Black and White Conversion - 3 Options in Adobe Lightroom

For amateur photographers who want to wait on that $800 Photoshop software purchase, or professionals who want a user friendly photo editing interface, Adobe’s Lightroom is a fantastic $300 solution.

In Lightroom, there is a plethora of ways to sort, edit, and share photos professionally. This is also true for Lightroom’s black and white conversion process.

Lightroom has several options for black and white conversion. Here are 3 awesome ways to convert your images into Black and White – and get results that are different every time.

Option 1: Grayscale Conversion

Time Involved – 30 seconds

Process – Click and Adjust Contrast

In the develop module, directly below the histogram, the grayscale conversion bottom is located in the “Basic” view. The grayscale option can be achieved by simply clicking “Grayscale”. Typically, this particular grayscale conversion produces a black and white image of flat mid-tones. You will want to adjust your contrast for more variation.

Option 2: Grayscale Mix

Time Involved – 2 minutes

Process – Click and Adjust Tone Channels

The Grayscale Mix is found below the “Basic” and “Tone Curve” views. Click the “Grayscale” button next to the “HSL” and “Color” buttons. This converts the image into grayscale tones, but allows you to adjust each color tone individually. Play around with these adjustments until the tones are most balanced and artistic.

Option 3: Split Toning

Time Involved – 5 minutes

Process – Adjust Highlights and Highlight Saturation, Adjust Shadows and Shadow Saturation, and Adjust Balance, Adjust Vibrancy and Contrast

Beneath the “Grayscale Mix” views is the “Split Toning” option. This type of conversion is one of the most involved. Adjust the slider to set your highlight color and saturation level, and then do the same with your shadows. From here, adjust the balance of which is more prevalent, highlights or shadows. You will find that at this point, your image is not in black and white, it is in whichever colors you have chosen as your shadows and highlights. From here, you will need to go back to the “Basic” option. Here you will adjust the vibrancy and saturation of the overall image. As you adjust these sliders, your image will become black and white with prevalent tones from your split toning.

from: digital-photography-school.com

Creating Adobe Lightroom Presets

Creating Presets for Adobe Lightroom need not be as hard as many people think it is. In this tutorial Christina from Christina Nichole Photogrpahy shows us how to do it.

Successful photographers have a particular style of post processing for their images. This “style” is a signature that defines their product from other photographers. However, this doesn’t mean that they spend hours upon hours figuring out how to unify every single image. What gives?

Many pros have transitioned from using PhotoShop for every single image, to “preset editing” in Lightroom and using Photoshop for select editing. In fact, Lightroom is equipped with handling “Presets” that can save you an abundance of time and energy during your editing.

With little more than a click of your mouse you can both use and create these presets.

1. Choose an edited photo you love.
2. Go to Lightroom’s Develop Module
3. Check out the panel on the left hand side. At the top of the navigator you will find the Presets option. Lightroom comes with a set of presets for you to start with.
4. Find the “+” sign. Click this.
5. A box will pop up, directing you to checkmark all the settings you want to include in your preset. Check mark all if you are not sure what you want. You can make a new preset later if you want a variation.
6. Name the preset [btw, it helps to name the preset by something that will help you remember what it is. For instance, use, “high contrast color” rather than, “awesome.”]
7. Scroll down and you will find the option for “User Presets”. This is the category where you will find your newly created preset.
8. Select another photo. Choose the preset in your user preset list and viola! Your photo is set! [Note: you may need to adjust the preset based on the photo’s original exposure, color, etc.]

Bonus: Don’t know which preset to use on your photo? Preview the way your preset looks the photo by simply moving your mouse over the preset in the upper left hand corner of the develop module. This way you can speed through your presets and select the best one for your photo.

digital-photography-school.com

Playing With Fire - How to Photograph Fire

All photography needs light. It’s at the heart of the word photography. For the most part that light comes from the sun or from an artificial flash. But today I’d like to talk about the use of fire as the primary source of light. Fire, from a single candle to a raging inferno, presents some great opportunities to stretch your creative side. There are many different forms fire takes and a few different ways to attempt to capture those special images that convey the power, heat, subtlety or warmth that comes from the flame. Let’s take a look at some of the more common practices. Feel free to experiment and post links to your own findings in the comments section below.

Single Flame

Shooting a single flame is one of those tasks that seems simple at first, until it’s attempted. For this experiment you’ll need a candle of just about any type, a dark area to help highlight the flame, a tripod or some sturdy surface to hold your camera and patience. It’s best to use manual focus and focus on the end of the wick. The flame itself will not be in super clear focus as it is producing the light while being a three dimensional object, meaning the intensity and points to focus on it will be varied. If your camera has spot metering, use it and take a reading off the flame itself. This may produce a fairly dark image, so experiment with overexposing a little by slowing down the shutter speed. Make sure there are no drafts around to move the flame if what you’re looking for is the photo at left. Conversely, once you have the basic technique and shutter speed figured out, play around a little by lightly blowing on the flame and attempting to capture its dance. This candle photo was shot at 1/6th of a second at f/8 to help increase depth of field in the candle itself.

Stop or Go

The two photos below are examples of the same basic activity but with drastic differences in presentation. The top photo was taken with a fast shutter speed (1/60th at f/3.5) to stop the action of the fire spinning while the image on the bottom has a much slower shutter speed (3.2 seconds at f/3.4). Both images are dramatic in their own way; the top image highlights the spinner and gives structure to the fire, while the bottom one shows what the action really looks like and trades off clarity in the spinner. DPS has an excellent video tutorial by Forum Member Sodaman420 on Light Painting if you’re looking to shoot more shots like the photo on the right.

Campfires

Campfires are one of the easiest fire images to take. But the key is in getting the shutter speed dialed in. It’s best to use a slightly longer shutter time to help blur the fire as well as give any sparks a chance to leave a light trail. The image at left was exposed for one second at f/3.5 so the participants had to remain fairly still and the camera had to be tripod mounted or on a suitable surface (rock, backpack, cooler, etc…). Campfire shots are great at conveying warmth and calm or a wild party attitude, depending on what the subjects in the picture are doing. If the shutter is left open too long here, the fire will be too bright and the mood lost.

Big Fire

Attempting to capture images of large scale fire while not losing the feel of the heat can be tough. Most images are understandably taken at a distance far from the flames, which causes the fire to lose impact and scale. Here, safety is a number one concern as wildfires are very unpredictable. The shot below, taken of the Santa Barbara Fire in California, does an excellent job of capturing the ferocity of the fire by waiting until night to add a dramatic effect to the smoke. Being able to highlight the smoke gives a sense of volume and space to the fire beyond its attachment to the ground. Also, shooting at night with a slower shutter speed allows for more intensity in the flames varying color and brightness.

Fire carries with it a lot of impact and variety. Show us how you have captured images of flames, big and small, in the comment section below.

from: digital-photography-school.com