Black White Photo

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Posted by davids | Posted in Vintage Sports Memorabilia | Posted on 24-09-2008

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Black White Photo

Color photography is now the norm, and is perfect for most situations, however, there are some times when they want the power and simplicity of a photo black and white.

Black and white photography requires a different set of skills to color, like the image is formed exclusively in the areas of light and shadow. These days, black and white film is increasingly difficult to achieve, and if you are lucky enough to have a specialist lab near you, you will find the type processing machine they do in "one hour" photo places leaves much to be desired as regards the processing black and white film.

Many modern digital cameras have a black and white mode, dedicated, but most simply desaturate the image and make it look washed. It often works better to shoot in color and converting the image into Photoshop.

Of course, the easiest way to make a color photo black and white in Photoshop convert the image to grayscale mode (> Mode> Grayscale), but this does not limit your options if you want to improve the image later.

In traditional photography in black and white color filters are sometimes placed over the lens to create a dramatic contrast. This is done because the tones that seem very different in real life (in color) can be combined in a shade of gray when viewed in black and white. The intensity of the colors are the same, although the actual colors are different.

For example, a blue sky with white clouds may appear weak and washed in a black and white photography. If you place a red filter over the lens will darken the blue sky and white clouds that stand out more. This is because the red filter blocks the blue waves more effectively than does the colors are closer to red.

The beauty of Photoshop is that you can experiment and get the right effect. The method I find works best is to keep the image in RGB mode, and adjusting one of the color channels.

If you go to the Layers palette, click the Channels tab, click on (say) the Red channel will see an image similar to a red filter over the lens of a camera with film black and white. The darkening of the blue areas will be a moody, sophisticated image. In comparison, click on the Green and Blue channel. The results will be surprising – and very different!

I, then adjust the result by adjusting the levels. Keep your chosen channel selected, then go to Image> Adjustments> Levels and adjust the sliders to get the desired result. Then be sure to save the image as a new file to preserve the original.

Indeed, applying this process two channels simultaneously, you can get some very impressive color effects too!

About the Author:

Shaun Pearce is a writer and video maker.
His latest production, “Photoshop Master”, is an interactive video tutorial. It shows you how to get the most from Photoshop, and can be downloaded from http://www.learnphotoshopfast.com?=article7

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Use Photoshop for the Perfect Black and White Photo