Selenium Toning In Photoshop CS3

Many, many years ago when I did a lot a darkroom work I remember learning about and attempting some Sepia and Selenium toning on my prints. Of course, now that we're in the digital age, toning is something that you do in Adobe Photoshop (or related applications). I'm not exactly sure why I recently became fixated on this topic: I must have come across an old photo that I took long ago or perhaps it was an Ansel Adams Selenium toned photograph that I came across in an old book. In either case, I have been searching the web and Photoshop books for information about toning. Specifically I am interested in Selenium and Cyano. I did come across one book that had a very good section about toning: "Advanced Digital Black & White Photography" by John Beardsworth and a couple of web sites: Paul Butzi Photography, the Adobe Community web site, and something from ePaperPress.

Of course there were many other such web sites, but these three had decent directions on how to tone using Photoshop. Paul Butzi's had a section entitled "Toning Digital Prints" which had several ways to perform different tones, one of them included using curves. Patti Anderson's post on the Adobe Community web site includes several gradients. It was for a much earlier version of Photoshop (7.x), but it does seem to work. The last web site that I found interesting was from Tom Nieman's ePaperPress web site. It requires a little more navigation, but the whole section on Black and White is worthwhile clicking through. By the way, some of these sites use older versions of Photoshop, but you can get the general idea.

So, using the information I gleaned from these web sites and the book mentioned above I made my first attempt at Selenium toning using Photoshop which is shown below. I used an image that I had taken in Silver Plume of the Georgetown Loop Railroad engine. The picture on the left is done using a curves adjustment layer while the other is via a gradient adjustment layer.



Did I succeed? To paraphrase an instructor of mine from the Denver Darkroom, I too remain skeptical. Both of the images print nicely, but my printing is still in the primitive stages. I will continue to work this out.

The Raspberries

The reason I came across The Raspberries this morning was because I was trying to consolidate some small pieces of paper on my computer desk. I had written myself a note when I heard one of their hit songs, "Go All The Way" from way back in 1972 when I heard them on Sirius satellite radio on the "Totally 70s" channel. One of the best things about satellite radio is that with all of the stations there are so many old songs (that bring back memories) that you get to hear. I remember hearing them when I was growing up, I never realized their influence on other musicians until I just read about them.



A story that I recall from the year 1977 was when I was driving some friends somewhere. The Alan O'Day song "Undercover Angel" came onto the AM radio. At about the same time, some girls, they were girls back then, in the back seat were talking about two piece bathing suits. One of the young ladies commented on how she had to purchase a larger top. I, being a little slow, thought, "gee you can buy them in different sizes?" Funny what you remember.

A Christmas Carol

I'm watching one of the best versions of 'A Christmas Carol' It is the 1984 made for TV version with George C. Scott. It was pointed out to me that his voice (and acting) was wonderful in this performance. It is indeed.

Linsky

My parents recently purchased a Apple Macintosh Macbook Pro. My dad had gotten fed up with using a Windows PC and all the art students that he teaches suggested that he should be using a Mac. I certainly wouldn't disagree with him, especially since using iPhoto will make it very easy for them to connect their camera. Anyway, I get a call from him about connecting it to the internet. He tells me that he has a blue cable that he can connect to the back of the Linsky. "Linsky" I thought? Huh? He went on about wireless and other stuff. A few seconds later it hit me...Linksys. He meant Linksys. Very funny. My mom called today and used the same Linsky term. "Yes, you need to turn on the Linsky first before turning on the computer," I told her. Very cute.

Kindle, First Impressions

The nice UPS gal (who must be very tired by this time of day) brought us the Amazon Kindle that I had purchased a few weeks ago. I had been looking at eBooks as a potential gift and had originally settled on the Sony Digital Book Reader. About that time Amazon announced their Kindle eBook reader. It looked pretty cool on their web site and it used the same E-Ink® that Sony does on theirs. The reviews (also on the Amazon site) were mixed. I agreed with many of the reviewers: the industrial design (i.e. packaging) is pretty poor and it was expensive. (I wonder what it would have looked like if Apple had designed it? Pretty cool I bet.) On the upside, the number of books, magazines, and newspapers that Amazon carried was significantly larger than the Sony. Finally the unique feature was the wireless delivery system using Sprints EVDO which was very clever. Finally, one of the last reviews that I read on Gizmodo convinced me that this was a useful tool was by a reviewer that tested this product in bed.

A Capella

I don't normally watch the CBS Early Show except, perhaps, for the headlines. However, this past Friday they announced the finalists for "The Early Show" Boyz II Men A Capella Quest. The first one, Overboard, sung a great version of the Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine." Another, Hookslide, sung "Vehicle" by the "Ides of March." The winner, which was announced on Monday, was Mosaic singing the "Sly and the Family Stone" hit, "Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself Again." This video is on their web site, but I came across it first on YouTube.

Jones Beach

You might ask me, "what convoluted thought process brought you to the subject of this post?" I'm glad that you asked. (Of course, you might not be when you are finished reading this.) Since I have been doing a lot of photography lately, my thoughts turned to a photography teacher that I had in high school: Joseph Szabo. So, with the help of a Google search I came across a show that he had earlier this year in a California gallery. Links also led to his web site. While in a bookstore a few years ago I happened across his book, "Teenage". In that book and on his web site he took photos at Jones Beach. (Oh, so that's how you got to the beach. Yup. Not nearly as convoluted as some of my usual connective gymnastics.)

With my family, I spent entire summers at Jones Beach. What better way to spend the sultry days of summer by swimming in the ocean, walking along the beach, eating egg salad sandwiches (with sand in them), and playing in the dunes. I wish I had more pictures of that time and place. Mr. Szabo had some interesting photos of that time at the beach. There is a lot of history that I have yet to read about Robert Moses.

It's been snowing all day and I wish it were summer and I was at the beach. Of course, its winter and Jones Beach is nearly 3000 km away. Ugh.

Starved For Entertainment?

This morning I watched some of the The Early Show. The lead story was about the mid-west ice storms and the havoc it was creating. One of the later stories was about puppy mills. Who likes to see our favorite animals (cats too) locked in small cages in horrible conditions, right? Then came a story about the latest Barney cam film, "Holiday in the National Parks." Huh? Why wasn't I informed about this? Where have I been to miss this latest use of the internet? OK folks. I realize that the first dog and dogess are cute, but really, since the tv writers are on strike, are we that starved for entertainment? For goodness sake, read a book, watch some porn (after all isn't that what the internet is for), or go outside (horrors) and go for a walk.