--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > ... I'm going to step back a little bit and > touch on what grain gives an image rather than worrying about > how it is created. > > To my eye, grain increases contrast at a microscopic level, > increasing accutance and adding a "crunchy" texture to > smooth areas. I think that the effect also smooths out > tonal gradients at a macrosopic level. One way I like to use > this effect is to lower contrast at the macroscopic level > to render detail in shadows and highlights while adding > the punch that comes with the high accutance and crunchy > texture. ...
I like your viewpoint, and I agree with your assessment. I've used techniques of adding noise/grain to smooth out very fine tonal transitions in printing that would otherwise cause even a high-end printer to 'stair step' the tonal levels. Some of the most beautiful nudes I've seen were done in beautiful, big grain B&W too, the photographer almost literally had to torture their 6x6cm negatives to achieve it. ;-) This photo of the Golden Gate Bridge was made in such incredibly hazy conditions that in the original capture you could barely even make out the bridge. The down-rezzed web image doesn't do the A3 print justice, but the effect is exactly what I was looking to capture, the feel of that hot hazy summer day nearing sunset: http://homepage.mac.com/ramarren/photo/PAW4/30r.htm Godfrey __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Easier than ever with enhanced search. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250
