Is there a right way or wrong way to use the Leica Monochrom

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

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Jeff

Below is my go to work flow when using the MM:

1. Import into Lightroom
2. Go to lens correction, tick both boxes and hit auto
3. Go to Auto exposure and hit that and make fine adjustments to the look I am looking for.
4. Sometimes make some curve adjustments (not always)
5. Export the file to CS6
6. Crop to whatever I want
7. Open SEP
8. 9 times out of 10 hit High Structure (either harsh or soft)
9. Add Signature
10. Save for web
11. Done

I am very open to constructive suggestions if anyone see's a major flaw in my post processing.

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Try playing with the colour filters in LightRoom on your colour images - that will give you some idea.

John

I have been trying these but for some reason on my MBP whenever I hit say the yellow red blue filter nothing happens............no idea why?

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[IkarusJohn]

John

I have been trying these but for some reason on my MBP whenever I hit say the yellow red blue filter nothing happens............no idea why?

 

No.  You are using them on your M(240) images, rather than Monochrom images, aren't you?  (sorry for the stupid question) - the filters have no impact on a monochrome image as there are no colour channels, whereas if you open a colour image from your M(240) in LightRoom, Edit it in SEP, then hit the filters, they should give you a very clear idea of what an optical filter will do, only better ...

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

No.  You are using them on your M(240) images, rather than Monochrom images, aren't you?  (sorry for the stupid question) - the filters have no impact on a monochrome image as there are no colour channels, whereas if you open a colour image from your M(240) in LightRoom, Edit it in SEP, then hit the filters, they should give you a very clear idea of what an optical filter will do, only better ...

Yea mate thats exactly what I was doing..........bloody wally I am

I will try it with a color photo

[Printmaker]

For post I open both LR and PS because I am more comfortable using Camera Raw in PS. I tend to use LR as a library. I use SE to add a warm tint and sometimes use lens falloff.

Here is an example of blown highlights on the MM.

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[Printmaker]

Here are a few more. LR to PS camera raw back to LR then on to SE for a tint.

BTW: there is no right way or wrong way. It comes down to your taste and skills.

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[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

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Sorry mate I don't see it

Here is what I am thinking is blown highlights .............. am I correct?

The red bits

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[Printmaker]

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As much as I don't like to use a tripod with a Leica, I plan to shoot some HDR with my Monochrom just because highlights are too easy to blow out and I'd like more shadow information. As in the shot of the rock I just posted I can see where a stop and a half less exposure would have saved the highlights and a stop and a half more exposure would have brought out more detail in the lava rock.

Here is a shot where I gave one stop less exposure to save the highlights.

[Printmaker]

Sorry mate I don't see it

Here is what I am thinking is blown highlights .............. am I correct?

The red bits

In my mind, the highlights on the right of the rock should have looked more like those on the left. It is easy to blow out highlights when using filters that add contrast like orange and red. Another 2-3 stops of DR would be nice.

[IkarusJohn]

Printmaker makes a good point - for static subjects, try bracketing (preferably using a tripod), then combine the images using an HDR programme.  What that will do is allow you to save detail in the highlights without overly extracting shadow detail in processing.  

 

I would hasten to say, be careful with HDR - it's a road to some very artificial and cheesy images which will result in considerable (and justified) scorn here ...

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Are the red bits what you would call highlights.........same finished picture below

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[Jay B]

Neal, when you look at the histogram in the CAMERA, and you see the blinking red bits, it can indicate possible overexposed and unrecoverable highlights.

It is dependent on what threshold you have the camera set to show highlight clipping. If it is 95%, then there is possibly a small amount of visible information there that you can recover in post.

 

In you example photo above, that is the overexposed highlight indicators for Lightroom, which are showing you areas that are white with no detail based upon the exposure settings you have chosen in the Lightroom develop panel. It does not mean that the whites have no detail if you adjust the exposure or whites and/or highlight sliders.

 

You need to separate the two functions of exposure and post-processing.
If you can expose in camera to have the highlights contained within the limits of the cameras tonal capabilities, as shown by the camera histogram, then you have the most amount of room to adjust the tonal scale & contrast when you take the image into Lightroom.

 

I always have my MM set with a -2/3 exposure compensation, to protect the highlights for overexposure. The shadows can easily be lifted with LR with no problems.

