Processing MM files

Thank you, Michael

I have been struggling to find a process I was happy with for my Monochrom images. Trying yours has helped immensely.
 
Thank you, Michael. I have enjoyed seeing your wonderful images, both , here, and on your website. Having just acquired a Monocrom, I am slowly learning to use it to achieve the look I like. Whereas it is easy to adjust exposure and contrast to make it "pop", getting the luminance right- as one might see in real life- is far more complicated.You seem to have figured out how to do that !
I use LR5, and SEP2, and do not own a "layers" program, and so cannot work like you. I wonder if anyone else has a consistent workflow that they use, without PS. I'd love to hear about it and see their work.
 
srtiwari said:
Thank you, Michael. I have enjoyed seeing your wonderful images, both , here, and on your website. Having just acquired a Monocrom, I am slowly learning to use it to achieve the look I like. Whereas it is easy to adjust exposure and contrast to make it "pop", getting the luminance right- as one might see in real life- is far more complicated.You seem to have figured out how to do that !
I use LR5, and SEP2, and do not own a "layers" program, and so cannot work like you. I wonder if anyone else has a consistent workflow that they use, without PS. I'd love to hear about it and see their work.
Click to expand...

I don't have a Monochrom and also use what srtiwari uses, mostly just LR. I read both your blogs on this though and have also learnt something. Love your shots. Keep up the tutorials for us.
 
Thank you Michael. I just acquired the MM this past week-end, and certainly appreciate all the tips/tricks from others.

Jean-Marc
 
Micheal,

Thanks for this post. I have gone back over my favorite MM files and tired your technique with great success. The overall result reminds me of George DeWolfe's Percept tool in that the "presence" is greatly enhanced.

I am not sure yet why this process works as it does, but it has opened a whole new adventure. Thanks again for sharing.
 
MichaelToye said:
I think we all have slightly different methods for editing our work. Here's a post on how I process my Monochrom files.

http://blog.michaeltoye.com/2013/09/03/how-to-process-leica-m-monochrom-files-follow-up/
Click to expand...

The way I see it is you tonally equalized everything pretty much…seems a bit harsh. I would approach it a bit differently and goes differently image to image. For this image on your blog I would have made the background a bit darker and the people in the foreground lighter and add some contrast..To me B&W processing whether its in Lightroom or in the Darkroom its about pushing and pulling tones..
 
Might be just me but that final J-Peg has overly strong contrast. You have lost detail in the highlights and dark clothes the people are wearing.

I have been noticing this with many of the images that are produced with this camera.
 
Jaans said:
Might be just me but that final J-Peg has overly strong contrast. You have lost detail in the highlights and dark clothes the people are wearing.

I have been noticing this with many of the images that are produced with this camera.
Click to expand...

How a B&W image appears can be influenced by the monitor. When the MM first came out I would view the images users posted using my wife's Samsung 245 monitor and wonder what all the excitement was about. Crushed blacks and blown highlights. Then I downloaded a couple of MM files and opened then on my system which has an NEC 2090UXi monitor. A world of difference. I could see the details in the shadows and highlights that were not visible when viewing on the Samsung. Both monitors are calibrated and are fairly close when viewing color images, but not B&W. In fact they looked so good on my NEC that I had to get an MM of my own. :)
 
Processing MM files

For me, photography is about the print. I agree that the contrast appears high on the screen, but when you print an image processed in similar fashion to Micheal's technique, the effect is really nice.

I prefer the matt papers (Epson Hot Press Bright, and similar). These images on such paper are very nice.
 
MichaelToye said:
I think we all have slightly different methods for editing our work. Here's a post on how I process my Monochrom files.

http://blog.michaeltoye.com/2013/09/03/how-to-process-leica-m-monochrom-files-follow-up/
Click to expand...

