Dodging and Burning

Almost every photo I take -- I take it in color and then process to create a black and white version.  The only time I don't take a photo in full color is when I am using my Canon S2 IS in the color accent mode.  This mode allows me to choose a color to show and the rest of the photo is in black and white.  I love this feature -- it is really fun to play around with.  I believe that just about every Canon point and shoot has this feature (maybe some don't, I haven't found on yet in classes).  If you haven't used it before -- get out your user's manual and look it up.

When I want to create a black and white -- I start with color.  Most of the time I will use Silver Efex Pro to create the image.  I love this plug in.  I love the control you have with the image and the tone.  Sometimes even after using Silver Efex I prefer to dodge and burn with Elements.

A few weeks ago, I visited a small town near me and took a boatload of photos.  I am still playing and processing with some favorites of that morning.  The photos on the blog today are from that day.  For fun, and to let you see the development of a photo, I have decided to post the crop in color, in black and white after processing with Silver Efex, and the final black and white after playing around with the dodge and burn tools.

And yes -- I said this is a crop.  Most of my photos are not cropped.  I prefer to get the composition in the framing of the shot and not with a crop of anything.  This photo worked best for me cropped.  I should have zoomed either with the lens or with my feet to frame it from the start.  I did not -- so I did crop to remove the building across the street, a roofline, and a fire hydrant.   Sometimes when I look at this I wish I could have gotten the RR sign out -- but then other times I look at it -- I like it there.