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Part
5 :-
Converting a colour image to black and white.
In this part, I am
using some specific tools to convert an image to
black and white.
This is not as
straightforward a topic as it might seem. Folks idea of
what constitutes a nice black and white image is
extremely varied. Some like high contrast, high key and
some like soft tonal shifts.
There are dozens
of ways to convert an image and there are some excellent
'actions' available also.
Here, I will only
concentrate on a few techniques and give you an example of
an excellent filter suite.
For tips on toning a
black and white image, please go to
Part 9
It
should be noted that, typically, a colour image will not
convert to black and white as 'cleanly' as an image which
is shot in black and white. Of course, this will vary
from camera to camera.
Many new cameras have the
ability to switch to a black and white mode and this
helps to reduce any colour noise which would still be
retained in the conversion process.
Here is an example
of two images, one shot in back and white in-camera
(left) and the second shot in colour and converted
(right).
These are 100%
crops of the originals. Note the colour noise (grainy
look) residue.
As I mentioned before, this will vary dependent upon how
much 'noise' the particular camera exhibits in it's
colour mode or at particular ISO settings. |
