BW

I have been getting many emails as of late inquiring how I do my B&W conversions. So instead of  answering all of the emails I figured I would post it here.
The most important thing is to make sure that your exposure is on and your white balance is on. Once you are there you can go to work on your conversion. There are so many ways to go B&W and I have a few that I like. I am going to explain my favorite method. This method in particular works best for back lit scenes.
First, in your layers palette go to gradient map. From there choose the B&W gradient. (I apply the gradient twice to my photos for added contrast.
After I apply the the gradients to the image I actually use the brightness/contrast slider from the layers palette and scale it back to -11 or so. (this gives the impression of a fuller tonal range, though it actually does quite a bit of damage to the file, it still looks cool.) If you like the technique I recommend creating an action for the conversion in photoshop so you don't have to waste a bunch of time evrytime you want to make a B&W

Thats it, thats all I do.

Here is the before and after.

Enjoy,

Sean

Comments

[Nick]

Thanks! Now all we need is a tutorial on the colors, shooting technique, editing preferences, etc.

Just kidding. But it is appreciated to hear a new method.

[phiL]

...and just tell me, which raw soft do you use for your pictures ?!
thx for your answer :)

metalguitar AT free . fr

[sean]

I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom at the moment. I do special edits in Photoshop.

Thanks,

Sean

[visitor]

Ha. I actually would be interested in how he gets those amazing colors.

[Yang]

Sean thanks for dishin out some of your PS techniques. I'll have to try it your way next time. Much appreciated!

[Jebb Graff]

Thanks Sean. This has just replaced my old B&W action. The old one was overly contrasty, which I liked for objects but it didn't do so well on skin tones. This works great.

[gabe]

Thanks for sharing Sean. Much Appreciated.

[Justin]

Hi Sean, thanks for the demonstration - it's just so easy to now add your own spice to this recipe!

[cialis online]

Nice thanks for share, I really like the black and white effect on the pictures, give to the pictures a little touch of question, like said: i wonder.

[Dating agencies Review]

I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom at the moment. I do special edits in Photoshop.