The importance of blacks and whites.

[anvancy-(macro analyst)]

you guys remember the famous samsung ad where the lady enters a big house and the man is painting a big picture..the ad says that our technology is great that you see more blacks and bla bla..

i thought of starting this thread to tell importance of blacks.having a black background with colors on it makes an immediate effect and adds more depth to it.your mind interpretation changes with the addition of blacks or the adjustment of blacks.

but do not overdo blacks or it will just unnecessary boost your shadows making the pic dark.this is where you have to judge how much black will be ok or perfect and how much just too much??

there are ways to put blacks..simplest is contrast function.when you use contrast function you start to see your photo more pungent and striking rather than that bland look.another simple way to add is through LR and the blacks function.this slider doesnt kill the photo..(it does when used at extremes).

same goes with whites.balancing these two extremes makes your photos bounce up even more.you can post the photos before blacks and after adding blacks..that way one will understand that by simply adding blacks to a certain extent their photos can also pop up.

what do you guys think??

anvancy

[KrishnenduKes]

Interesting Topic Approved

Could we have some illustrations please Anvancy. That way we might see the point of the discussion better. Thanks.

[hitanshu]

+1

am understanding but demonstration would be really nice!

[rio008]

i think this work great if you are editing portraits

[anvancy-(macro analyst)]

ill run through my database to check some essential ones..

or for better understanding you people can put small photos..like 640 max..it will be easier to understand.

ill post the comparison as soon as i check them.

anvancy

[anvancy-(macro analyst)]

recently my friend gave me some of his shots for editing.so first of all these are not clicked by me.second he has given me permission to do stuff.third,many of us find in such a situation where you go to lovely places you shoot with your nice dicey gear come home and then find that well what i saw there is not in photo..ofcourse our dynamic range is far far better and powerful than a camera's..but putting some time into editing photos makes them more pleasing..

my friend is learning photography..so excuse the mistakes if any..we are not criticising but checking out how blacks and whites can help improve a shot..hence for blacks,ill use the combo terms of blacks,contrast and exposure while for whites ill use exposure,fill light and brightness.

so lets have a look shall we?

now look at the following 4 photos.

http://i34.tinypic.com/17sl93.jpg


http://i35.tinypic.com/16c8bk7.jpg

http://i37.tinypic.com/zxphfm.jpg

http://i35.tinypic.com/29vm2k5.jpg

typical click and show shots.now if you will observe the shots carry some haze.to me they all look well...flat.when you start adding blacks and whites and control or synchro them together you can increase the visual appearance of your photos.i generally work in LR for this as its very easy to work upon.the functions of LR are also shared by camera RAW.so when you start adding blacks,you are not boosting colors but giving those colors some depth.go too black and u lose the shot.go too white and u overexpose.so per shot the level differentiates..

so for example 1(pardon me if my editing has gone bonkers..always experimenting with my workflow.)

http://i35.tinypic.com/2yyurtw.jpg

so now you can see setting up blacks at 30,the greens start to pop out,the mountains get some depth..they get depth due to the fact that you are adding blacks to the mountain shadows.as light plays so do depth.by depth i do not mean foreground background but depth as general.

for example 2.

http://i36.tinypic.com/16kurgh.jpg

again you are giving the color palette a nice flex..again greens get better,clouds also get some additional beauty.

for example 3

http://i33.tinypic.com/rjmqt0.jpg

we feel that some shots will look best silhouette.so here also blacks help you achieve this.and then you can balance out whites to show some details that need light..in this case the far snow clad peaks.

for example 4

http://i33.tinypic.com/n6ry39.jpg

again you are adding blacks to the shadows but not reducing the shadow slider.that is again giving you a different depth to the shot.

so you can see now that a simple addition of one color gives a nice look to your overall shot.give your those flat looking shots some dose of black..and see how your shot has got more juice than you ever thought of.:)

if you want to strike from different angle..do post yours to see the differences for yourself.many tutorials carry this specific tool..many say that by adding blacks you bring photos back to life.now some like zero processing and stuff.but for those who do sit and edit..try it.

and if my edited photos are looking like zoikes...well blame my experimentation.

will like to hear ur views.

anvancy

[KrishnenduKes]

if you want to strike from different angle..do post yours to see the differences for yourself.many tutorials carry this specific tool..many say that by adding blacks you bring photos back to life.now some like zero processing and stuff.but for those who do sit and edit..try it.

and if my edited photos are looking like zoikes...well blame my experimentation.

will like to hear ur views.

anvancy

Thanks Anvancy. Lovely illustration.

I however have a lot of problem working with LR. I know zilch about it. Will have to work more on it I guess!

[anvancy-(macro analyst)]

Thanks Anvancy. Lovely illustration.

I however have a lot of problem working with LR. I know zilch about it. Will have to work more on it I guess!

LR is actually simplified Adobe Bridge and more.as far as i can remember you can open thru bridge your RAW files in camera raw and you will have these very same settings.i saw one vid comparing the LR function with adobe raw.LR also has camera raw.the main advantage is that you can see like 300 shots in a jippy and throw out those which you dont like..copy paste settings very fast,crop fast..and export more fast..etc etc..its really simple ken.have a look at it.youll have fun.

anvancy

[niks_devil666]

somehow I can't see the pics you posted. My browser shows only top half :(

[KrishnenduKes]

somehow I can't see the pics you posted. My browser shows only top half :(

You refreshed?

[hitanshu]

Simply amazing. Now I know why I came up with useless photographs and junta came back with kickass ones!

[niks_devil666]

You refreshed?
refreshed and tried on ie/firefox and chrome :(

[anvancy-(macro analyst)]

refreshed and tried on ie/firefox and chrome :(

is tinypic by any way blocked by either firewall or something??try that..sometimes firewalls dont allow pics to load since they have some sites registered as non trust worthy.

@hitanshu: you can also try for yourself.just download lightroom beta 3 from adobe.com and check it out.

anvancy