Photoshop Black and White Conversions - Work Flow - Dodging and Burning Using Curves
Black and white photography is as popular as it's always been but with so many ways to do the initial Photoshop conversion and contrast adjustments, it can be confusing and intimidating to the less experienced or novice user to choose which method to use.
The following work flow is what I use and I recommend you give it a try.
I find it extremely intuitive and flexible and can produce really good results.
Work flow Summary
When the adjustment panel pops up, don't just choose the 'auto' feature.
The different preset filters are worth trying first, particularly the Blue, Green and Red one's.
you may be surprised at how well these work on some images.
I always go through these first as they can be used as a starting point for further editing of the tones.
If you want to change the tone of a particular object or part of the scene, you can put the cursor directly on the image and drag up or down to vary that particular tone.
It's far more intuitive than using the sliders.
It's also very important to remember that when you are adjusting the tones you are NOT changing the brightness but the actual black and white equivalent tone of that color! Another trick that can be used for tone adjustment is using multiple B&W adjustment layers.
Say for instance you adjust a tone like the sky, but you don't like what it does to another part of the image.
What you can do here is mask out the B&W adjustment for that part using a black brush on the adjustment layer itself which will then restore the color back to these parts.
You can then add another B&W adjustment layer which will then only affect the parts that were masked out, then readjust the tones to your liking.
The final stage in my conversion work flow is selective contrast adjustments.
What I do here is break the image down into sections such as sky, background, foreground and any main focal points or large objects.
I then make a selection around each one in turn and also create a curves adjustment layer for each one at the same time.
This approach gives you complete contrast control over each local selection without affecting the other.
This method is also really good for localized dodging and burning.
I used to always use the dedicated dodge and burn tools but since these tools and the curves adjustments do exactly the same thing, ie; contrast adjustments, I have completely discarded the dedicated tools.
The curves adjustment allows for far more control which produces more even results without any patchiness.
To dodge simply add a point on the curve where the highlights are and move this up in small amounts until you get the effect you want.
To burn add a point to the curve where the shadows are and move down in small amounts.
This will produce the standard 'S' curve that is commonly seen when using this tool, however do not be afraid to push these settings more if this is what the image requires! I hope you try this method of black and white conversion, and if you want to see what this method can produce then please feel free to look at the fine art gallery on the website.
Happy converting!
The following work flow is what I use and I recommend you give it a try.
I find it extremely intuitive and flexible and can produce really good results.
Work flow Summary
- Create a black and white adjustment layer
- Adjust the tones interactively on the adjustment layer
- Break the photo into sections for separate curve contrast adjustments
When the adjustment panel pops up, don't just choose the 'auto' feature.
The different preset filters are worth trying first, particularly the Blue, Green and Red one's.
you may be surprised at how well these work on some images.
I always go through these first as they can be used as a starting point for further editing of the tones.
If you want to change the tone of a particular object or part of the scene, you can put the cursor directly on the image and drag up or down to vary that particular tone.
It's far more intuitive than using the sliders.
It's also very important to remember that when you are adjusting the tones you are NOT changing the brightness but the actual black and white equivalent tone of that color! Another trick that can be used for tone adjustment is using multiple B&W adjustment layers.
Say for instance you adjust a tone like the sky, but you don't like what it does to another part of the image.
What you can do here is mask out the B&W adjustment for that part using a black brush on the adjustment layer itself which will then restore the color back to these parts.
You can then add another B&W adjustment layer which will then only affect the parts that were masked out, then readjust the tones to your liking.
The final stage in my conversion work flow is selective contrast adjustments.
What I do here is break the image down into sections such as sky, background, foreground and any main focal points or large objects.
I then make a selection around each one in turn and also create a curves adjustment layer for each one at the same time.
This approach gives you complete contrast control over each local selection without affecting the other.
This method is also really good for localized dodging and burning.
I used to always use the dedicated dodge and burn tools but since these tools and the curves adjustments do exactly the same thing, ie; contrast adjustments, I have completely discarded the dedicated tools.
The curves adjustment allows for far more control which produces more even results without any patchiness.
To dodge simply add a point on the curve where the highlights are and move this up in small amounts until you get the effect you want.
To burn add a point to the curve where the shadows are and move down in small amounts.
This will produce the standard 'S' curve that is commonly seen when using this tool, however do not be afraid to push these settings more if this is what the image requires! I hope you try this method of black and white conversion, and if you want to see what this method can produce then please feel free to look at the fine art gallery on the website.
Happy converting!