Digital BW, The Print

Dennis, a green filter will emphasize "pimples and blotches".  Those 
skin defects tend to be reddish and a green filter will make then 
darker.  Green filters in portraiture are usually used for men in 
direct sunlight.  I gives then a more sun tanned swarthy look.  To 
smooth out women's skin one would usually use a yellow filter.  
Remember complementary colors are used to darken.  Yellow #15 
filter/blue sky ect...

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Dennis W. 
Manasco" <dmanasco@i...> wrote:
> At 8:18 am -0500 1/24/04, Austin Franklin wrote:
> 
> >  > The reason I make this assertion is that it used to be so 
common as
> >>  to be almost standard to use a green filter when doing B&W
> >>  portraiture. (I'm sorry, but I do not remember the filter 
number; it
> >>  was one of the standard Kodak filters.)
> >
> >I believe that the reason the green channel is given the highest 
weight when
> >converting from color to B&W is it simply carries the most 
information
> >(middle of the spectrum), and it is the cleanest channel (the 
least bloom
> >and smear of a CCD sensor). I don't believe the reasons for using 
it are
> >not related at all to using a green filter for B&W portraiture 
(which I,
> >personally, never heard of...but I never did any B&W portraiture ;-
).
> 
> 
> Austin --
> 
> You _may_ be right about why it was chosen for converting scans. 
But 
> as for using a green filter for B&W portraiture you might look at:
> 
> 
<http://www.schneideroptics.com/filters/filters_for_still_photography/
black_&_white/>
> 
> and scroll down to the B+W 061 green [13] filter.
> 
> Apparently Schneider still makes this filter and I am certain 
several 
> others do as well, though I believe Kodak has sold their filter 
line 
> to someone else.
> 
> Schneider's description of using the 061/Kodak 13 for portraiture 
> is...umm...diplomatic. It was used for pimple and blotchiness 
> reduction. (The reason that they state "with high-speed film" is 
the 
> filter factor: 3.0.)
> 
> By the way: The part of the description about using it for 
enhancing 
> subtle differences in green tones when shooting black and white is 
> dead on. High-summer forest and meadow scenes shot on Pan-X (a 
sorely 
> missed old friend) or better through a K13 and properly printed 
will 
> take your breath away -- the eye and the brain don't begin to 
notice 
> as many tonal variations in grass and canopy as you can get this 
way.
> 
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> -=-Dennis