by: Edward Moniz
George DeWolfe (www.georgedewolfe.com) has been my primary photographic teacher and mentor. I have learned many things from George but two lessons that have really resonated with me were:
1. "To learn more about photography start by studying the master painters"
2. "Adopt, and consistently apply a digital workflow"
These two topics have become such an important part of my photographic work that I wanted to share them with all of you (for those of you who have been in my Lightroom workshops this will be a review that I hope you will find worthwhile).
One of the assignments that George gave me during the advanced mentorship year that I spent working with him was to select a painter that I enjoyed and study that painter. I chose John Constable, the English landscape painter whose work really moved me. To select Constable I looked at works from many artists and eventually his work stood out for me. The choice of Constable led me to embark on a wonderful journey of exploration, studying his work and emulating his style in my photography. This discovery and a full discussion of this experience is beyond the scope of this article and may come out as a separate article or workshop in the future.
The essence of what I learned by studying the master painters, including Constable, was the underlying structure of their paintings. In every case when a colour painting was converted to monochrome the underlying structure was consistently a beautifully articulated greyscale. Not all images include pure black or white but within the tonal range of the image there is a greyscale. Studying the paintings of Monet is a good example of a beautiful greyscale with no black. "The Hare" by Albrecht Durer is another example of this, a beautiful greyscale with no black. The second example is the "Princesse Albert de Broglie," by Jean August Dominique Ingres and to my eye is a most beautiful black and white portrait even though it was painted in colour.
click on images to enlarge
The lesson learned from this study of the master painters was that a strong image has a solid underlying structure consisting of a solid greyscale with good separation of tonal values. While we may not see this greyscale when studying the colour image the structure appears to be recognized by our visual receptors and we react accordingly. I encourage all of you to do this exercise yourselves by downloading images of your favourite painters from the internet and load them in Lightroom (as I did with these samples) and simply switch them to black and white with no adjustments. The results will astound you and hopefully lead to your own journey of exploration.
The second lesson learned from George was to "adopt and consistently apply a digital workflow." My own workflow has evolved and has been very much influenced by my study of the master painters, the workflow is: (please note that while I use and will refer to Lightroom in this article you can apply a similar workflow, in most, if not all raw conversion processes):
Core Workflow
1. Complete all adjustments using a RAW conversion program:
a. Global Adjustments
b. Broad Adjustments
c. Local Adjustments
2. Export Image to Photoshop and complete necessary adjustments in 16-bit PS
3. Save 16-bit file
4. If necessary, convert Image to 8-bit in PS and complete any adjustments that are limited to 8-bit only.
5. Then save the 8-bit file
RAW Adjustments in Lightroom
1. In the Basic Panel
a. Convert image to black and white
b. Crop image to suit artistic desire
c. Set the white point by using the Exposure Slider
d. Set the black point by using the Black Slider
e. Create tonal separation in the Mid-tones with the Clarity Slider
f. Tweak the greyscale as required with Shadow, Highlight and White Sliders.
g. You now have a basic image with a good greyscale, convert the image back to colour, or continue processing in black and white for a monochrome image.
2. Using one of the two graduated filter tools make any necessary Broad Adjustments.
3. Using the Brush tool next make local adjustments to specific areas of the image.
Further adjustments in Photoshop, which are often necessary, are beyond the scope of this article and will be explained in future postings.
The workflow outlined above (a simplified list) is what I use to produce my images. The conversion to black and white to perform the tonal adjustments is critical to the process as this allows you to see the tonal separations more easily. I have found that it is much easier to see the tonal separations in black and white as I can read the separation of greys more easily than I can tonal separations in colour. This workflow gives the work the underlying structure necessary to create a stronger image.
One key to remember when editing images is that the greyscale should be true to the tonal range that existed in the original scene. Under normal circumstances you would not attempt to create an image with a pure black and a pure white when the scene consists only of midtones. If you have an image that is only mid-tones then edit it to create good separation in those tones and allow the image to remain truthful to the original. If you wish to push your image for creative effect that is great and you are free to explore many aspects of your image.
In Lightroom I tend to make the global adjustments quite quickly and have an image with a basic structure but that is only the beginning. Alter the basics are completed I spend most of the image editing time using the local adjustment brush to selectively lighten, darken or otherwise adjust small areas of the image.
This is an important step in the creative process and will allow your own vision to come through. The basic RAW adjustments can create a good greyscale and make your initial image look stronger but by the use of local adjustments you can bring forth the original vision that you saw when you took the image. The local adjustment brush can allow you to direct the viewer's eye to parts of the image that are an important part of the message you are trying to convey.
When studying your image remember that light things attract attention and look closer to the viewer, dark items tend to recede and look further away. Also sharp items attract more attention while blurred items or less sharp items tend to recede. Before leaving your image remember to examine the edges and comers looking for distracting elements that may draw attention away from your core message. To create a powerful image you must direct the viewer around your image leading them to the key points but also giving them a place to rest their eyes. Removal of distracting elements will help hold your viewer's attention and create a much stronger image.
A workflow needs to be yours and whatever workflow you adopt use it consistently. By doing so you will be able to create images that have the elements of good composition and underlying structure. Once you can consistently produce such images you will be able to reach out and test your creative boundaries. I hope you have enjoyed this article and that you will consider studying the master painters. While photography is still a relatively new medium the painters explored these techniques for many years and developed many concepts in making great images. We have much to learn from them.
Acknowledgement: Use of the images is covered by a Creative Commons License, see creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0