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A DIY Tri-X conversion
#1

This character is seemingly one of Bath's city treasures.
Method, I guess, is as follows:
1. I used a close(as opposed to a telephoto) lens; I can't abide "candids" and the like purporting to be character studies that merely hide behind a long lens then snipe without sacrifice or intimacy. Here's the 50mm f1.4 at f2, focusing on the eyes; choosing a strong subject too I guess is good.
2. A conversion from raw to tiff at standard contrast, into colour; I went for a "daylight" white balance on exposure and just retained the settings.
3. However, knowing I was going to be looking for a Tri-X type of feel, I then boosted the contrast locally by in effect using the dodge tool set to highlights at 3%, intending to work on the lighter areas of the subject to the point of the whites just blowing out...I had in mind that slightly overdone darkroom look almost as if the silver were degrading. Not quite bleach-bypass, but getting towards it.
4. My next job was to increase contrast with the burn tool(soft brush) set to shadows, again at 3%...but trying not to block out as much as slightly soften the edges.
5. I added the grain in a nice little freeb called Bleach Bypass, knocking off all other effects apart from the grain itself.
6. Finally, I smart-sharpened just a hint,enough to actually get the grain to be angular and visible at this web-size of a few hundred pixels...I'd be stuffed of course if I got a request for a 24-inch one, as I'd have to start all over again.
It sounds involved but honestly doesn't take a lot of faffing.

[Image: 2790playerTriX_web.jpg]

All my stuff is here: www.doverow.com
(Just click on the TOP RIGHT buttons to take you to my Image Galleries or Music Rooms!)
My band TRASHVILLE, in which I'm lead guitarist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6mU6qaNx08
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#2

I don't do much B&W anymore - but I recognize how much this looks like Tri-X. Well done!
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