Color Conversion Lens

Color Conversion Lens

Black and White Image Help?

No, this is not the ever-present "I need to add color" question.

When converting a color image to B&W, my images, even if they have great contrast, lack it in the conversion. What's wrong? An example is portraits. I take a great contrast portrait, then convert it to B&W. The subject looks "muddy."

If at all possible, please tell me what I'm doing wrong. And, if you could suggest a way without using Photoshop CS3/CS2. All I have to work with is PictureProject Software. I know this is not much, but if I had $600 to spend on photography, I would go for a nice lens, not a program.

Thanks in advance.

You're not doing anything wrong. But, for better or worse, you will have to depend on either your camera or software to get a good print.

I have a slightly different take on the B&W conversion problem. Similar to the other answerers, but not the same.

I don't know your software, so I don't know how it enables you to do B&W conversion. In the worst case, all you can do is desaturate the color and then play with the contrast. This will get you absolutely nowhere toward a quality B&W print. Here is the visible spectrum in color and the gray scale after desaturation. The same conversion is after increasing saturation and contrast, which has been suggested.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Vance.Lear/BWConversion/photo?authkey=8TfUqoFNSic#5137017600496705442

You can see the problem. The brain provides the perceptual brightness of the colors. You can check this with a light meter. This causes a lot of dissatisfaction with B&W digital and is the reason that you hear that digital can't do good B&W. That is, of course, not true.

If your camera, like mine, produces B&W conversions that simulate how the brain interprets colors and brightness you're in luck. If not, you will have to do it in post processing.

There are several types of conversions you and they all require access to color channels. The one I think you would be looking for is called 'Perceptual Luminance Conversion'. This is an image of how the various B&W conversions, which act like film does, render the spectrum.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Vance.Lear/BWConversion/photo?authkey=8TfUqoFNSic#5137017634856443826

Not knowing your software and what it's capabilities are, I can't offer you any advice, but these are the settings you would use in CS3 to get something very close to a perceptual conversion.

Reds - 23%
Yellows -84%
Greens - 60%
Cyans - 50%
Blues - 10%
Magentas - 51%

http://picasaweb.google.com/Vance.Lear/BWConversion/photo?authkey=8TfUqoFNSic#5137017673511149506

I'm not sure where you will find them, but there are free utilities out there that will take a JPEG and do these types of B&W conversion for you without PS and there are a whole slew actions for photoshop that will do the same. Other alteratives may be Picassa, which does an alright job, or similar programs that you can push a button and get perceptual conversion. I don't know about that.

Vance