Duotone and Neo-Noir

Anouilh

I assumed that Fajitas finds the thread boring and would love to have some suggestions on how to liven it up.

Beautiful work, BTW, Humberklog.

You might enjoy this

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow_of_the_Wind

Fajitas!

Valentia & 'Klogs posts are exactly what I wanted - If Danny ever posts, that is.

Other than that, the thread was getting stale.

Get some discussion going, not just random dropped in links!

Anouilh

Fajitas! wrote: »

...

Get some discussion going, not just random dropped in links!

I have to admit I have very little taste for discussion at the moment.

I shall continue to upload photos and links here, so if anybody has an interesting discussion topic please post.

Perhaps describing how you make your cross-processed duotones would be a good place to start.

Fajitas!

Anouilh wrote: »

I have to admit I have very little taste for discussion at the moment.

Aha... you know Boards.ie is a discussion forum? :pac:

My cross processed duotones? I'm not entirely sure which ones you're talking about, but my cross processed shots are generally E6 film in C41 chems. They can bit a bit awkward to get a decent scan off of, but that's all part of the risk.

Anouilh

Fajitas! wrote: »

Valentia & 'Klogs posts are exactly what I wanted - If Danny ever posts, that is.

Other than that, the thread was getting stale.

Get some discussion going, not just random dropped in links!

Everybody has favourite posters that they like to read.

There are many others on Boards who probably have interesting duotones but who just don't get to upload them.

The tips in this thread (on the subject of scanning negatives) might inspire some debate:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/crossprocessing/discuss/72157607197885912/

Also, designers who are not active member of the Photography Forum might be interested in getting involved?

I just like looking at the photos...

Anouilh

sineadw wrote: »

I'd disagree- I love the reversal of roles. Up till WW2 I think women were portrayed as weak and in need of male guidance. With men disappearing from the home front, I guess women started to realise their power again after Victorian restraints? Even if it was usually just realised in sexual power. I see the femme fatale as empowering rather than misogynistic.

I also see the seeming bias towards the male protagonist (and usually a father figure in the films) as very homosexual. Indeed, some of the key moments in Noir films are of love between male characters..

Or maybe that's just me

And yep - been a fan of Hirsch for a while now ... he makes for a good, uncomplicated read!

This has kept me thinking for some time.
I grew up in the society that produced Noir classics and think that the ambivalence surrounding the "Femme Fatale" was an expression of a view of women that was far from flattering. It is interesting to see that the literary fallacy that women were portrayed as weak before the middle of the 20th century is taken at face value now. In fact, the heroines of many 19th century novels do not portray such a view and George Eliot's heroines, in particular, are vibrant and very (often terrifyingly) strong.

I thought you might find this link useful:

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Film_noir#encyclopedia

I had not time to comment on your excellent Noir portraits in a thread that is now gone down the page, but if you had a moment to post links to them here, it would liven this thread up considerably and continue the discussion...

sineadw

Still not finished - haven't had time to do anything with it for a few weeks:


I have to fix the tones on the left. They're too monochrome. A few sensor spots, some more blur (I don't know how much is too much!) and I have to fix the hair on her arm. Although it's interesting you mention the female thing again - I just had that discussion a few days ago. Everyone has remarked how masculine she looks. The lighting is masculine on her - there are so many harsh angles. But that's what the noir woman was like, so I'm almost tempted to leave the hair in... play up on the emasculation of woman in the genre..

I could go on for pages here about the portrayal of women in these films. We cover Crime Fiction in my cultural studies class - a lot of themes of women in noir. This whole realm is something I study, so I do have at least some idea of what I'm talking about (I'm procrastinating spell-checking a sociology essay on masculine coding in digital games as I type - has to be in at 2 today - bugger) so it's not a face value opinion. Here's not the place for that discussion though

Anouilh

I didn't mean to say that your ideas are not well thought through or facile. In fact, I would be very interested if you could share links on texts that you have found useful in relation to Noir genre.

Basically, all art is debateable and that is why I have not joined in much discussion on Boards.ie as there is not a shared language in such a forum.
The number of discussions that tail off due to misunderstandings have become tiresome, I find,
so I stick to uploading factual sites and practical assessment of how photos are actually made.

Thank you for uploading this excellent image.
I think that enhancing the silver tones would be of value.

