you’re free to complete the process within theAdobe Camera RAWinterface, which means RAW files work best.
RAW files are uncompressed images, and contain all the data that a camera sensor naturally captures.
you’re able to adjust simple prefs like exposure, white balance and contrast with ease in Photoshop.
As JPEGs are a compressed file format, then data is inevitably lost in the compression process.
This makes JPEGs a weaker candidate for post processing.
Personally I can’t help shooting RAW all the time now, just in case.
I’ve chosen a picture of a classic race car I took a few years ago.
The original file is a RAW, and pretty ordinary looking.
The first thing to do is desaturate the image.
Under theHSL/Greyscaletab check theConvert to Greyscaletick box.
Now for the fun bit!
Go back to the firstBasictab and slide theBlacksall the way up to something like 70.
Next we’ll be bringing back some of that lovely detail theBlackstab removed.
This part will vary on each image you process, so remember to play around at this stage.
Move theFill Lightslider gradually higher until you reach your desired level of detail.
There’s a fine balance between the right amount ofFill LightandBlacks, so experiment to see what looks good.
For my image, I reduced theBlacksto 52 and increased theFill Lightto 56.
Finally, you’ll want to fine tune your colours.
Switch to theHSL/Greyscaletab and uncheck Adobe Camera RAW’sPreviewbox in the top right of the window.
Take note of the main colours within the image, and enable thePreviewagain.
Tweak each colour’s appearance using its corresponding slider, deciding whether you want dark or light shades.
The race car photo featured a light blue sky, green car and a reddish bin in the background.
To intensify the sky, I reduced theBlueslider to -70 to make it very dark.
Finally I used theGraduated Filtertool to darken the edges by -1.5 EV.
There you have it, an image with a lot more impact.
Have you tried this technique?
Do you have another way of converting your black and whites?
Add a comment and let us know!
