Photoshop How To

Over the years we've discussed why some photographs are more compelling when converted to b&w and how some processing methods are more complicated than others. And this holds true for landscape scenes, portrait photos, nature images, and other popular genres.

One key challenge when processing our images is to achieve maximum dynamic range to enhance details in shadows, highlights, and everything in between. This is important with color images and perhaps even more critical when processing b&w photos for maximum impact.

One of the challenges facing landscape photographers is dealing with the wide range of tones from deep shadows to bright highlights that often exist in outdoor scenes. With this broad dynamic range, high-contrast edges are very common.

Something interesting happens when it comes to using our photo gear. On the one hand, most photographers calmly and eagerly familiarize themselves with everything their camera can do. But when it’s time to learn even the most basic flash techniques, fear often sets in.

A common mistake made by beginning Lightroom users is going a bit overboard when processing images. Sometime this involves over-sharpening, while other times it’s a heavy-handed approach to enhancing color.

Photoshop Actions are extremely helpful when editing images, whether you’re a novice or an experienced user. As the folks at Adobe explain, “Actions are a user-based series of recorded tasks or commands that you can play back and record on single or multiple files.”

Let's face it: Some scenes are far more compelling when captured in b&w, or when you convert a color image to monochrome during post processing. Today we're going to welcome beginners to the elegant world of b&w photography with some great advice from instructor Mike Rogala.