inks and a decent profile.
