Black and White
Hey everyone, Leslie (goldengirls2) here with your “Photography Phriday” post…my first one ever!!!! I don’t know about you, but I love a good black and white photo! In the right layout, they can really make a statement! I was never pleased with my own, though. It wasn’t until recently that I learned how to really make them pop! There’s more to it than just removing the color, and that’s what I’m going to teach you today!
Start out with your original…
Then you are going to remove the color…
Color Removed…it looks okay, but it doesn’t “POP” yet! 
Next, by pressing “CTRL+J” you can duplicate the layer. Change the top layer to “Soft Light” at around 80% opacity.
Merge the layers together, and now it has a little more “POP”!!!
The next thing I like to do is warm it up just the slightest little bit. You don’t want it to look sepia, but a little “warmness” is nice!
Go to your color variations. On the bottom left of the variations window, there is a little sliding bar. This adjusts how saturated the colors are. Slide it almost all the way to the left.
Now, you want to increase red 1 and decrease blue 1.
And you’re done!
And if I do say so myself, that’s a black and whit picture that pops!
I know it’s a little small, but here they are all next to eachother so you can see the difference!
Try it out…and don’t forget to share what you’ve done!!!! Have a great weekend!!!!
September 5th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Wow! I love this tutorial. Thanks so much.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:16 am
Wow, Leslie, great tutorial! Thanks for the information, I will try that next time!
September 5th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Leslie, I love the tip…and cute little girl! I love to play around with black and whites and think they really can add to a LO! Thanks for a fab post!
September 5th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Great tutorial Les and WAY awesome pictures! I didn’t know this one – thanks!
September 5th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Thanks for the tutorial. This is very helpful. I used to just click the button and take what it gave me. This is a much better option. Cute pic, too!
September 12th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Thanks so much. I am still learning all the things that photoshop elements is capable of. This was so much fun. I am sure I will play with this a lot more, but the first one turned out great.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:31 am
[...] Here is a great tutorial by Leslie that she posted back in September. Check it out! Changing your photos to black and white can sometimes save a page! [...]