Black and White Processing Without Selections in Landscape Photography

Working without selections or with just a few, seems to be counter-intuitive if you consider the elaborate way I process my images generally but in this image I experimented with it to see how far I can go.

The conclusion is that, even if not having accurate selections to control the image in depth, I still had a certain level of control by using the other tools in a smart way. This kind of processing is more suited for landscape photography than for architecture, because in landscape photography one can be more permissive with outline than in architecture photography.

A very good tool I have used and I am using when I can is the “Edge Aware” function in Topaz Labs B&W Effects which is a tool that allows you to paint an effect inside an outline without spilling it outside the outline. The tool understands the edges and keeps the effect you apply inside the border. This is one of the best tools in Topaz Labs B&W Effects and one of my most used.

About the image

Shot in the Attica Peninsula, a few days ago, while scouting for my next private workshop in Athens, I tried on Sea of Devotion II a new way of processing, a black and white processing without selections.
If you want to book a private workshop with me, you can do it here: Private workshops & Mentoring Courses with Julia Anna Gospodarou.
I would be happy to teach you everything I know about black and white fine art and take you to the best locations in wonderful Athens or anywhere else in the world.

I was born a traveler and I was born an artist. You can trust me 100%, this is what I love to do most: share my knowledge and show others the best places for photography in the world.

I shot this image with Formatt-Hitech Firecrest 16 IRND filter, my favorite filter in my bag. No need to say, this is the best ND filter you can shoot with. If you are an architectural or landscape photographer you need this filter just as much as you need your wide-angle lens.

Read the review I made recently, Formatt-Hitech Fiecrest 16 stops IRND filters review (don’t forget that you can use my code JULIA10 to get 10% discount off any filter or other Formatt-Hitech product from www.formatt-hitech.com). You will see in the review why I like to work with Formatt-Hitech filters. I hope you’re already using these filters to shoot long exposure, if not, you should do it. Read the review to see why.

If you want to learn more about long exposure photography you can read my Long Exposure Photography Extensive Tutorial that is a complete guide to this fascinating technique, and you can also purchase my video tutorial Long Exposure, Architecture, Fine Art Photography – Creating (en)Visionography that comes with my 50-page eBook “Advanced Black and White Processing” where I present in detail my workflow for black and white photography and long exposure photography.

Experimenting Black and White Processing Without Selections

One interesting piece of trivia. I edited this image almost without making any selection, just by “drawing” it – using layer blend modes, gradients, dodge and burn and luminosity masks. I’ll show you how soon.

Fine Art Photowalk announcement

London Photowalk Update – FREE  Event – Sunday, February 15th – 11am – London City Hall:
I’ll be in London for a few days next week to film a series of lectures on black and white Fine Art photography for a well-known UK photography school where I will be teaching soon and I would like to meet as many London photographers as I can while I’m there.

If you are in London on Sunday, February 15th and want to meet me, I’ll organize a casual FREE photowalk around the City of London where I will share tips for black and white, long exposure and architectural/urban photography.

Meeting at 11am in front of London City Hall building by Norman Foster – on the riverside, close to the Tower Bridge.

I’ll be back with details and a formal announcement over the next few days.

Back to my image now.

PROCESSING

TECHNICAL DATA

Long exposure image shot at sunset in low light.
– Camera settings: 764.0 sec.(~13 min.) @ f/4.5, ISO 100
– Neutral Density Filters: 16 stops Formatt Hitech  Firecrest 16 stops IRND Filter  – circular version.
– Shot with Canon 5D MK3 & Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
– T/S settings – no tilt, no shift

PROCESSING SOFTWARE

– LR5, PS CC , Topaz B&W Effects  (Topaz Labs B&W Effects 2 Full Review) +Topaz DeNoise + Topaz Detail

The RAW version of the image

Here is a RAW version of the image, before processing.

Straight conversion to black and white

And here is a straight conversion to black and white, to see the difference processing with PhtD (Photography Drawing) can make. More about Photography Drawing and about my entire black and white fine art philosophy and processing in my book From Basics to fine Art.

Topaz Labs 15% Discount for my students and followers

The folks at Topaz Labs were so kind to not only feature my work so many times and participate in my workshops, but they also gave me a discount code for my students and followers who are reading this blog and want to use the best software available in their post-processing work. You can use my special code JULIAG to get  15% discount for any of the Topaz plugins, separately or the whole collection. You can use the code by ordering at this link. Enjoy!