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"Football...a Retro Look"Workshop at the Ranch Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop
at the Ranch. During the course of each year I give a number of
presentations, lectures and teachings at workshops across the
country. I usually give a digital picture show at these events
that include a variety of my work ranging from career images and
highlights to instructional lecture demonstrations. I'm always
looking to inform and entertain and so I'm always looking for
a new way to display my work on the big screen. These images are
Black and White conversions. I'm just old enough to have slipped
past the era of B&W football photography but marvel at the
monochromatic images of grid iron history printed in Black and
White.
These conversions where done in Photoshop. Post processing in Photoshop is a topic I have not addressed in any prior articles of Workshop at the Ranch. The reason is simple ...... it's too complex. Better said, trying to teach Photoshop post processing is an endless trail of roads that seem to arrive at the same results. Fore the most part, I leave the complexity of teaching of Photoshop to the experts and prefer to keep it simple on my end. My B&W conversion is rather simple. I know, I know, there are many ways to do this .... probably much better than mine, but the comments I have received from the B&W football show I have given at various schools and workshops has given me some confidence to share what some have said is the "best Black and White images" they have ever seen. Thanks Robert Seal. First of all, why convert color images to Black & White in the first place. Well, I wanted a little variety in my presentation but also wanted each image to stand alone with no help from color, neither Kodak or Fuji to help make a football statement. B&W images sink or swim based on content alone. Sometimes it is the color within an image that draws attention and not the content and composition. To view your images in B&W is a true test of photography. It will be an eye opener to many of you. All these image were originally photographed in color. Some are film and some are digital. I keep the conversion formula the same. After opening up your image in Photoshop ( I have CS2 ) I "click" Image, then I place the curser over Adjustments, this opens a long list of applications that can be made to your picture. If you look down the list you will see Channel Mixer, "click" Channel Mixer and the Channel Mixer box opens up. At the bottom left corner of the box is the word Monochrome. "Click" the small box next to Monochrome and the picture becomes Black and White. Simple, ... no applause please. This is the obvious part and according to "the Experts" is a very clean and non pixel damaging way to make B&W, but if you study the prints of the great masters of Black and White you will see tone quality that clicking monochrome doesn't have. My observations lead me to add some color to my monochromatic picture so as to better achieve a minds image of "classic Black and White." So, let's continue ... "click" OK which closes out the Channel Mixer box. Now "click" Image and place the curser over Adjustments and there is the long list of applications again. "click" Color Balance and the Color Balance box appears. The Midtones box is usually checked already by default so start there and slde the Magenta---------Green slider to the right +1. The middle Color Levels box at the top will indicate +1. Now slide the Yellow---------Blue slider to the left -1. The right Color Levels box will indicate -1. You have just added a slight green/yellow tone to the midtone areas of the picture. Now check the Highlights box and slide the Magenta---------Green slider the the right +1 and the Yellow---------Blue slider the the left -1. The highlights of the picture now have a slight green/yellow tone. Leave the Shadows alone and "click" OK to close out the Color Balance box. Now comes the personal choice that only you can make. How black do you want the Shadow areas of the picture. I like dark shadows so I "click" Image, place the curser over adjustments to reveal the list of applications then I "click" on Selective Color and the Selective Color box appears. See the word Method:, check the Absolute box. See the word Colors:, "click" the drop box arrow and "click" Blacks. See the word Black:, slide the Black slider to the right. Notice that the shadow areas of the picture begin to get darker the more to the right you move the slider. I like +3. "click" OK and close out the Selective Color box and your B&W conversion is done. I might also suggest that you create an "ACTION" for your B&W conversion. This way you can make a key stroke on your computer that converts the image to B&W by simply pressing the key you designate for this action. The addition of the green/yellow color tone to the monochromatic picture is a subtle application but so effective in replicating a historical Black and White look and feel to an image. The key stoke action to impliment the conversion makes it quick and easy. Here are a few examples from my NFL library of images that have been converted to Black and White using the B&W conversion formula taught in this edition of Workshop at the Ranch..
Some old images and some new images all with
a very retro look of Black and White. There are numerous conversion
formulas to achieve Black and White images in Photoshop. What
I do is my own and it seems to work well. My hope is that it
might be helpful to those who enjoy the days of B&W prints.
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Image
#1 NFL Football ... This
is a Lightpainting originally photographed in color. Lightpainting
usually showcases stylised light with bold color, but
the B&W conversion holds up well and is a very graphic
image.
Image
#2 Mike Ditka ... Only
game I saw Ditka coach. I love the Kodiak Bear profile
as did several magazines during the Super Bowl season
in Chicago.
Image
#3 Moon Rising ... Warren
Moon, quarter back of the Houston Oilers. It's a simple
picture but I have always liked the intense signal calling
from Moon as he appears to rise above the offensive line.
Image
#4 Sea Hawks in Flight ...
Seattle linemen rushing to block a punt. I like shooting
football at a slow shutter speed to give some sense of motion
to the players.
Image
#5 John Elway ... Elway's
rookie start was my first ever live football game. It
was shot for Sports Illustrated in 1983 and triggered
several years of football coverage for me with SI. I followed
John for his entire career and must admit football in
Denver has not been as thrilling since his retirement.
Image
#6 Troy Aikman ... A shoulder
injury to Aikman seemed non threatening but he never took
the hits after he recovered. This is probably a more journalistic
picture than one might think as it may have been the beginning
of the end for Aikman.
Image
#7 Emmit Smith ... One of
the greatest running backs ever and now a champion ballroom
dancer ... who would have guessed.
Image
#8 Rainy defeat for a Washington
Redskin's player. Slow shutter speed, rear curtain sync
and an SB800 Speedlight held off camera. This is a favorite
technique I use at the end of many games while players are
running off the field. 
Image
#9 Taking the Field ... Pittsburg
Steelers leaving the tunnel.
Image
#10 Randy Moss ... A very
young Randy Moss stands distant from his Viking teammates
during the National Anthem.
Image
#11 Warren Sapp ... Warren
Sapp leaves Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium after a
crushing overtime loss to the Denver Broncos. 