Man Cave

[Glezga]

Took some sick leave from work and can’t handle the boredom. Spent some time in the shed and thought id try some black & white in LR.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks

Old Chair by Steven McNeill, on Flickr

Trooper & Groot by Steven McNeill, on Flickr

Whisky & Cigars by Steven McNeill, on Flickr

Glass & Steel by Steven McNeill, on Flickr

1Ton by Steven McNeill, on Flickr

[Trev B]

Nice varied set Steven, I’d be to ashamed to put pictures of mine up, I got so much hoarded junk.

[Glezga]

Nice varied set Steven, I’d be to ashamed to put pictures of mine up, I got so much hoarded junk.

i put a kitchen in mine to hide all the junk lol. was always a dream of mine to build it but the kids took over as soon as it was built - its back in my hands recently.

[NathCarr91]

Nice set Steve, love these and it looks like we have similar tastes to be honest. I too enjoy Star Wars and the MCU! As for whisky....well you've got a friend for life there. Is that a bottle of Glendronach in the background? Is that your dram of choice? Mines a good old Laphroaig 10! The peatier the better!

These all work really well in B&W the chair is the best in my opinion.
Nice work. Hope you're recovering well

Nath

[@imagesBV]

Yeah I like these....mono is so much more focussed on light and form.
I'm no expert but do have a bit of experience for what its worth....
In the first one it's unfortunate that the front of the chair is a little out of focus....a nice gritty sharpness throughout might suit the subject better.
Other than that I'd further extend the blacks a bit blacker and the whites a bit whiter....for a bit more contrast......hit those clarity, black point and contrast sliders and experiment....maybe dodge and burn some specific areas.

[Bill53]

Fine shots, work well in B&W. Nice contrast and good tonal range.

[Glezga]

Thanks Nath. Well spotted, it is Glendronach! Im Scots but a lover of Irish whiskEy’s (don’t tell anyone) . ill get round to photographing my collection and most my Scotch’s are unopened gifts – I’m told I have a cheap taste as Bushmills original is my go-to.

Brian/Bill, thanks for the comments and advice – ill put it to use!

[NathCarr91]

[QUOTE=Glezga;n760066]Thanks Nath. Well spotted, it is Glendronach! Im Scots but a lover of Irish whiskEy’s (don’t tell anyone) . ill get round to photographing my collection and most my Scotch’s are unopened gifts – I’m told I have a cheap taste as Bushmills original is my go-to.

Haha thanks, I know my whisky (even bottles past the depth of field ) Please do! I love seeing a good whisky selection. I'm a big Islay fan myself, anything from there is heaven. I've not really ventured much in to irish whisky, only had Teeling small batch. I can't have unopened bottles in my house. Doesn't matter what it cost, I'm drinking it. I have a habit of hoarding the empties though. It's a memory of what I've enjoyed.

I've seen bushmills in the supermarket a few times quite cheap I'll have to give it a go!

[Glezga]

NathCarr91

Keeping with the B&W theme - These are my separated collection. unopened Scotch all gifts. I do have some opened and they are higher end – I always go to them 1^st. TBH I find the more expensive, the more like drinking nettles they are and I can only have a few at a time. Like I said “cheap taste”

Whisky by Steven McNeill, on Flickr

These guys are my real friends lol. Also find the Japanese Whisky’s are similar to Irish, although the experts say there modelled on Scotch? I can make a dent in these at pretty much any time.

Whiskey by Steven McNeill, on Flickr

I’m not a whisky snob or even close but some Scotch, Irish and all bourbon taste like ink thinner to me regardless of price and I just prefer blended. Ive made enemies in my local bar by drinking Bushmills when I “should be drinking Jamesons” or it’s been suggested I’m a traitor for not drinking Scotch! All in jest but theres a definite constant.

Also had a go at focus stacking and dodge & burn. it did only serve to highlight the dust on the bottlenecks :) , but i know what it is now - thanks Brian, it was your work that made me try B&W ;)

B&W dodge & Burn by Steven McNeill, on Flickr

Think ill have a few whiskEy's this evening lol

[NathCarr91]

Looks like a cracking selection Steve. Thanks for sharing it. Id have a field day there enjoying them. You know I have to agree somewhat. My favourite malt in the world is less than £40 a bottle. I purchased a limited edition Bunnahabhain for £100 and although it's blooming lovely. It ain't better than the £25 I just paid for the Laphroaig select tonight. Age and price mean nothing. Everything is personal taste.

I don't think you're a traitor. You like what you like and that's all that matters. The best way to enjoy whisky, is with friends and however you enjoy it! I have a friend who waters it down so much I swear there is no whisky left, but that's how he enjoys it and I'm just more than happy to share a dram (or several) with him.

Really got to try out some Japanese though. My friend swears by it. Hope you enjoyed a whisky(e)y or two tonight. I certainly did

[El Sid]

Definitely a touch of man cave going on...

Nice collection of whiskies, definitely some of my favourites in there.

Interestingly someone recently gave me a bottle of Yorkshire whiskey - no I'd never heard of such a thing either... It's called Filey Bay, has quite a delicate flavour; maybe not a robust enough taste for me but enjoyable nonetheless.

[Glezga]

As I live in Ireland and already accused of “Traitor” imagine I drank English Whisky! Only Joking, I haven’t tried any but there is a few ive seen online and in mags. I’m told Welsh is really nice too and there both pretty expensive. I have a small collection of local drinks from holidays too (Euro dumping at airport) Ouzo, Limoncello, Rakija etc - One day, ill drink them all.
It’s all subjective – every whisky I try, I think how close or far it is to the ones I like.

P.s the Whisky’s are in my kitchen – my wife wishes it was the cave!

[Daisy M]

Bit disappointed no Edradour amongst your collection, Pitlochry’s finest.But same great shots Steven and a pleasant change in subject.

[Glezga]

I’m playing with focus bracketing in PS. I took 17 images of the below but the file was too big and had to delete some resulting in blur around the legs etc. then I lost the image somehow to make B&W adjustments in lightroom – so had to edit to B&W in PS and couldn’t find how to tweak the tones - would have liked the whites whiter. Still learning….


The 3 Wise Troopers b&w by Steven McNeill, on Flickr

Dust removal was a nightmare on this one when pixel peeping. There must be a better way! Was looking @John Liddle's post re black persepex - id have to do x2 as much lol.

Darth B&W by Steven McNeill, on Flickr

[El Sid]

Darth Vader looks good.

Not tried focus bracketing so can't really offer much advice on the technique - I suspect it's all about patience and determining the best aperture/focus step combo.

How did you convert it in mono? In cameraRaw or in PS proper? In cameraRaw just select the toning/HSL tab, tick the 'Greyscale' option and then move the various colour sliders about to darken/lighten the colour contributions.

In PS proper you have more options. The one I prefer, and the one I think you were after, is to apply a 'Black & White' adjustment layer from the adjustments layers list. This opens a dialog which allows you to select from a set of preset options - eg red filter,blue filter, green filter - or to manually adjust the contribution of the various colour options; a positive value boosts that colour, negative reduces its presence. One method I often use is to apply different black and white adjustment layers selectively to different parts of the image - eg in a landscape apply a red filter effect to the sky but a green or modified blue one to the foreground. Most of the mono images on my Flickr page or posted here have been done this way.