Digital Photographer - UK (2020-05)

Thepowerof B&W

2

Add

black

andwhite

adjust-

mentlayer

While

workingnon-destructivelyinPhotoshop,add

aB&Wadjustmentlayer.Thisenablesyou

toconvertdifferentcolours(channels)to

differentvalues.Similarapproachescanbe

takeninLightroomandCaptureOne.

4

Darkenthesky

Dramaticblack

andwhitesoften

havedarkskieswith

fluffywhiteclouds.

Thisisbestachieved

bydarkeningblue

andcyanchannels.

Don’tgoalltheway

tozero.Andyes,you

needtousebothblueandcyanchannels.

5

Lightenthe

foliageTomake

theimagepop,create

someinterestinthe

foregroundfoliage,so

usetheredchannel

slidertolightenup

theseareas.The

pixelswithredvalues

arelightened.Redandyellowchannels

workwellwithmanylandscapes.

6

Makefinishing

adjustments

Youcanaddany

numberoffurther

adjustmentlayers

toenhanceyour

monochromeimage.

Foradramaticeffect,

addincontrastwitha

brightness/contrast

adjustmentlayer.

Right

TheB&Wconvert

Therearemany

differentwaysacolour

imagecanbeconverted

toblackandwhite.This

examplewasmadewith

aB&Wadjustmentlayer

andsettoproducea

high-contrastresult

Rightinset

Thecolouroriginal

Aclassicblackand

whitelandscapewill

havearich,near-black

skyandfluffywhite

clouds.Wehavealotof

controloverhowcolour

isconvertedtoblack

andwhite

TherearemanywaystocreateB&WsinPhotoshop–thisisjustone!

3

Usedefaultor

presetsPhotoshop

startsoffwithits

defaultsettings,

whichyoumaynot

likeverymuch.You

canalsochooseone

ofthepresetsfrom

thedrop-downmenu.

Theredfilterisalwaysafavouritewith

landscapephotographers.

1

Openyour

colour

photoTo

makeagreat

blackand

whiteimage,

manypeople

believeyou

shouldhaveagreatcolouronetostart

with.Ifyou’reprocessingaRAWfile,make

surethecolourversionlooksitsbest.

Tomakethe imagepop,create some

interestin the foreground foliage

BEFORE AFTER

EDITING LANDSCAPES