Vincent Versace - From Oz to Kansas: Almost Every Black and White Conversion Technique Known to Man

Almost Every Black and White
Conversion Technique Known to Man

Vincent Versace
Edited by Edna Elfont, Ph.D.

FROM OZ TO KANSAS

ALMOST EVERY BLACK AND WHITE CONVERSION TECHNIQUE KNOWN TO MAN

Vincent Versace

New Riders
1249 Eighth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510/524-2178
510/524-2221 (fax)
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New Riders is an imprint of Peachpit, a division of Pearson Education

Copyright 2013 by Vincent Versace
All photography Vincent Versace except where noted

Acquisitions Editor: Ted Waitt
Developmental Editor: Edna Elfont, Ph.D.
Production Editor: Lisa Brazieal

Compositor: Sean Dyroff
Indexer: James Minkin
Cover Design: Charlene Charles-Will
Cover Photography: Vincent Versace

Notice of Rights

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission reprints and excerpts, contact .

Notice of Liability

The information in this book is distributed on an As Is basis without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.

Trademarks

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.

ISBN 13: 978-0-321-79402-4
ISBN 10: 0-321-79402-8

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed and bound in the United States of America

To all the Bunnies in the world.
And
To Walter Kahn,
who never stopped asking why.

I myself have always stood in awe of the camera. I recognize it for the instrument it is, part Stradivarius, part scalpel.

Irving Penn

Now that this book is finally done, I have to say that underestimating the difficulty of writing this book was the greatest What the hell was I thinking?! moment of my life. This truly was the most difficult thing I have ever done. I would first like to thank Richard Zaika for taking the time to read the chapters of this book as they were evolving, as well as writing the foreword. I wish you were here to read the finished version.

This book simply would not be this book if it were not for the draconian editorial diligence of Edna A. Elfont, Ph. D., and the scientific diligence of Lawrence B. Coleman, Ph. D., Professor of Physics at the University of California at Davis and George Kronizer, Ph. D, Senior Dupont Color Scientist. When you read this book and you find that the thoughts are clear, concise, easy to understand, and make sense, trust me: thats all Edna.

If it were not for Professor Colemans and Dr. Konizers kind and gentle criticisms, their incredible insights and explanations that made me see the light when I was scientifically out of my mind, this book would be far less of a book. This books scientific strength is powered by two very beautiful minds. Thank you, I know you both had better things to do in your free time. Your gift to me is not lost.

I am the photographer I am today because of CJ Elfont. Also, the technical photographic accuracy of this book would not be what it is if it were not for CJs intervention. Without CJ (and Edna, too), I would not be an artist, I would not be a photographer; I would be someone elsecertainly not the person who could ever have written this book.

To Nils Kokemohr (the N, I, and K of Nik Software): You are the smartest human I know. Your software makes my life and me more creative than I could have ever imagined.

To Sean Dyroff: Once again, you have proven that you are a Super Hero with spidey powers. You laid out this book, tech-edited it, fixed every one of my actions, and answered every one of my Photoshop questions, all while finishing graduate school and finally getting your Masters degree. Bravo!

To Eric Walowit: Thank you for taking the time many years ago and coming out of retirement to take me on as a project and teaching me the importance of color theory and color management.

To Eric Magnusson: Thank you for always taking the time to explain what Eric Walowit meant when he taught me color theory and color management.

To Gordon P. Brown: Thank you for all of the help you have not only given to me on this book project but over all the years you have been my Shell answer man of all things photographic.

To Jed Best: Thank you for being the beta tester of this book, for making sure I explained everything. Thank you for also being such a good friend.

To Mark Jaress: Thank you for being the person who taught me Photoshop. Thank you, thank you, thank you...

To Chef John Fraser of Dovetail Restaurant in New York City: First, thank you for taking the time to write the Afterword of this book and second, thank you again for the week I spent in your kitchen.

To this day, studying with you reminded me of the importance of being attentive to detail in my work. Everything matters when you create; everything dovetails into everything else. A day has not gone by that I have not reflected on what I learned in your kitchen. Thanks also to your entire staff for so generously sharing their knowledge.

To Fatima Nejame: Thank you for talking me into teaching, thank you for all of the wonderful places you have asked me to go and teach, and thank you for being my friend. I really like seeing the world through a camera with you.

To Ted Waitt, my editor at Peachpit Press: This book is finally done. Thank you for fighting the good fight for me, and thank you for keeping me safe.

To everyone at Peachpit Press: Thank you for your hard work and efforts to make this book happen.

To Ed Sanchez and Mike Slater of Nik Software: Thank you for keeping the company so alive and on the edge of technology. Thank you for providing five of the crown jewels for this book. Your friendship outside of work is cherished.

To Josh the boy wonder Haftel of Nik Software: You never sleep, and thats a good thing for all of us who use the products you manage.

To Joe Sliger of Wacom: Once again if it were not for you, the tablet presets that are part of this book would not have happened.

To Dr. Adrian Cohen: You are the standard I try to live up to in all my deeds.

To Jeff Chien, Brian ONeil Hughes, Chris Cox, and John Nack of Adobe: you four have the patience of Job. Thank you for answering all of my questions, my follow-up questions, and my follow-up follow-up questions....

To Challen Cates, Lilan Bowden, Stephen Kearin, and Lizzet Lopez: Thank you for all the time you spent sitting in front of my camera waiting for me to get it right.

To Dan Steinhardt of Epson: Thank you yet again for providing me with your unfailing support even when I was/am/still a complete pain in the ass. Because of you, once again, another pocket of time was created in which I could create this book.