CANONSCHOOL
80 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
SCHOOL
CANON EOS
SOLUTIONS
Introducing a new regular series where we go
in-depth into Canon’s free imaging software
BRIAN WORLEY
CANON PRO
Brian is a freelance photographer
and photo tutor, based in
Oxfordshire. He has unrivalled
EOS DSLR knowledge, after
working for Canon for over
15 years, and is the perfect
man to help you master
Canon’s software.n this tutorial you’ll
learn how to create
vintage style black-
and-white photos
using the tools in DPP.
For the authentic look
you’ll need to apply some
of the ways of the skilled
darkroom workers to
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Choosing the Monochrome
Picture Style is one part of theprocess, but also consider how
your photo is taken. In this
example a small LED light was
used to light the model. Being
a small light, it creates hard
edged shadows, and these
are further enhanced by
positioning the lig-ht close to
the model, for rapid fall off.
This is the same style of
light that was used in the
vintage photos. If the lightlooks too hard a small diffuser
in front of the light will be a
little more forgiving on skin
texture. Old style make up
helps with the authenticity,
so ask your model to bring a
darker shade of lipstick and
eyeliner than normal.
Watch the exposure, since
you need to keep all the tones
in the frame within the range
your camera can capture.If you can still see detail in the
white towels then you have a
good starting point. Make sure
to switch off highlight tone
priority in your camera since
you want an even spread of
tones and plenty of detail in
the shadows. This photo was
taken in a shower, but any
kind of background would
work as long as it doesn’t
scream modernity.Hollywood movie style in DPP
Create the vintage black and white feel synonymous with old Hollywood movies
I
STEP BY STEP CLASSY HOLLYWOOD PORTRAIT LOOKS
In Canon’s DPP, alter tonal ranges and contrast levels to craft an impactful, vintage, portrait
01 MAKE MONO PHOTOS
If you took the photo in
colour, like here, you’ll need
to convert to black and white.
Change the Picture Style for
instant black and white. Just
like the camera settings, the
Monochrome Picture Style
lets you simulate coloured
filters with the Filter effect
dropdown.02 TONAL RANGES
Turn on the highlight and
shadow warnings, so you can
see the effect of adjustments.
You want solid blacks in the
shot, this is done by adjusting
the gamma. Drag the left
vertical line towards the
middle to deepen shadows.
I moved the central slider
to brighten the mid-tones.03 ENHANCE CONTRAST
Increasing the contrast
control adjusts the shape of
the gamma curve, making
blacks deeper and whites
brighter. Here it pulled back
the highlights to retain detail
after adjustments. I set the
highlight and shadow warning
threshold to 253 and 2 when
doing this adjustment.04 ADJUSTMENTS
Click on the Adjust specific
areas tab in the tool palette
to access the tools to adjust
brightness and contrast in
photos. You can have several
adjustment areas. We used
two, one to reduce the
brightness of the towels, a
second to create a vignette
around the edge of the shot.