MONTHLY CHALLENGES
All our Challenge images can be seen at Amersham Beyond Group on Flickr.
For APS Members only, this month's images are also available for viewing and commenting on Facebook here.
It was a pleasure to meet again, in person, in the new Chiltern Lifestyle Centre this month.
The current Challenges are;
#27 BOKEH
#28 DECAY
and the latest;
#29 BOOK COVER
With out-of-focus Christmas lights a distant memory there were no Bokeh images this month and only a handful of Decay images. However, the Book Cover Challenge was popular and revealed some hidden interests and passions! Creative use of fonts, especially for the book title were in evidence together with excellent layout and imaginative subjects. Several members were looking forward to making more in the coming weeks.
The next Challenge is;
#30 TONING
The Challenge is to make effective use of a toned monochrome or a duotone. This can be achieved by post-processing or an in-camera style setting as detailed below.
Toning involves some combination of one colour with black and/or white. A second colour may also be utilised with duotoning. Each is allocated to shadows, midtones or highlights.
There are many methods available and numerous tutorial videos online However these usually over-complicate what is essentially a simple process. Here are a few post processing methods;
1. Photoshop CS>Image>Mode>Grayscale and then Image>Mode>Duotone. Choose the desired ink colours (darkest at the top) and tweak the curves alongside them if required.
or
2. Starting with a normal colour image, add a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer. In the properties palette for the Gradient Map click on the gradient to show the Gradient Editor. Immediately below the gradient click on the two small square colour stops to choose your colours in the box just below – left for the dark colour and right for the light colour. There are lots of presets in the Gradient Editor palette if required.
or
3. For a more dramatic result, starting with a normal colour image, add a Threshold Adjustment Layer and use the slider to find a good black and white balance. Above the Threshold layer add a Solid Colour Adjustment Layer and pick a colour. Try various Blending Modes of this colour layer to get an effect that you like.
or
4. Starting with a normal colour image in Photoshop CS, add a Black and White Adjustment Layer and click on Tint. The colour picker alongside allows you to pick your tint colour.
or
5. Starting with a normal colour image, add a Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer. Click on Colourize and use the sliders to choose a suitable colour and saturation.
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6. Photoshop Elements>Guided Edits>Fun Edits>Duotone Effect.
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7. If you have the Topaz Black and White Effects filter, use the Toned Collection and pick a suitable preset. Finishing Touches>Quadtone adjusts the colour.
Most digital cameras have style settings which may include monochrome and toning options. With the camera set to output RAW and JPG you will have the benefit of seeing a toned result immediately in the camera but also save a full-colour version Raw for later post-processing flexibility.
When creating duotones, think about the colour harmony of the two colours. The option to include black and/or white will give greater impact or subtlety to the finished image.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held on Thursday 7th April 2022 in the New Drake Hall.
BACK OF BEYOND – DIARIES
Colour Management. There are three aspects to taking control of the colour balance of your images; screen, printer and projector. When people say ‘my colours match most of the time’ I hear ‘my colours do not match’. They need to match all of the time to save time and money.
Everyone who cares about their colours needs to create a colour profile for their monitor. By default monitors are always too bright and too saturated and sometimes set to a colour space that does not match the printer or projector eg Adobe RGB whereas sRGB is the most universally recognised. APS has a ColorMunki colorimeter that can be borrowed free of charge and is not difficult to use. Modern screens do not drift much and do not need to be re-profiled more than every 6 to 12 months (despite what you are told). Printers are often acceptable out of the box but if using third party paper (recommended) or ink (not recommended) you will need a specific colour profile for the printer/ink/paper combination. The generic profiles from the paper manufacturers can be quite good but if not, they will usually provide a custom profile free of charge. This simply involves sending them test print(s) in the post and receiving a profile by email. The trick is setting up your photo editor to use the profile correctly. They will provide advice to do this, or ask an experienced colour printer in the club.
It's also important to have control over the viewing conditions for your prints. Viewing them under a tungsten lamp will never do. Cloudy white daylight or colour-balanced viewing lamps are best.
We look after the projector profile using the same Colormunki device and the new projector in the Chiltern Lifestyle Centre has been the subject of much work to do this recently.
Cheers, Steve