Anouilh

smelltheglove wrote: »

Anouilh wrote: »

No its actually a colour version, I am waiting still to see which shots will be used, there is an internationally acknowledged artist who has designed the cover so my shots will make up some of the detail within the sleeve and also in promotional press release and such.

It would be great if you kept up to date with this here. I cherish my record collection because of the large format cover designs. Somehow CDs have changed the music industry by making visual material on the sales racks so small.
(There could be a thesis in this...)

I don't know if you will find this tutorial useful:

http://www.ohblitz.com/2009/04/how-to-create-sepia-image-in-photoshop.html#links

While it refers mostly to sepia, the whole question of silver toning has attracted my attention.
Also, the documentary on Irish photographers during the Summer TV schedule included a lesson on preparing paper for toning.

http://photo.net/black-and-white-photo-printing-finishing-forum/00DaPv

There is so much to learn...

sineadw

Anouilh wrote: »

I didn't mean to say that your ideas are not well thought through or facile. In fact, I would be very interested if you could share links on texts that you have found useful in relation to Noir genre.

Basically, all art is debateable and that is why I have not joined in much discussion on Boards.ie as there is not a shared language in such a forum.
The number of discussions that tail off due to misunderstandings have become tiresome, I find,
so I stick to uploading factual sites and practical assessment of how photos are actually made.

Thank you for uploading this excellent image.
I think that enhancing the silver tones would be of value.

NP I didn't mean it to sound like you meant that :pac:

Silver tones.. hmmm.. you mean around the dress and such? I'm still trying to decide where to go with it so any suggestions are greatly appreciated! How would you go about it in PP?

Anouilh

It's just a hunch and linked to my experience of "the silver screen" before colour became so predominant in cinema.

The photo struck me emphatically, not for the hirsute lady, but because of the surprising tone of pink you chose. It would be useful to know why this was used, as the gender references of pink are very obviously linked to the gay community and I wondered if you are sending some subliminal message.

I don't have Photoshop, but with your persmission, would be happy to work on your photo in the Canon software program which gives subtle control of curves and levels. If you try the image to enhance the silvery nature of flesh (which will mean bleaching out the pink tones) you might find a surprisingly strong image.
Also it should deal with the hairy arms, which I really did not worry too much about until attention was drawn to them. It makes the model look Italian rather than masculine, I thought.

It may be a few days before I get to work on your photo, but I would enjoy trying some different effects. Also, feel free to look at my work and see how it could be improved.

mikeanywhere

sineadw wrote: »

I'm still trying to decide where to go with it so any suggestions are greatly appreciated! How would you go about it in PP?

Stick a copy up Sinead and see what other people can come up with

sineadw

mikeanywhere wrote: »

Stick a copy up Sinead and see what other people can come up with

It's six posts up from this one

sineadw

Anouilh wrote: »

It's just a hunch and linked to my experience of "the silver screen" before colour became so predominant in cinema.

The photo struck me emphatically, not for the hirsute lady, but because of the surprising tone of pink you chose. It would be useful to know why this was used, as the gender references of pink are very obviously linked to the gay community and I wondered if you are sending some subliminal message.

I don't have Photoshop, but with your persmission, would be happy to work on your photo in the Canon software program which gives subtle control of curves and levels. If you try the image to enhance the silvery nature of flesh (which will mean bleaching out the pink tones) you might find a surprisingly strong image.
Also it should deal with the hairy arms, which I really did not worry too much about until attention was drawn to them. It makes the model look Italian rather than masculine, I thought.

It may be a few days before I get to work on your photo, but I would enjoy trying some different effects. Also, feel free to look at my work and see how it could be improved.

No probs Anouilh - do your worst - I'd be interested to see what you come up with. There's a link through to the original size (huge!) from the picture above..

As for the toning, I didn't want it monochrome. I'm still not sure on that decision (I might still convert) but I thought the different tones gave this particular image a bit more depth? It's a bit nore sepia-ish on my monitor than pink though?

I'f I'm feeling up to college tomorrow (sick as a dog here) I intend to go to the lab and try some test prints to check the hue off the printer. I've tested it on screen there and on this (calibrated) monitor, but I'd like to be sure before I go any further...

ThOnda

Women, terms in French... I shall google a little what are you talking about!

