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The Barber

Robert Watcher

Robert Watcher

Well-known member
Peeking in doors as I walked streets in La Paz Centro - I came across this barber working away on his young client. I asked if I could take a couple of photographs of him working and after agreeing, he carried on as if I weren't in the room.

I am not able to decide which version I like best - my Nica Color - of my Nica B&W. Each has a character all its own I feel. Image taken with Olympus E-PL3 w/12-42 (first generation) @14mm | f3.5 @ 1/60'th | 640 ISO



20140121-P1212317.jpg





20140121-P1212317-2.jpg


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Robert Watcher

Robert Watcher

Well-known member
Asher Kelman said:
Robert,

What is Nica color??

Asher
Click to expand...

HE-HE. Wondered if I'd get a bite on that one. Just a grunge and tonality look that I have been applying to my travel images this year. I saved the settings as a Lightroom Preset as a starting point - - - so I just called it Nica (Nicaragua) Color.

You can see the look I am going for when comparing to the original color and tonality that came from the camera here (mind you there is a lot more than just the Nica tonality in the finished image - - - there is also a ton of selective burning and dodging and contrast and density manipulation as well):



20140121-P1212317-3.jpg


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Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Robert Watcher said:
HE-HE. Wondered if I'd get a bite on that one. Just a grunge and tonality look that I have been applying to my travel images this year. I saved the settings as a Lightroom Preset as a starting point - - - so I just called it Nica (Nicaragua) Color.

You can see the look I am going for when comparing to the original color and tonality that came from the camera here (mind you there is a lot more than just the Nica tonality in the finished image - - - there is also a ton of selective burning and dodging and contrast and density manipulation as well):
Click to expand...



20140121-P1212317-3.jpg


​


Bob,

I appreciated the grunge, of course. But also, something else is apparent and that's one of those "HDR" effects where each object, (that would have been subsumed in the general arrangement of elements around the room), have their own distinct identities that call out their own presence, each separately.




20140121-P1212317.jpg





20140121-P1212317-2.jpg



So there's a lot more demand for our attention. Just look at the chair in the center, or the white towel on the left for example. They are so important now! It's as if you've enfranchised every object in the space.

I like the overall increased presence as it builds character. However, is that character consistent with what you feel in the place or just a romantic diversion for yourself now?

Asher
 
Robert Watcher

Robert Watcher

Well-known member
But also, something else is apparent and that's one of those "HDR" effects where each object, (that would have been subsumed in the general arrangement of elements around the room), have their own distinct identities that call out their own presence, each separately.
Click to expand...

I would never consider that an HDR effect - that is a totally different technique used from extending exposure dynamic range. Every photograph that I have ever processed in my life, I have used dodging and burning to highlight specific areas of a frame and take attention away from specific areas of the frame - and when I could, selective contrast and saturation manipulation as well.

The final result is how I wish to present the image on the day that I process it. AS is the case with these 2 versions, I always would process the image quite differently based on colour or black and white - - - just as would be the case when I created prints in my traditional darkroom.
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Of course, it's not an HDR effect, but making everything have individual importance, as here is a result shared in the viewer's experience. Nothing 'blends in'!

Not a bad thing, but distinctive and effective.

Asher
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Robert Watcher said:
Thank you Asher.
Click to expand...

Well, Bob, editing is about adjusting the 2D representation of a 4 dimensional scene, (ie 3D and the 4th dimension of "time"), to provide a fuller experience than the out of the camera view.

Your editing makes us acutely aware of so much more. We all try to do that but whereas others might have enhanced just the two men and the chair and then suppressed everything else, (by DOF, blurring or lighting), you make sure we notice everything else too!

Asher
 
J

Jesse Brown

New member
Color! This is an amazing shot! The reflections in the mirrors are ..wow!
I mean the Nica Color as you call it. Compare the sides of the photo in the original color and the Nica Color. In the original color, I believe the door frame takes away from the shot, but in the Nica color it adds to the shot.
 
Robert Watcher

Robert Watcher

Well-known member
Jesse Brown said:
Color! This is an amazing shot! The reflections in the mirrors are ..wow!
I mean the Nica Color as you call it. Compare the sides of the photo in the original color and the Nica Color. In the original color, I believe the door frame takes away from the shot, but in the Nica color it adds to the shot.
Click to expand...

Thank you for expressing your thoughts Jesse.

As for the door frame - - - you are exactly right. It does draw away from the image when viewed without any manipulations. It needed to be burned-in otherwise eliminated by cropping.

The situation is that I was standing outside on the street at midday and shooting through the front door, into a very dark and dull room. There is no way to get an exposure that would be anything other than blown out in some areas and underexposed in others.

I took a half a dozen shots from inside the room as well, that don't suffer in the same way (although they are taken at a very high ISO). I like those images too - but they are more detail shots taken in the cramped space. This overview image that included the outside doors, had so much more impact to me and I'm glad that I shot it as well.

I do love the colour image as seems to be the most popular with different people who have view the shot - - - but there is something about the black and white that affects me in a different way. If I had presented it on it's own without comparison (as will be the case if I print and frame and display it), then I believe that it would hold it's own as far as viewer attention.
 
Robert Watcher

Robert Watcher

Well-known member
NICA COLOR PRESET

Just in case you want to play with the coloring and tonality that I use as a "starting point" for my photojournalistic images taken in Central America - - - here are my settings in Lightroom:


Basic > Presence > Clarity +48 , Vibrance -45 , Saturation +26

Split Toning > Highlights > Hue 52 , Saturation 64
Balance -31
Shadows > Hue 0 , Saturation 0

Effects > Post-Crop Vignetting > Amount -19 , Midpoint 35 , Roundness - 44 , Feather 50 , Highlights 0



BTW - all processing including selective dodging, burning, contrast and saturation adjustments - are accomplished in Lightroom only (no Photoshop)

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