(Originally published 2016)

1) Agenda

a. Why choose Black & White?
b. What things look better in B&W than in color

i. Portraits
ii. Emphasis on Light
iii. Emphasis on Shape or Structure
iv. Removing Distractions
v. Setting a Mood

c. Options for converting to B&W
d. Advanced Processing Options
e. Demonstration of workflow in Adobe Lightroom 6 and Nik
Software’s Silver Efex Pro (plug-in to Adobe LR)

2) Why Choose B&W?

a. People are used to seeing B&W images in newspapers and magazine
photos
b. B&W photos are “timeless”
c. Some photos can look good in either color or B&W

3) Practice “seeing” in B&W

a. Use your iPhone to capture everyday scenes in B&W
b. Hipstamatic app for smartphone allows you to capture images in
monochrome. Greg recommends: Black Keys films (Extra Fine and
Super Grain) and Blanko BL4 (some color, but mostly B&W)

4) Portraits

a. Monochrome photos even out skin tones and hide mixed light (white
balance) issues
b. Without color, viewer focuses on bright areas (eyes, teeth, etc)
c. Classic look (i.e. wedding photos and newspaper photos)
d. LOOK FOR Photos with: simple scenes (close-ups), good facial
expressions, photos where you want to emphasize emotions

5) Emphasis on Light

a. By taking away color, viewers must look at the different levels of
light (tonal range) in an image
b. Images with high contrast (called “high key”) or silhouettes
c. LOOK FOR Photos with: single light source (think ‘spot light’), high
contrast or dynamic lighting

6) Emphasis on Shape or Structure

a. By taking away color, viewers must focus on shapes and structures
within a photo to define the image. Textures also look good in B&W.
b. Reason many architectural photos look good in B&W (also hides
colors reflected in shinny surfaces which may be distracting)
c. LOOK FOR Photos with: sharp edges, strong lines, images where
color doesn’t add anything to the image or images is mostly one color
already (i.e. some landscape scenes, cityscapes)

7) Removing Distractions

a. Declutter “busy” photos
b. Remove distracting colors (e.g. colorful clothing or party decorations)
c. LOOK FOR Photos: when your eyes are drawn more towards colors
or background in the photo instead of the intended subject

8) Setting a Mood

a. Spooky or scary subjects – B&W photos reminiscent or old Hitchcock
movies and film noir crime shows
b. B&W can convey a melancholy feeling

9) Advanced Monochrome Options

a. High/Low Key
b. Other Monochromes: Sepia, single color
c. Infrared film
d. Selective coloring or split toning

10) Processing Tips for Monochrome conversions

a. Adobe Lightroom

i. Perform normal ‘color photo’ edits in the Basic tab of the
Develop Module before converting to monochrome
ii. Use HSL/Color/B&W panel in the Develop module. Select
B&W tab to convert to monochrome and move color channel
sliders
iii. For adding color to B&W conversions, instead of selecting the
B&W tab, use the HSL tab and reduce saturation of all color
channels to create a B&W image, and then bring back color of
choice
iv. After converting to monochrome, may need to go back to Basic
tab and play with contrast and clarity sliders to get desired look

b. Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro (plug-in to Lightroom or Photoshop)

i. Perform normal ‘color photo’ edits in the Basic tab of the
Develop Module before converting to monochrome
ii. Export from Adobe as “Edit a Copy with Adjustments”
iii. Scroll through presets on left column to get a starting point
iv. Customize image using sliders in right panel
v. Use Control Points to make targeted adjustments of specific
areas in photo

1. Also use this to bring back color using “Selective Color”
option in control point option list

vi. Saving photo will return you to Adobe as a new TIFF file

1. Can use Smart object option in Photoshop to maintain
adjustment history