Different ways to create monochrome images – and how they can be improved with additional editing.
While many subjects look best when photographed in full colour, sometimes you may prefer a monochrome alternative. Images containing a full colour palette can appear very ‘busy’ and distract the viewer. Reducing the scene to its tonal values eliminates the distractions and allows viewers to turn their focus to other elements, such as textures, tones, structures and composition.
Two examples of images in which the colour element is key to the impact of the picture. Luminar Neo’s B&W conversion capabilities are limited but the software excels in enabling users to view ‘before’ and ‘after’ versions of editing adjustments.
Sometimes a scene works best in colour, while at other times it has more impact when converted to black and white – or even sepia toned. Monochrome conversions can work well in the following situations:
1. To minimise the influence of distracting backgrounds and show the lay of light and shadows.
2. For drawing attention to structures and textures and emphasising silhouettes.
3. When you want to bring out differences in contrast in a scene with predominantly similar hues.
4. To eliminate the jarring effects of clashing colours or deal with colour casts that can be difficult to fix.
5. To reduce the visual impact of noise. (We are usually more accepting of granularity in B&W images.)
Black and white photos also have a ‘timeless’ quality that creates a sense of nostalgia.
Monochrome capture?
Unless you have an on-going need for a camera that can only record in B&W, it’s seldom worth buying a dedicated monochrome camera since it’s easy to convert a colour image into monochrome and the end result can be as satisfying. With the overwhelming predominance of full-colour capture in our cameras and video recording devices, you may wonder whether it’s even worth setting the camera to monochrome mode.
Dedicated monochrome settings are provided in all cameras with built-in filter and/or effects modes and, while they only affect JPEG files, they can provide a quick and fail-safe way to obtain monochrome shots on-the-fly. However, different brands of cameras often produce very different results.
In-camera adjustments like Fujifilm’s Film Simulation modes are only applied to JPEG files. This illustration shows the ACROS setting (outlined in red), with the standard PROVIA colour mode below and comparisons between the normal MONOCHROME mode (shown on the left side) and the regular ACROS and SEPIA settings.
The Film Simulation modes in Fujifilm’s cameras and Art Filters in OM system cameras are good examples of the options available. Both are applied to JPEGs and ‘baked in’ so they can’t be undone. When you record raw + JPEG files simultaneously, the effect is only applied to the JPEG, leaving the raw file fully editable. You can add a selected effect when you’re processing a raw file in-camera and the camera will save a separate JPEG to the memory card, leaving the raw file unchanged.
Cameras that allow you to capture raw and JPEG images simultaneously, give you the best of both worlds. With the black and white mode enabled, you’ll get a monochrome JPEG plus a full-colour raw file that can be used for editing or archiving. This allows you to explore the various monochrome shooting modes your camera provides without affecting its ability to record all hues and tones in raw image files.
Conversion methods
Even the simplest editing software provides basic B&W conversion adjustments for JPEG images. Unfortunately, when you convert JPEG images to greyscale, a lot of image data is lost because all the colour information is discarded and there’s no way to restore it if you don’t like the result you’ve obtained.
Greyscale conversion is the simplest way to turn colour originals into B&W. Used for many in-camera B&W modes, it’s also provided as a setting in most editing software. Greyscale images are produced by combining the brightness data from the three channels – red, green and blue (RGB) – into a single channel containing 256 shades of grey, ranging from pure black to pure white. In contrast colour images combine 256 shades for each colour channel to produce more than 16 million possible colour combinations (256 x 256 x 256).
These two screen grabs show the greyscale conversion and desaturation adjustments provided in the Photos editor in the Windows operating system.
Desaturation is another quick and easy conversion method; you simply move the saturation slider all the way to the left, which leaves you with a monochrome image. No colour information is discarded and no image data is lost. If you don’t like the end result, moving the saturation slider back to the centre of its range restores normal colours.
However, with this method you have no control over how the various image tones are rendered and you may end up with reduced contrast, which makes the end result appear rather flat.
Software that supports Layers lets you work on a copy layer that sits over your image (to protect the original) and also adjust individual layers separately. If you use Photoshop, create a black and white adjustment layer by clicking on Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black & White. This opens a palette panel that contains similar sliders to the Black & White conversion mode.
The default greyscale setting in Photoshop combines 30% of the red channel luminance with 60% of the green channel luminance and 10% of the blue channel luminance. Other applications have different balances and produce different results. This may work for some images – but it’s unlikely to deliver the best results for all images. We’d only recommend greyscale conversion when no other option is available.
Channel mixing is a much better conversion method which gives you much more control over image tones because you can adjust each colour channel individually. By default, when you check the Monochrome box in the Channel Mixer menu in Photoshop the software combines 40% of the red channel luminance with 40% of the green channel luminance and 20% of the blue channel luminance.
The Channel Mixer adjustment in Photoshop provides sliders that allow you to adjust the tonal bias in an image when converting it to monochrome.
You can change the tonal bias by moving the colour channel sliders. Moving the slider to the right lightens that channel, while moving it to the left darkens it. Try to keep the Total as close as you can to 100% (circled in red in the screen grab). If it’s too low the image will be dark; too high and it will ‘wash out’.
Pre-sets are available in many editors to make it easy to replicate popular effects like infrared and use of different filters. Sliding a control to the left darkens the effect on the nominated colour band while sliding to the right brightens it.
The slider controls work in the same way as the sliders used for channel mixing. Similarly, the presets in the drop-down box mimic the effect of traditional colour filters with black and white film and can provide a good starting point for further adjustments.
Many of the B&W presets in Affinity Photo give you control over individual colour channels so you can tailor the end result to suit your own requirements.
Plug-ins
An alternative is to use a plug-in, which is a compact program that can operate in popular image editors like Photoshop and Lightroom. The best option currently is Nik Silver Efex, which is part of the Nik Collection of eight powerful plug-ins that now belongs to DxO. The other plug-ins target different functions but Silver Efex is the only dedicated monochrome conversion plug-in.
Nik Silver Efex is a monochrome conversion plug-in that gives users complete control over brightness, contrast, tones and the smoothness of transitions, as shown in the screen grab above the converted image.
Silver Efex is designed for professional users and provides more conversion options than the native adjustments in Photoshop or Lightroom. It gives users complete control over brightness, contrast, tones and the smoothness of transitions and also includes pre-sets that can mimic the tonality and grain structure of some of the world’s most iconic B&W films.
As a plug-in, Silver Efex can be accessed directly when working in Photoshop for a speedy workflow. A free 30-day trial of the full Nik Collection is available at www.nikcollection.dxo.com/download, along with access to tutorials demonstrating how each plug-in works.
Toning
Most image editors provide additional toning adjustments that let you add a warm or cool look to a B&W image. The most popular toning adjustments are sepia, which can be anything from yellow to deep brown; and blue, which can vary between cyan and violet. But other tones are possible and there’s nothing to stop you from experimenting further to find a tone that suits your image.
Toning is best applied to images with the full RGB colour channels, even though they’ve been converted into B&W. It should also be subtle and just enough to convey the desired emotional value to your image.
Warm sepia tones usually create a nostalgic impression. They can be flattering for portraits of people and can sometimes work well with landscapes and architectural shots. Blue tones convey a cold, desolate feel and are ideal for subjects like winter landscapes.
These screen grabs show examples of the B&W toning settings in Affinity Photo.
Article by Margaret Brown (see Margaret’s photography pocket guides)
Excerpt from Photo Review Issue 101
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