B/W versus Sepia

[Mad Aussie]

I found this house on what passes for a mountain around here. In Canada it would likely be called a hill at best I think.
However, I went up there in inclement weather one day to see if the rain and clouds presented any opportunities for me, and saw this house with the mist in the trees behind it.
The colour version is ok but very green so I decided a monotone might be better.

Not sure if the contrasts in this photo really lend it to being a good monotone or not?
Also, which is better in this case? The Sepia or the Black and White?
Any other critiques are welcome.

As an added point of interest ... look at the large version and find the dinosaur. ;)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3361/3227272891_e9dd3190ae.jpg?v=0
Larger Version http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3361/3227272891_b43dbb1be7_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3326/3228125286_c92666661c.jpg?v=0
Larger Version http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3326/3228125286_295879628a_o.jpg

Just an observation but I noticed the Sepia shows a little more detail in the shadows. The sepia was made from the black and white with no other alterations at all. In other words, I started with the colour photo, converted to black and white and did all the adjustments on the b/w shot and saved that. Then simply used the Saturation and colourise in PS and made it sepia. In theory they should be identical other than the colour hue in the sepia version.

[Gem]

I actually would like to see the colour version, if you don't mind uploading it? Out of these two though, I like the sepia better. It's a great picture! Looks so peaceful....If only that tree wasn't right in the middle (nothing you can do about that, I suppose).

P.S. The dinosaur is the bottom, towards the right. Sitting on the plant, I think? I didn't look at the big version :P

[Mad Aussie]

I actually would like to see the colour version, if you don't mind uploading it? Out of these two though, I like the sepia better. It's a great picture! Looks so peaceful....If only that tree wasn't right in the middle (nothing you can do about that, I suppose).

P.S. The dinosaur is the bottom, towards the right. Sitting on the plant, I think? I didn't look at the big version :P
He's not on a plant but I think you see him. It's Dino from the Flintstones by the looks of him. I found out the owner does sculpturing of some sort.

Thanks for that Gem. There was only really one small gap for me to shoot through for this shot unless I turned up with a ladder, which I'm not above doing.

Here's the colour version you asked for ... untouched (as it came off the camera) ...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3443/3228212894_33548aff5d.jpg?v=0
Larger Version http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3443/3228212894_5b93fe992f_o.jpg

[Gem]

I like the colour one (except for that darn tree in the middle :p). I think if you played around with it a little, it'd be the best of the three. Haha, if I were more experienced I'd give a step by step of what I think you should, but I'm not at that level yet :p

[JAS_Photo]

I like the sepia the best. It reminds me of an Edwardian Era 'colonial' photo.

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks you two.

I like both the sepia and the colour one myself. The colour one only because the shadows are deep otherwise the sepia would win easily for me.

The more I look at it the more I like the palm tree in the front actually. It gives a more closed in feel to the house I think.

[Ben H]

In this instance, I prefer the sepia. It works well with the subject matter, and gives it some warmth and a kind of artificial "historical placement".

The colour is also nice, but loses that "filmic magic" effect of the sepia and in this case lessens the image - it makes it more conventional.

Just my o' tuppence...

[Marko]

I like the image (prefer sepia and colour) but it's just too dark in the shadows (maybe 20%). You could easily open them up with curves/levels.

[Mad Aussie]

Well it appears that my feeling that the b/w wasn't quite right ring true with most of you.

I do actually a copy of the image with lightened shadows but I felt it lost the mood and drama so I went with what I have there.

Thanks for those thoughts guys.

[Barefoot]

I’d like to see what it looks like after being run through the free PS action by Dave Jaseck called Duotone Dreams. I don’t know if Marko would like it if I posted a like to the site where it can be downloaded, but google will turn it up for you in a jiffy. If you decide to give it a go, don’t just settle for the default pantone that the action offers. The available palate of pantones is wide and varied and also offers the option of creating tri-tones and quad-tones. It’s a real nice effect.

[Mad Aussie]

Went and got it. Nice little tool. At first I thought this was a fancy way of doing what I do with the Saturation/Colourise feature in PS anyhow but when I gave up and hit the button to finish the REAL result came out. Not bad. If you like a more graphic looking image as opposed to a photo.
I'll play a bit more.

[Mad Aussie]

Here's one attempt with that action applied ...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3389/3230322359_0158d4eac4.jpg?v=0
Larger Version http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3389/3230322359_a86e29b7bb_o.jpg

It seems to give a softening effect. The colour hue possibilties are endless.

[Dwayne Oakes]

I like the sepia photo the best, nice tones in that one.

Take care,

Dwayne Oakes

[Marko]

I’d like to see what it looks like after being run through the free PS action by Dave Jaseck called Duotone Dreams. I don’t know if Marko would like it if I posted a like to the site where it can be downloaded, but google will turn it up for you in a jiffy. If you decide to give it a go, don’t just settle for the default pantone that the action offers. The available palate of pantones is wide and varied and also offers the option of creating tri-tones and quad-tones. It’s a real nice effect.

Share and learn - all good and feel free to post the link!

[Barefoot]

Here's one attempt with that action applied ...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3389/3230322359_0158d4eac4.jpg?v=0
Larger Version http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3389/3230322359_a86e29b7bb_o.jpg

It seems to give a softening effect. The colour hue possibilties are endless.

In my version of the action, DS 306-5C is the default pantone offered. I normally go for a lighter color by choosing somethin in the range of DS 310-8C. Don't forget to investigate the mode button in that same box that gives you the option of creating tritones and quadtones.

[Mad Aussie]

Don't forget to investigate the mode button in that same box that gives you the option of creating tritones and quadtones.
I did ... in fact that image is done with the quadtone but I found the extra tones just took over and it still looks duo tone. Perhaps an image with a more varied tonal range would look better.
I tried one of my daughter from the same shoot I post examples up from a few days ago and that came out quite nice.

Have you looked at the actions steps after the final application? Man there's a lot of stuff going on in this action! I got a similar effect manually by duplicating the layer, using Guassian blur and then adding a layer mask and painting with only about 30% flow. Using saturation/colourise etc I was able to create something similar. The advantage was that I could control what I wanted sharp and what I wanted soft.

I like the action though, works well on the right subject obviously.
There's a few nice examples in Flickr if you do a search for Duo Tone Dreams

Thanks for your input also Dwayne.