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Thanks Jay when I get home I will make sure I change that setting in my camera.........I might need a do this do that from you but let me try first.........I will be back home on Friday

[Chuck Albertson]

I think the only wrong way to shoot a Monochrom is with a dead batt.

 

Filters - I nearly always have a medium yellow (K2) filter clamped on whatever lens I'm using on the MM, for the same reason I do it with film -- I like the tones I get. The original MM sensor is very much like panchromatic film. The deeper filters (orange and red) are good for enhanced effects, but the K2 is just bog-standard tone correction.

 

I like Silver Efex Pro for some of my pictures. I've only started to figure it out -- it's very powerful software.

 

Seeing in B&W - squint hard, and all the time. Ignore what people around you are saying about that.

 

Exposing for the highlights (like slide film) is a good idea in high-contrast scenes, because blown highlights are gone (unless you want them that way).

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

With this picture here I pretty much did as I said earlier and it took all of 5 minutes to PP........I do prefer the pictures either B&W or colour with little to none PP

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[250swb]

 

1. Open SEP
2. 9 times out of 10 hit High Structure (either harsh or soft)

 

I think this may be the crux of your problem.

 

Looking at the pictures you have posted they are almost on the verge of an HDR effect, all the tones are harshly separated with no subtle roll-off from one tone to another, and this edge effect (boosting the micro contrast) is what 'High Structure' does in SEP. The 'Soft' version counters this somewhat by adding some 'Soft Contrast' to mellow the effect.

 

To get the depth of tone and a more natural blend from shadow to highlight take what you can learn from the Preset (that some structure can be good) and start from scratch. If it were me I would ignore the Preset and add a small to medium amount of mid-tone structure, and a tiny bit of shadow structure, and generally I leave the highlight structure at zero. Many images can then benefit from a bit of 'Soft Contrast' that darkens the mid tones from the centre down to the shadows, and lightens the mid tones from the centre up to the highlights, if you see what I mean. It applies and 'S' curve to the image if looking at a 'Curves' graph.

 

But as things are your images are trying to give equal prominence to all the tones in the image, and this would be characterised by a straight line in a Curves graph, hence the lack of natural depth. Natural depth of course is what the eye see's, not what the camera see's, and squinting is a good technique to identify where the important detail and tones are placed. And it isn't just a Monochrom thing, many photographers shoot and print what the camera see's, not what they see. So essentially whichever way you do it, SEP or Photoshop, you need some asymmetry between the tones, an 'S' curve, not a straight line.  

 

Steve

[250swb]

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This wouldn't be my finished picture, but it is what I mean about an 'S' curve. As I recall I added a little 'Soft Contrast', re-balance the detail with a bit of Shadow Structure, apply a tiny 5% vignette to stop the eye wandering off the edge of the image, burn the top and bottom to achieve the same, place a control point over the bundle and make it lighter again (after the previous Soft Contrast adjustment), place a control point over his/her face to lighten it again, and added a small amount of warm tone as the psychological ingredient. Adjustments made to a file full of information as opposed to a small JPEG are more subtle, and there are other ways to achieve exactly the same thing or better. But look at the travel photographs of HCB or the environmental images of Salgado and you will see a similar depth to the image.

 

Steve

Edited May 5, 2015 by 250swb

[dj_61]

Ok here are my two cents. Shooting in uninteresting light situation never leads to great pictures. When you shoot mid day in hard light, you will be disappointed with the results no matter what camera you shoot with. The MM truely shines in overcast days, by the way. Second, you really need to work on your post processing skills. You will not get the best results by merely adjusting overall contrast, brightness and bringing out shadow details. The MM gives you digital negs to work with. There is a lot of information in them but it takes and artist with a vision to bring out the best.

Edited May 5, 2015 by dj_61

[250swb]

Shooting in uninteresting light situation never leads to great pictures. When you shoot mid day in hard light, you will be disappointed with the results no matter what camera you shoot with.

 

Sometimes you can't pick and choose the light, whatever you are dealt there is a way to work with it, and making up rules about what is or isn't possible is a sure way to stop thinking creatively. I mean, did Bresson flounce off complaining the shadows weren't right or did he just get on with the job?

 

Steve

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[jaapv]

There is an overemphasis placed on blown highlights  IMO. If the structure in a highlight is important, by all means preserve it. But if it is irrelevant for the image, don't worry about it. Our eyes can not see detail in overly bright areas either.

One can always grey them down a bit to reduce the impact on the print, add some grain, etc. Not ideal maybe, but for many images a good solution.