Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Black and white picture question.

 

 I've been asked about how I do my black and white pictures.  The answer is several different ways.  The first and most common of the pics on this blog is Photoshop.  I use a plug-in called Silver Efects.  This is my favorite method and the one I use when I have time.  It gives a better B+W and has lots of options including a sort of "clarity" slider that makes the pics look more like old real B+W.

 The second method  I use is in camera.  Some of my cameras have a custom setting option on the main mode dial.  I have this set to black and white, with a orange filter and the contrast boosted a click or two.  This has the advantage of letting me see how the shot works as I take it.  That said I can get a good ised just from my eye as I used to shoot a LOT of black and white in film days.

The third option is in Lightroom, I use the B+W options there.  This is what I often use for say a wedding as I'm editing a lot of pics.  Lots of the blog stuff doesnt go through Lightroom, I jst use Photoshop unless it's a lot of images.

 My last and least favorite method is Photoshop again, this time using the built in B+W options, I have a custom preset in there, although IMHO it's not as good as Silver Effects or Lightroom.  I usually have to tweak the contrast after this option.  Its only advantage is it's a lot quicker than Silver Effect which is slow loading.

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