Anouilh

ThOnda wrote: »

Women, terms in French... I shall google a little what are you talking about!

Also, if you have any duotones to share, it would expand the interest of this thread.

I like this use of soft mauve:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spiritflier/3987477287/

Current split toning is very vibrant and it would be useful to know more about getting the best effects when printing.

Anouilh

A tutorial on toning for Gimp users:

http://www.gimpguru.org/Tutorials/SampleToning/

humberklog

Anouilh

sineadw wrote: »

Still not finished - haven't had time to do anything with it for a few weeks:
...

I have to fix the tones on the left. They're too monochrome. A few sensor spots, some more blur (I don't know how much is too much!) and I have to fix the hair on her arm. Although it's interesting you mention the female thing again - I just had that discussion a few days ago. Everyone has remarked how masculine she looks. The lighting is masculine on her - there are so many harsh angles. But that's what the noir woman was like, so I'm almost tempted to leave the hair in... play up on the emasculation of woman in the genre..

I could go on for pages here about the portrayal of women in these films. We cover Crime Fiction in my cultural studies class - a lot of themes of women in noir. This whole realm is something I study, so I do have at least some idea of what I'm talking about (I'm procrastinating spell-checking a sociology essay on masculine coding in digital games as I type - has to be in at 2 today - bugger) so it's not a face value opinion. Here's not the place for that discussion though

Putting this as delicately as possible...
it would be rather difficult to emasculate a woman...

http://www.crimeculture.com/Contents/NewAndrewJeffcoat1.html

I've worked a bit on your photo but am not satisfied with my attempts. Perhaps others have found some good curves and levels to make it vibrant?

sineadw

Anouilh wrote: »

Putting this as delicately as possible...
it would be rather difficult to emasculate a woman...

http://www.crimeculture.com/Contents/NewAndrewJeffcoat1.html

I've worked a bit on your photo but am not satisfied with my attempts. Perhaps others have found some good curves and levels to make it vibrant?

lol - I meant masculate :rolleyes:

I'd love to see what you've done with it.

Chorcai

Anouilh wrote: »

A tutorial on toning for Gimp users:

http://www.gimpguru.org/Tutorials/SampleToning/

Thanks for that.

Anouilh

It took far longer than I thought it might to find a silvery toning that I liked.

It's far too dark, but moody enough in its own way.

I hope it's OK in your eyes, SineadW.

Working on other people's photos is very educational and I've been able to used the toning on my own photos.

Thank you.Attachment not found.

Anouilh

Just to mention how impressive I found your Singer sewing machine, Humberklog.
It almost looks eerily alive.

And now, gradually getting into the spirit of things...

Anouilh

Emerald Noir is all the rage.
Green toning also gives a lighter effect.

Has anybody else been trying different toning effects?

humberklog

I've been playing around with colours that I think go together for the content of the pic and the purpose of the pic. My daughter wanted a pic of a flower to make a card for her twin friends' birthdays and asked me to do something. So thought that that could be a good opportunity to play about. Sure the colours are hardly startling or ground breaking and the content...well it's a fripping flower (by request of a very pushy 6 year old). However I always like to step out from the usual and taking pics of flowers would be a bit "out there" for me.

So I came up with this...

She's happy with it and so am I. But as said before in another post I'm really new to playing around with such PPing. But I am warming to it for using in different contexts. Ok, so it's a flower today...but tomorrow it could be antlers stapled to a frog and thrown at a 20B bus on Collins Avenue. Gotta have a project of your own on the go to keep yourself sane!!

Anouilh

oshead

This is Burgundy.... Apparently Done with FM's BW Workflow Pro 1.5.

Anouilh

Some links to getting duotone and multi-tone effects:

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tools/actions-tutorials/duotone-tritone-quadtone-actions-tutorial.html

http://widgetinghour.blogspot.com/2009/11/setting-right-tone.html#links


Some effects can be a bit murky, so it's worth using curves and levels to get the balance right.

Anouilh

Zillah wrote: »

I know this is quite old at this stage but I can't resist.

Will power? A useful tool, even for a photography forum...

If anybody has some useful links to toning tips, expecially for printing in duotone, I would be eternally grateful...

Calina

thread is temp locked pending a mod and cat mod discussion.