On March 05, Joe was at it once again with an outstanding presentation of the Black and White processes that he uses to produce some of his awesome black and white photos. Joe demonstrated with dozens of photos the differences and strengths of Black and White, Infrared photos as well as the effects of editing a photo using solarization on a photo.
Note: The following steps are using Photoshop as an editor.
Black and White Process
1 After making a duplicate copy I go to ENHANCE and then click on Auto Levels. That usually brings in the picture just the way I would like to see it. If I feel the picture could be improved from there I will go to Brightness and Contrast and play with that for a while until I get the exposure just right or what I think is just right.
2 To sharpen an image I go to FILTER - UNSHARP MASK and use these numbers: Amount 20. Radius 40 and Threshold 2. That usually works just right for me and I've been using it for about fifteen years now.
I have two cameras that now shoot infrared exclusively. A number of years ago I had my Nikon SLR D70 converted. I sent it to Light Impressions on the West Coast and I think it was in the state of Washington. Just a couple of years ago I purchased a point and shoot Canon 50 from Kolaris, they are in New Jersey. The conversion was about $250.00 and the purchase was $350.00. In my opinion it was well worth it because I still like to shoot infrared. I do get better results with the Nikon.
Solarization Process
1 Make a duplicate copy of the image you want to solarize, black and white or color.
2 Under Filter click on Stylize and then click on solarize. The image is then solarized. However, it is quite dark.
3 Under Enhance click on Auto Levels. Your picture is now the way it should appear to be exhibited.
It's a very simple process and very easy to do.