Photo Versions Created with Franzis Black & White Projects

Back in the day, not my day but the day, cameras were not an app on your phone but bulky and heavy apparatus with explosive flash powder that could only take monochrome photos. We have advanced a long way to today’s sophisticated DSLRs and prosumer cameras such as my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 .

So why black & white photography today when the technology has moved so far beyond it. One can be overwhelmed by the colour in a colour photograph and miss the complexities of light and contrast and even the composition. A black & white photograph can put the emphasis on the other aspects of the photo rather than the colour. But for me it often has more to do with the subject. For historical, or even industrial photos, there is a certain authenticity that a black & white image provides, It is like the photo was taken back in the day.

The photos in this project were taken with my Konica Autoreflex T-3 35 mm camera using 100 ASA colour slide film. They were scanned with my CanoScan 4400F scanner at 600 DP with low compression. The colour images were enhanced with Simply Good Pictures 5 and converted to black & white using Franzis Black & White Projects 6 Professional.

The Natural High Quality setting on Franzis Black & White projects provides high quality black & white versions of the colour images. There are also a large number of other presets available to provide other versions, some with subtle differences and some with much greater differences, including a number of artistic settings. All of the presets have an unlimited number of individual adjustments that can be made to them. This project displays a number of the different photo versions that are available with Franzis Black & White Projects.

King’s Landing Historical Settlement, New Brunswick, August 8, 1982

Original Scanned Slide (1636)

 

Enhanced Colour Image

 

Black & White Version - Natural High Quality

 

Black & White Version – Toning Butter Cream

 

Black & White Version – FX Snapshot

 

King’s Landing Historical Settlement, New Brunswick, August 8, 1982

Original Scanned Slide (1638)

 

Enhanced Colour Image

 

Black & White Version - Natural High Quality

 

Black & White Version – Toning Photo Paper Warm

 

Black & White Version – FX Memories

 

Vanscoy, Saskatchewan, July 3, 1983

Original Scanned Slide (2016)

 

Enhanced Colour Image

 

Black & White Version - Natural High Quality

 

Black & White Version – Natural Structure Dark

 

Black & White Version – Landscape Light Beams

Towards Murray Mine, Sudbury, Ontario, August 17, 1984

Original Scanned Slide (2196)

 

Enhanced Colour Image

 

Black & White Version - Natural High Quality

 

Black & White Version – Surreal Prismatic

 

Black & White Version – Landscape Infrared

 

King’s Landing Historical Settlement, New Brunswick, July 9, 1998

Original Scanned Slide (3760)

 

Enhanced Colour Image

 

Black & White Version - Natural High Quality

 

Black & White Version – Artistic Old School

 

Black & White Version – Landscape Dreamy

 

Photo Versions Created with Franzis Color Projects

Way back in the day when I used to be a member of the Camera Club of Ottawa and we met at the NRC building on Sussex Drive the most usual criticism of my photos was that they were “good record shots”. I did not see that as much of a criticism at the time because then I mostly thought of photography as capturing what was there, rather than as artistic expression, and that composition was the main skill required. At that time I was using a Konica Autoreflex T3 35 mm camera shooting mostly Fujichrome 100.

When I got into digital photography and realized what one could do with photo software I began to see photography more as an art form, Of course even back in the days of film one’s choice of film to use and settings to use, not to mention darkroom work, meant that photography was always an art form.

Currently I do All my photography with digital cameras, my main go to camera being my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100. However the photo used in this blog post was taken with my Panasonic Lumix TS5 compact waterproof and shock resistant sports camera that I can easily carry in my small bike pouch at the front or in the pocket of my PFD when kayaking.

So far the best single click photo optimizer I have discovered is Simply Good Pictures 5 .For all around photo editing (and for display map creation) I tend to use Adobe Photoshop Elements 2023. However more often than not I am using Franzis Color Projects 6 Professional for the interesting effects it can create. For conversion to Black and White my choice is Franzis Black & White Projects 6 Professional with it’s large selection of options.

