A few people have commented on a technique that I have used in
my B&W conversion of Raw images. I have two confessions to
make here. First, is it is not B&W. It is Tritone, a type of
grayscale conversion found in PhotoShop. The second confession
is I am still new to it. So, if you read this and have a better
method, I am open to hear about it. I will say that what I am doing
here seems to be working.
I learned this technique from a photographer friend I met on the
net, Mitchell Kanashkevich. This guy has some fantastic images
of India. You should check them out.
I am on a Mac, so all this applies to Photoshop CS2 for the Mac.
I think most of this should be applicable to a Windows version
of Photoshop and Elements. OK, so lets make a Tritone image:
First open your image, either in RAW or JPG. Go through your normal
workflow. Make all your layer adjustments, levels, curves, and
any other adjustments you feel you need to do to tweak and balance
the image. Now flatten the image.
Now go back up to the menu and this time select Image>Mode>Duotone.
Next, go to Image>Mode>Grayscale in the Menu. This will
give you an unremarkable B&W image. Not much to look at, but
unbelievably many people stop here and claim this as their finished
B&W image. Not us,
let’s go on. Now go back up to the menu and this time select
Image>Mode>Duotone.
This will bring up the Duotone options. Under the Type pull-down
menu, select Tritone. Now you are given three options of ink to
use. Here is where you can get creative. You can use the inks I
am going to suggest in the next paragraph or use the preloaded
inks under the Load button. If you click the dialog’s Load
button you will be taken to the Presets folder. The Presets folder
contains all kinds of fun stuff, but we are concerned just with
the next folder called Duotone. Select the Duotone folder then
the Tritone folder. Once in here you will be give a choice of three
more folders; Gray Tritones, PANTONE® Tritones and Process
Tritones. Open any one of these folders and select any of the choices.
If you don’t like what you get, try another one. If you don’t
like any of them try my combination below.
What Mitch and I use for the most part is Ink 1: Black; Ink 2:
PANTONE 1205 C; Ink 3: FOCOLTONE 5012. Select between Pantone,
Focoltone and other inks by clicking on the square ink sample in
the dialog box. Once you have three inks you like loaded, press
ok.
At this point the lovely balanced image you had before is lost
and the image looks pretty dark. Have no fear.
Now go to Image>Mode>RGB to switch the mode back to RGB.
Now go back to your Levels adjusment and crank up those highlights
and mid-tones to a level you like. What I often do now is make
a adjustment level for Selective Color. I then select the blacks
from the pull down menu. I then boost the black level of the black
color choice up 10 to 15%. This gives me some richer blacks and
a nice contrast level.
And there you have it! Now just go back to your normal work flow
for any last minute tweaks and sharpening.
I hope this helps and gives you a “B&W” image
of which you can be proud!
About the Author
Matt
Brandon
has been shooting pictures since he was 10 years old with his father's Cannonet
QL Rangefinder. He and his dad processed his first images in a darkroom built
under the basement stairs. Once hooked, he went on to pursue photography in depth
at university. Matt's Kashmir Himalayan trekking company, Frontier Treks & Tours,
has been a perfect outlet for his photographic passion. Matt has a special eye
for environmental portraits. Matt's work is being published in his first book "Kashmir:
Mystery."
The Indian Government featured his work in Indian embassies
around the world in a traveling exhibition on Kashmir. His images
have also been used by the BBC, Honda Motor Corporation, and
Bombadier Transport Corporation. Matt's photographic pursuits
have taken him to India, Indonesia, Thailand, Maldives, Philippines
and Malaysia. Matt has lived with his wife and daughter in Srinagar,
Kashmir, India for the last 11 years.
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