Black and White Photography
in the Digital Age
There are several ways to convert color images to black & white. If your digital SLR camera has a black and white mode you can choose this as a pre-process method. I prefer post-process methods however because you have more control over the outcome of the image.The best methods to convert to b&w are by using photo-editing software. Photoshop is the preferred software; the most current version of PS is CS5 however earlier versions will work just fine. You can also use Photoshop Elements, which is much less expensive. I have Photoshop CS3 and have outlined the steps for the conversion below: The simplest method is to desaturate the image and then fine-tune it with the brightness and contrast adjustment.Here are the steps: Step 1) Bring image into Photoshop
Step 2) Duplicate image - you never want to work on an original image. Step 3) Image - Adjustments - Desaturate
Step 4) Image - Adjustments - brightness and contrast.Increase the brightness and then the contrast. Adjust until you are satisfied.
Step 5) Save file Another method is to use the new black and white adjustment that was introduced in Photoshop CS3.(earlier versions do not have this tool.) This tool can be found under "Adjustments" Once you have applied the tool you can fine tune the adjustment using the red, green and blue channel markers. Typically they should add up to 100. You can also use the "auto setting"
There are many other methods for converting images to black and white including the use of third party plug-ins. Among the most popular is from Nik Software. I have also purchased actions from
Kevin Kubota
The amazement of using Photoshop actions is that all the work is done and all you have to do is click the arrow for the action to begin. Actions perform very quickly; presto and the action is completed. Warm toned, silver toned, high fashion, sepia, moonlight, grainy, and punchy are just some of the options you can achieve in an actions palette. You would have to spend tons of time to learn how to create the actions yourself. I highly recommend purchasing Photoshop actions from either Kevin of Gavin (listed above)What Makes an Acceptable Black and White Image? First of all, you must have a well-exposed and sharp image. If the image is under-exposed it will appear muddy and flat in the conversion. Next, you should have an interesting subject matter. Portraits are very suitable for a black and white conversion. Landscapes, on the other hand, can be less appealing unless there are gradations between white and black. Look for a scene that has bright and dark areas with lots of middle gray. The zone system developed by a famous photographer, Ansel Adams, demonstrates how zones are broken up into 9 areas; 0 being pure black 9 being pure white. An excellent article on this topic can be found at
this website.
When you pull up the levels adjustment tool you will see the representation of tones within your image. A good rule of thumb is to have a graph which shows tones in the mid-range with some peaking in the middle. If an image has more highlights, there will be peaking on the right side, and if an image has more shadows, there will be peaking on the left side. You can also view the histogram in Photoshop which will show how 256 shades of gray are represented.
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