Our Picture This! assignment this month was High Contrast, in camera or in the
darkroom (including digital). We received an overwhelming response from readers
who used special effects on a wide range of subject matter. We were excited
to see that this venerable form of expression has gotten new life thanks to
digital techniques, and while quite a few of the images were first photographed
on film, the digital darkroom created access to creating classics in the high-contrast
genre.
At The Zoo |
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Curt A. Christianssen sent us a series of images made at the Los
Angeles Zoo. He worked with a Nikon D2X with a Nikkor 70-200mm
lens attached to a TC-20E II tele-converter. He worked with the
Threshold adjustment in Photoshop CS2 to get the desired contrast,
then added "acid" frames with onOne's PhotoFrame
Pro 3 software, and printed using black only with a Canon S9000.
© 2007, Curt A. Christianssen, All Rights Reserved
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Classic Bridge |
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The Brooklyn Bridge got the treatment from Joe Constantino by
first being photographed on Tri-X Pan with a Nikon FE and a Nikkor
50mm f/1.4 lens. He scanned the negative using a Nikon Coolscan
V and then solarized the image in Photoshop CS, where he gave
it a further high-contrast touch.
© 2007, Joe Constantino, All Rights Reserved
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The Nonconformist |
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Edmond L. Bridant made this photo with a Honeywell Pentax 35mm
camera and a Vivitar 135mm f/2.8 lens on Ilford's HP5 film.
The negative was scanned on an Epson 2450 and manipulated in Photoshop
CS2 with Levels and the Brightness/Contrast control. The result
was printed using an Epson 2400.
© 2007, Edmond L. Bridant, All Rights Reserved
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Cemetery In Winter |
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Among the color entrants was this graphic image from Lester O.
Prince. He photographed the scene with a Canon PowerShot G2 and
then used Photoshop's Emboss and Glowing Edge filters to
create this stark effect.
© 2007, Lester O. Prince, All Rights Reserved
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Mission |
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Color and high contrast work well, too, as evidenced by this stark
image from Jim Mitchell. Made in San Antonio, New Mexico, Mitchell
photographed with a Nikon D2X and a Nikkor 28-70mm zoom lens.
In Photoshop CS2 he adjusted Curves and the Brightness/Contrast
layers.
© 2007, Jim Mitchell, All Rights Reserved
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Peace & Quiet |
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This image by Stanley A. Singer combines a high-contrast rendition
and subtler tones. Singer worked with a Nikon D200 and an 18-200mm
Nikkor lens; exposure at ISO 160 was f/14 at 1/45 sec.
© 2007, Stanley A. Singer, All Rights Reserved
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Chicago Public Library |
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This ethereal image was made by JG Boyer with a Yashica Mat 120
camera on Ilford's Delta 100 film. Boyer then scanned the
image and inverted it, then printed it out on an Epson Stylus
Photo RX500.
© 2007, JG Boyer, All Rights Reserved
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The Storm |
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This pen and ink rendition was created by Alan Scharf using a
Pentax 35mm camera and a 55mm lens on Tri-X. The negative was
then copied to litho film and "sandpapered" prior
to printing.
© 2007, Alan Scharf, All Rights Reserved
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Bas Relief |
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Using a classic darkroom technique, Raymond L. Emery made the
original negative on Kodak's Plus-X with a Praktisix camera
and a Jena Biometar 120mm f/2.8 lens. He then created a
high-contrast film negative and positive, which he sandwiched
slightly off register and enlarged. He also added a grainy, high-contrast
negative of clouds. He scanned the result on an Epson 4990 and
made an 8x10 on a Canon S9000 printer.
© 2007, Raymond L. Emery, All Rights Reserved
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Fireworks |
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Proving that amazing potential rests within each image, Mike Casso
created this image from a long-time exposure of fireworks made
with a Nikon D2X camera. He then desaturated the image for this
abstract effect.
© 2007, Mike Casso, All Rights Reserved
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Cable Car |
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While no technical information was supplied, we were very taken
by this etch-like image sent to us by Harry O'Connor.
© 2007, Harry O'Connor, All Rights Reserved
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