Australian Photography – September 2019

PHOTO TIPS: BLACK AND WHITE CONVERSIONS

Here’s an example which should make this point clear:

The blue post and the red bowser in the image above are very different
in the colour version - but when converted to B+W with a single click the

blues and the reds end up as very similar greyscale values - have a look at

the image directly below the colour image. The result is the image loses a
lot of tonal contrast. Compare it to the other two versions at the bottom of

the page where the reds and blues have been adjusted separately.

This loss of colour contrast is what we are controlling when we make

these conversions and there are many ways to do it, from simple tech-
niques like this to advanced techniques using blending modes and

masking in Photoshop. Regardless of the method, the key is to control

the contrast, such that the perceived colour contrast is maintained, or
even strongly emphasised, and the image looks punchy and strong.