Hi folks,
To continue on with my short post in the Photography thread, here's a very short guide. I can post more basic post-processing techniques if you like this one.
To the PS freaks: I know this is quite simple, but I was really blown away initally when I discovered this feature hidden in the menus. 
Converting a photograph to black and white is not just about removing colors. It's about choosing which range of colors represent "black" and which range "white". The correct choice of the color tone can create powerful photographs which convey a sense of depth and feeling to the shot instead of looking like flat greyscale images.
The most popular method of converting to B&W - simple remove the colors! How?
Photoshop's Desaturate feature.
(This is what almost all cameras do when you choose the BlacknWhite option in the cam's menu. This is why I prefer taking the shot in color and post-processing it later to my liking.)
The better and indeed more satisfying way to do it is given in the short guide below:
1. Open your photo. I've opted for a picture of the Notre Dame in Paris, no post-processing done...this is straight out of camera so far.
2. Before we start the process of giving the monochrome look to your photo, you first need to understand which color ranges are going to be Dark and which are Light for you.
For this, go to the Channels Palette
Here I've isolated only the Green channel
2. Go to Layers>New Adjustment Layers>Channel Mixer. Click!
3. Click OK there to open the New Channel Mixer layer window.
Tick the Monochrome tickbox and the image will immediately turn Monochrome (B&W) with default values. Voila!
4. I don't like the look of this yet, as it's not punchy enough. So you can play with the values of Red, Blue, Green channels to achieve the final look you want.
My final settings:
Just a few guidelines:
1. Ensure that the Total value adds up to 100% or thereabouts or you'll clip out the highlights. In my example, I've added a bit more than 100% to bring more light into the picture.
2. As I chose Red as my "bright" channel, the yellowish-tinged Notre Dame turns out white and since the Blue channel is subdued and hence dark, the sky turns a ghastly black. I feel the shot has a good eerie feeling thanks to this.
Finally here are the examples:
1. The original shot
2. The Desaturated B&W (the usual black n white)
3. The Channel Mixed B&W
...and a few more samples. All from Paris! (hint, hint...my next upload of photos on the Photography thread
hyeah: )
Original
Desaturated
Channel Mixed!
This is one from the Louvre. Just an example to show that you can do both the methods and achieve different photographs:
The original
Desaturated but Levels adjusted
Channel Mixed
Enjoy losing your colors! :hap2:
Done!
Payne
To continue on with my short post in the Photography thread, here's a very short guide. I can post more basic post-processing techniques if you like this one.
To the PS freaks: I know this is quite simple, but I was really blown away initally when I discovered this feature hidden in the menus. Converting a photograph to black and white is not just about removing colors. It's about choosing which range of colors represent "black" and which range "white". The correct choice of the color tone can create powerful photographs which convey a sense of depth and feeling to the shot instead of looking like flat greyscale images.
The most popular method of converting to B&W - simple remove the colors! How?
Photoshop's Desaturate feature.
(This is what almost all cameras do when you choose the BlacknWhite option in the cam's menu. This is why I prefer taking the shot in color and post-processing it later to my liking.)
The better and indeed more satisfying way to do it is given in the short guide below:
1. Open your photo.
I've opted for a picture of the Notre Dame in Paris, no post-processing done...this is straight out of camera so far. 2. Before we start the process of giving the monochrome look to your photo, you first need to understand which color ranges are going to be Dark and which are Light for you.
For this, go to the Channels Palette
Here I've isolated only the Green channel
2. Go to Layers>New Adjustment Layers>Channel Mixer. Click!
3. Click OK there to open the New Channel Mixer layer window.
Tick the Monochrome tickbox and the image will immediately turn Monochrome (B&W) with default values. Voila!
4. I don't like the look of this yet, as it's not punchy enough. So you can play with the values of Red, Blue, Green channels to achieve the final look you want.
My final settings:
Just a few guidelines:
1. Ensure that the Total value adds up to 100% or thereabouts or you'll clip out the highlights. In my example, I've added a bit more than 100% to bring more light into the picture.
2. As I chose Red as my "bright" channel, the yellowish-tinged Notre Dame turns out white and since the Blue channel is subdued and hence dark, the sky turns a ghastly black. I feel the shot has a good eerie feeling thanks to this.
Finally here are the examples:
1. The original shot
2. The Desaturated B&W (the usual black n white)
3. The Channel Mixed B&W
...and a few more samples. All from Paris! (hint, hint...my next upload of photos on the Photography thread
hyeah: )Original
Desaturated
Channel Mixed!
This is one from the Louvre. Just an example to show that you can do both the methods and achieve different photographs:
The original
Desaturated but Levels adjusted
Channel Mixed
Enjoy losing your colors! :hap2:
Done!
Payne
