Lesson 9 - Objective 7 (Thursday)
B09-07 Skill: Convert color photos to black & white photos
Objectives:
Sometimes a mediocre color photo can be made into an amazing black & white image. Here is an example (below). This is a scanned photo taken back in 1970 of my brother and cousin. There is a lot of dust noise, which was easily cleaned up using the dust and scratches filter in the filter > noise menu. However a lot of the problems in the color image were cleared up when converting it to a black and white photo. There are several ways to do this in Photoshop. You can desaturate an image (poorest choice). You can use a black and white adjustment layer (or layers - an even better choice). And you can use the HSL panel in Camera Raw (best choice, in my opinion.) There are even more advanced techniques like using channels. Let's learn how to use camera raw and photoshop to do this. Please watch either of the two videos below...
- Recognize when a color photo might look better in black and white, and be able to convert it to black and white effectively in Photoshop.
Sometimes a mediocre color photo can be made into an amazing black & white image. Here is an example (below). This is a scanned photo taken back in 1970 of my brother and cousin. There is a lot of dust noise, which was easily cleaned up using the dust and scratches filter in the filter > noise menu. However a lot of the problems in the color image were cleared up when converting it to a black and white photo. There are several ways to do this in Photoshop. You can desaturate an image (poorest choice). You can use a black and white adjustment layer (or layers - an even better choice). And you can use the HSL panel in Camera Raw (best choice, in my opinion.) There are even more advanced techniques like using channels. Let's learn how to use camera raw and photoshop to do this. Please watch either of the two videos below...
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Video: Photoshop Playbook: Black & White Conversion (4:35)
Video: How to Create Stunning Black & White Images in Photoshop
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The photo (left, below) is a shot I took at Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde National Park, October 20, 2015. The sky was clouded, and the light fairly flat. To its right is the same photo after processing it in Camera Raw to change it to black and white. After taking into Photoshop, I used a curves adjustment layer to bring out even more contrast, as well as changing it to a sepia tone black and white image. The black and white version eliminates the flat lighting, but keeps the detail and adds more contrast.
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Apply: Exercise B09-07
Take a color photo of your own choosing. Duplicate the color photo into a new layer and convert it into a more dynamic black and white photo. That way, you have both the original color photo, and the converted black and white photo in the layers. Save it as a Photoshop file, and name it B09-07-YourName.psd. This could make a great portfolio exhibit as well. |