Franzis Color Projects provides an extremely large number of preset effects, some that just enhance the quality of the photo, but also many that provide artistic effects that create a whole new look to the photo. Each preset choice can be further refined within the program. The program can also emulate many specific types of film.

For this demonstration project the original photo, taken on the Old Quarry Trail in the Ottawa Greenbelt, was shot with my Lumix TS-5 and then auto enhanced with Simply Good Pictures and then the individual effects were applied with Franzis Color Projects Professional 6. 

Original from Panasonic Lumix TS5

 Interim Phase - Simply Good Pictures Auto Enhancement

 

 Franzis Color Projects Edited Versions

 Natural Structure Dark

Natural Colour shift 1

 Natural Colour shift 3

Surreal shifted

Landscape Blue filter

Architecture Monochrome

Architecture Sketch

Portrait Low key

Artistic Water mirroring

 Painting Bright sketch

The Fifth Columnist is Getting a New Camera for Christmas

My first serious camera was a Konica Autoreflex T3 35 MM SLR that I purchased in the early 1970s and used for over 25 years. It cost around $300, but I spent well over $1000 on it including lenses, the most expensive being a $500 80-200 MM zoom lens. I have always been a big lens guy shooting mainly landscape and wildlife. I also had a 2X converter that gave me a maximum focal length of 400 MM. Of course, with the large aperture required at that zoom and the lack of any form of stabilization, I could really only use the combination with a tripod on a sunny day. My daughter still has the Konica and it was her main camera till she got a digital SLR a year ago, but she still likes to shoot film occasionally. I got my first digital camera in 1999, and again I went for the big zoom. The $1,500 Sony Mavica FD-91 was one impressive looking camera for it's time. The 14X zoom on the Mavica was huge, a 35 MM equivalent of 37-518 MM and with Sony's Steady Shot image stabilization system it could be hand held at the full zoom. The camera was unique in that it used 3.5 inch floppy disks for image storage and though it was under a megapixel it produced decent 8X10 prints, even though the experts claimed that was not possible. It was a large camera but I was used to the size and feel of an SLR and preferred it over smaller digital cameras. The Mavica became my daughter's first digital camera when I upgraded. By 2005 a sub megapixel camera was pretty well considered obsolete and after 5 years I decided it was time to upgrade again. By now digital cameras were becoming serious and digital SLRs were available. However one of the main reasons I went to a digital camera with a long zoom was to avoid the hassle of changing multiple lenses and the weight and bulk of carrying them hiking. So I decided on the Panasonic Lumix FZ20 with a 12X 36-432 MM stabilized zoom lens. The FZ20, at a cost of about $1000 (with a bit more for an extra battery and memory cards), was a big improvement over the Mavica and takes great photos and I am sure it would do me well for many years to come. However with all things electronic and digital the time comes when you have to decide whether it is worthwhile to upgrade to a newer improved model with more features. After 6 years it looks like it is about time to upgrade again. This time I am looking at the Panasonic Lumix FZ100. The Lumix FZ100 is a 14 megapixel camera with a 25-600 MM 24X stabilized zoom with full HD video capability, rather than the crappy tiny Quicktime video of the FZ20. Shooting at 3 megapixels, the top of the zoom range is an effective 1200 MM lens - WOW. The awesome zoom and full HD video capability are the main features that made me decide that now is the time to upgrade, but the camera also has impressive burst shooting capabilities and a whole slew of improvements over the FZ20. The cost has gone down as well to about $550, but an extra battery and SD cards might add an extra $200 or so. So it looks like that will be under the tree for me this Christmas.

My Scanning Project Progresses

My scanning project is progressing. I have scanned over 500 slides so far. These photos, taken with my Konica Autoreflex T3, are also from the Gatineau Park. They were taken in September 1978, almost exactly a year later than the last posted images.

Click on the photos to see larger images.

Starting A New Project

Today I started scanning and uploading my collection of almost 4,000 slides. The photos below were taken in the Gatineau Park in September, 1977. These are some of the first photos taken with my first real single lens reflex camera, a Konica Autoreflex T3.

Click on the photos to see larger images.