Hi Michael

I end up on your blog every now and then and I like it. However there is one thing I've been wanting to tell you for a while but wasn't sure if it was my place. :)

Anyway, I am saying this with the best of intentions, but will get straight to the point; The the light overlay effect on your photos when you hover them with your mouse is extremely annoying and distracting. Especially as your content revolves a lot around photos it is almost like a backwards behavior there where the user have to actively avoid hovering the images to be able to see them properly.

This becomes a problem when you hover one image, then start scrolling the page without moving the cursor - as soon as you scroll another photo below the cursor it fades out.

Perhaps it is just me that is the problem, or that I am damaged by my line of work, but I really don't think the hover effect is worth the drawbacks in this case. The cursor changing from an arrow to a pointing finger is enough I think in this case.

Like I said, a purely technical/presentation issue, and I don't mean to step on your toes, but I'd like to believe that I am giving you constructive feedback here - let me know otherwise. :)

Kenny
 
SteveHicks said:
For me, photography is about the print. I agree that the contrast appears high on the screen, but when you print an image processed in similar fashion to Micheal's technique, the effect is really nice.

I prefer the matt papers (Epson Hot Press Bright, and similar). These images on such paper are very nice.
Click to expand...

Try Canson Baryta and be blown away.:angel:
 
Interesting. I shoot with an M8/9 but I think I may try the sharpening technique. I'm usually very light-handed with sharpening, often not doing any at all.
 
Thanks for the post Michael. I have been evolving my own workflow, but find I'm leaning more toward DxO Film pack as a PS plugin.

I agree with those who look to the print, not just the monitor. For papers, I've been using Canson Baryta, but recently got a supply of Ilford Gold Fibre Mono Silk. No bronzing! No gloss differential to speak of! Well worth trying.
 
Michael, do you use any physical B+W filters e.g. yellow, orange or red on your MM or do you apply filtering via PP exclusively?

I have been reacquainting myself with my old filters and buying some new ones to use on my MM without really having considered using the presets in LR 4.

Are the two methods the same in your experience?

Hardy
 
I did buy a Monochrom in the end. I am managing with Lightroom 4 or 5 depending on the computer, and I currently don't have Photoshop at all. I never learnt much of it. I have used Silver Efex Pro 2 on odd occasions but I generally find I don't really want it.

At first, with many subjects, I found the MM files very even grey and flat as has been widely observed. I was very surprised then to read a comment by CR, whose landscapes in the MM Landscape thread are stunning, and discover that he finds the MM files needing less PP than any other digital camera he has used. But of course, often this is the case. A sunlit building often needs nothing, no increase in contrast, no lifting of highlights, no deepening of shadows, no raising of shadows. And certainly no sharpening. I keep the raw import sharpening of 25, but I have read that others reduce even that.

For many pictures I might already have underexposed to avoid blowing the highlights and I will work down the right menu pane in Lightroom, increasing exposure, increasing contrast a little, maybe raising the shadow slider, and increasing the highlights. I often take the blacks down deeper, to the clip point sometimes with the option button pressed. I am very careful with the Clarity slider and seldom go beyond 10 if I use it as it muddies the lovely midtones of the MM files. I will make a curves adjustment of the sky or some other unsatisfactory patch. I do no noise reduction under 1250 ISO.

I am still learning, but the simple methodical working through the menu options down the right side gets me away from the flat grey malleable image to something more familiar. I have tried some of the presets, but it seems to me a real yellow filter does more than the yellow filter preset. Unofortunately I only have a 43mm which fits only the C Biogon 35. A start.

I am not claiming I have reached Michael's level or that Lightroom is enough, but it is what I have done confining myself to one program. And I am only about to start with the journey of printing these images, and that will be another learning curve.
 
VORTEX9 said:
Michael, do you use any physical B+W filters e.g. yellow, orange or red on your MM or do you apply filtering via PP exclusively?

I have been reacquainting myself with my old filters and buying some new ones to use on my MM without really having considered using the presets in LR 4.

Are the two methods the same in your experience?

Hardy
Click to expand...

I do have filters - orange and yellow/green - and don't use them. I do think that if I took more landscape images I definitely would but, for street, no.

Michael
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom