We’re back with more OM-3 recipes!
This time, we’re taking a look at four jpeg recipes I tweaked a few nights ago. I like these a lot, and I can’t wait for you to take these and photograph the ENTIRE PLANET!
That being said, I’m generally not a monochrome/black-and-white photographer. If you’ve ever seen any of my work, color is my thing. (The following four photos are also taken using my previous OM-3 recipe, “Eternal Sunshine.”)
But the allure of black-and-white is always there… waiting for me.
I’ve learned a lot about photography over the years, mostly because I constantly push myself… and I just have never done that with black-and-white.
So… as we enter late summer and fall, the OM-3 and I are going to be even better friends, because so far these jpegs are AMAZING.
Every photo on this page is SOOC using four monochrome jpeg recipes for the OM-3, all from a two-hour walk last night to test these out. Remember - I didn’t edit these at all, and I really like the different looks we get.
(All of these photos were taken with the new, tiny, awesome 17mm f/1.8.)
These are a work in progress, and I thought about taking more time to develop them. I’ll need to adjust some of the shifts, and white balance also has a huge impact that I haven’t totally dialed in. But you know what? That’s what community is for, right? So take these for a spin and tell me what you think - let’s do this TOGETHER!
Turn your Creative Dial to “MONO” and let’s get started!
*all recipes are using White Balance set at 5300k - A5, M4.
“HIGH NOON” - OM-3 Monochrome Recipe 1
Profile: MONO 1
Color Level: None
Curves: Shadows: -2. Mid: -7. Hi +3.
Shading: 0
Sharpness: -2
Contrast: -1
Grain: Medium
Color: N
Dark shadows. Bright highlights. This look is inspired by harsh light, industrial tones and stark emotion. Some grain adds a little kick.
With this one, we're going after a rock solid jpeg that speaks to low latitude film. When it hits, it’s FANTASTIC, but the exposure can be tricky. These shadows are pretty deep, so a quick shadow recovery edit to the jpeg doesn’t work too well.
Still, for JPEGs straight out of the camera, these rock.
“Black Glass” - OM-3 Monochrome Recipe 2
Profile: MONO 2
Color Level: Blue +3
Curves: Shadows: -2. Mid: -1. Hi +3.
Shading: 0
Sharpness: 0
Contrast: +2
Grain: Low
Color: N
The before/after here really shows how this recipe works in the scene.
Overall, this recipe is a little more neutral than the others and has a lot of potential.
The deep blacks are just wonderful.
Amazingly, though, even the jpegs have a lot of recovery available to the shadows. There is a TON of detail in them, as you can see below.
So contrasty and moody!
The lower grain helps keep the jpegs clean and bright.
“Silver and Dust” - OM-3 Monochrome Recipe 3
Profile: MONO 3
Color Level: Red +3
Curves: Shadows: +1. Mid: -4. Hi -3.
Shading: 0
Sharpness: +1
Contrast: 0
Grain: High
Color: N
This one works in multiple situations well, but can be difficult too!
Looks wonderful on some flowers I found downtown next to the parking lot:
A few more examples from the parking lot:
Be careful, though. The adjustments make highlights difficult. The next photo has a blown out sky. I have to remember to adjust my exposure a bit to the darker side with scenes like this.
I like how these look, but you might want to tone down the red color level on some photos!
“Static” - OM-3 Monochrome Recipe 4
Profile: MONO 4
Color Level: Cyan +2
Curves: Shadows: -5. Mid: +5. Hi +6.
Shading: 0
Sharpness: +1
Contrast: +1
Grain: Medium
Color: N
The last one is so much fun. Dark shadows and blazing highlights? YES!
These jpegs are sharp, contrasty, and wickedly cool.
Have questions?
I was a former high school teacher for almost 20 years before I quit and became a professional creative dude!
That means I love questions and want to help - let’s do this TOGETHER and create some awesome jpeg recipes with the OM SYSTEM OM-3.
Email: jerredz@gmail.com
ALSO - kitty!!
Just unwrapped my OM-3 and it's charging now. I pre-ordered the PEN and in doing some after purchase research (I literally pre-ordered blind at 4a the day it was announced.) I discovered a feature that prompted me to order the OM-3 too.
So here is my question. I probably have the name wrong, but I read about the ability to do bracketing - select several color profiles - take 1 shot, and the camera applies all the selected profiles to the shot. So 1 shot yields 4 different shots. Do you ever use that? How does it work for you? It occurs to me that loading these 4 profiles and shooting in that bracketing mode might be very interesting.
Wonderful Photos