Dennis Rainville gave a great presentation (as usual) to a packed house at the November 28 Technical Series meeting. His subject was 'The Art of Black & White Photography'. He opened with some general comments about B&W work and why one might choose that vs. color. Dennis then showed three images that he had been close to discarding (they just didn't work in color) but then turned into very successful B&W shots. He talked about some of the processing techniques he uses and then opened Lightroom and Photoshop and went through his workflow on several of his shots. This involved extensive use of adjustment layers and layer masks. It was a powerful demonstration of processing techniques that showed why Dennis stands by Ansel Adams' statement - 'I don't take a photograph, I make it.' Even if you don't plan to use these kinds of techniques yourself, there was a lot to learn about what makes an image come together. Dennis also also talked about some of the people whose B&W processing work has influenced him - links below.
Useful links:
- Dennis' Powerpoint (in pdf format)
- Dennis' personal web site
- Black & White Processing
- Long Exposure Black & White Fine Art Architectural Photography