Here we are, serious things begin. First I must admit I'm very happy to share this tutorial with photographers or curious people. As a reminder, you won't find here THE way to do black and white conversion, but just A way (that may help you to get YOURS).
Everything is about sharing, so feel free (to share this tuto, of course) and to send me your feedbacks and own methods, there is always something to learn!
UPDATE: I just added a video example of blak and white processing at the end of this page. Note that I made it using the new Lightroom 4 version...
Things you need
Of course, this is a Black & White conversion tutorial using Lightroom, so it would be nice if you had it. I don't know photoshop very well, but this is Adobe and the few things I saw about it let me think that what I'll do here could be easily done with it. Same thing for The Gimp I guess...
Of course you'll also need a (good) photograph. This type of conversion implies to do some heavy manipulations that could have bad influence on your photo if it's not of a certain quality. I think high resolution images are a good start, I'm sure that RAW files are essentials. I shot using a Nikon D7000 that allows me to capture RAW files, you should do so if possible. I won't talk about my lenses, I prefer to shoot with normal prime lenses, known for their optical quality and sharpness...
The objective
So, we are here to "transform" a coloured photograph into a Black & White one. In order to be as understandable as possible, I'll use an example with a screenshot for each phase of the process. I recommend you to save all photos of this tuto on your hard-drive in order to make them scroll on your picture viewer (in order to highlight evolutions between each others).
I'll show you how to transform this:
into that:
First step: Cropping
You know it, cropping is an important step. In this case I think a square format would be more adapted, the right part of the photo being not really interesting. To do so, I go to the crop menu (in development mode):
First, I make the horizon horizontal thanks to an angle modification (possible by manipulating the cursor on the right, or directly the picture).
Then, I choose the 1x1 aspect (means square format) and adjust it on the photo. Of course, as all good student, I try to respect the rule of third... It's easy here, the phonebox will be the main subject on the left. On the right, I'll try to highlight the trees on the background and the lines of the sidewalk: success in black and white is a question of harmony, it's highly recommended to play with shadows, contrasts, textures and... Lines!
Step 2: Black and white activated
We go now to the treatment menu. First I adjust the white balance (using the pipette on a neutral point). I then fix the exposition with the good cursor.
An important thing, to my mind, is to "boost" brightness and contrasts, what will give you a most impacting result.
This being done, you can turn you photo into black and white (I do it by clicking on the "black & white" button).
I really like to play with the "clarity" cursor. For this kind of photo, I often put it to its maximum in order to make lines and blacks more punchy! Please, notice I mentioned "for this kind of photo". It would be completely different if I was working on a portrait (or your model will probably hate you). Just try and you'll understand how it works.
As you may notice (I hope for you), your photo looks a bit "pale". Next steps will give it all the power it contains...
Step 3: Tone curve
Ok, that will begin to become interesting. The tone curve will determine the dynamic of your photo. To my mind, what makes a good black and white photo is to have white whites and black blacks. To do so, I often work with a "S" tone curve. Just adjust the curve till the result is good for you.
Admit it begins to have a face!
Step 4: Sharper
I give a bit more of "aggressiveness" to the photo in the "detail" menu. The main cursor to move is the "amount" cursor. You can adjust others to refine the result.
Step 5: Graduated filter
In order to give a better balance to the overall, I will use one or more gratuated filters. It is also possible to process that with the brush, but what you get on precision, you lose it on harmony: the brush is better to correct a precise point of the photo, not for an overall.
In this case, I apply three graduated filters in order to localy modify the exposition of three part of the photo.
Again I recommend you to play with that tool in order to understand how it works, it's really powerfull!
Step 6: Qualified black & white
Here is the last important step of our conversion. The aim is to play with "colors". Yes, I know, I talk about colors for a B&W photo. What you should understand here is that each color has its intensity, converted in grey levels during the B&W conversion phase.
As you can see, each colour is represented by a cursor that allows you to modify its specific grey level. Thanks to that, you can darken or lighten each part of the photo according to the color it depends.
No best practice here, it's at your own appreciation, try to make it looks like what you were feeling at the moment of the capture.
Last step: Final touch
This last step is really personal. Many people see vignetting like an optical default
. To my mind, it's a good way to highlight the subject of a photo. I often use it, like in this case. Once again, it's at your own appreciation.
Same approach with the grain. I like to break the perfect-looking-aspect of numeric photos. Try and manage it as you like!
Words of the end
That's it, you now know how I work with B&W photo processing. I really hope you enjoyed and (maybe) learned some things. Feel free to share this tutorial, next tutorials quality depends of your feedbacks... Don't hesitate!
Video example (with Lightroom 4)
Damien (http://dasm-photo.fr)
