A. Cemal Ekin is a prolific blogger on all things photographic, a presenter of photographic editing techniques using Photoshop and Lightroom, and a printing enthusiast. He believes that holding a print allows one to examine it more closely to appreciate the textures on the paper and in the photograph. He is also a long-time member of PSRI. Cemal has had several gallery showing of his prints, has created a number of print on-demand photo books, and has had work published in national photographic magazines and online.

While he is very knowledgeable of photographic history, photographers, digital editing, and lighting techniques, the one weakness he has is bird identification. For him, every bird photo I show him is some kind of finch

Be sure to explore his website, www.keptlight.com, there is much find within.

We have all seen black and white images that are intriguing and compelling; but how can we do it?  There are a few simple rules that will help you succeed in creating a good black and white image (and it’s not a shot of a white building with black shutters!).  A good black and white image removes distractions and reduces everything to its basic elements.

There are some important points to remember when photographing an image that will be converted to black and white:

1. Dramatic color doesn’t mean a dramatic black and white image.
2. Tonal contrast is key to a good image: absolute black with tonal changes to absolute white are your best shot.
3. Form, shape and pattern are your friends.
4. Study the masters: Ansel Adams and Edward Weston; there are a couple of excellent contemporary black and white photographers:  Mitch Dobrowner and Cole Thompson..study their images for creative ideas.
5. Practice shooting in Raw+B&W jpeg; or just shoot black and white Raw: the LCD on the camera will be B&W but the image will be in color on the computer.
6. Try color conversion software; my favorite is Nik Silver Efex Pro.  There are many others by other software manufacturers; also, Photoshop has a B&W converter that works well at times…Lightroom also has a B&W converter.
7. The important thing to learn in converting to black and white is the use of the filters in the conversion software:

a red filter will lighten red and darken blue and green ( this is great for darkening skies)

a blue filter will lighten blue and darken red, yellow and orange in different amounts

Here are some examples of images converted to black and white:

The image on the left has good tonal range but very little color or drama; after converting to black and white, the sky has more definition and the whole image is stronger:

The next image has good light and shadow but something is lost in color.  By converting to black and white there is more impact. And the distraction of the red gear drawing the eye is removed.

Portraits can be stronger in black and white since any color distractions are removed:

This busker in Scotland has so much color going on that it was necessary to take away all that distraction.

Good black and white images are difficult to make and require practice:

But the results, when they work, can be amazing.

When I shoot, I don’t go looking for black and white images, ever!  I don’t practice shooting in black and white like a lot of photographers because the back of the LCD doesn’t seem to help me decide on a certain image. When I get home to review images, if there is an image with good tonal quality or strength of structure, I try a conversion.  Sometimes trying an HDR image as a black and white can produce dramatic results.  Mountains and storm skies are usually excellent for conversion since a red filter can be used to turn the sky almost black; you will feel a little buzz as you channel your inner Ansel Adams.

Do it!  What have you got to lose?

Also, I have been posting these reminders on PSRI Web site about posts I write on my own. I will stop doing this, if you are interested in keeping up with my posts, please add your e-mail to the Subscribe 2 box on the side bar of any of the inner pages.

I will use Photoshop CS6 Public Beta on April 10 when I make a presentation on HDR photography, and mention a few of my favorite features. In the mean time, take a look at the following if you like more information, watch the Adaptive Wide Angle filter work like magic to remove distortions, my favorite feature in the new set:

NAPP Photoshop CS6 Beta Launch

Russel Brown’s Favorite Features

The first piece of information is that I have a new post on my site that explains how you can produce multiple image composites with any camera using Photoshop (quite possibly Photoshop Elements as well). Read it and follow the simple instructions, even Andre could follow them! The second piece of information is that the new Canon 5D Mark-III can do multiple image captures on one frame in camera with several options. That will set you back about $3,500! Take your pick, my way or the bank way. I will also post another tutorial that will explain how you can capture multiple images on one frame using Canon gear.

Fair warning, I do not take “painterly” as a compliment. I am proud to be a photographer and do not have brush-envy!