Project #2 - Converting a Color Photograph into a
Black & White Photograph

1. Open up the image of the log into Photoshop and drag the Background layer onto the Duplicate Layer icon on the Layers Palette.
   
   
2. Access the Channel Mixer by choosing Image… Adjust… Channel Mixer and a dialogue box similar to the one opposite appears.
   
   Channel Mixer - What it Does
   
   This command makes it possible to mix the colour from multiple channels - Red, Green, and Blue. Its general purpose is to create special effects on your images, like adding sepia tinting to greyscale images, or convert your images to monochrome from colour.
   
   Output Channel pull-down menu: Lets you choose the colour channel into which other colour channels will be mixed.Colour Sliders: By adjusting the sliders you can control the amount of colour that will be infused (mixed) from existing channels.
   
   Constant Slider: Adds an opacity channel to the output channel. Drag left to decrease the opacity, and right to increase it.
   
   Monochrome: If checked, the Channel Mixers creates a black and white (mono) image within the current colour space.
   
   Load Button: Lets you load previously stored settings that you have created.
   
   Save Button: Use this to save your settings to disk.
   
   
3. Ok, now you've read about the Channel Mixer, lets actually create a monochromatic image. You will notice that the Mixer is currently set up to work in Color. Click on the Monochrome box at the bottom of the Channel Mixer dialogue box, and watch your image appear as black & white.
   
   The image is too light at the moment, so we need to tone it down. This is done by moving the Red and Blue colour sliders.
   
   
4. Move the colour slider of the Red Source Channel until it reads approximately +20%. Leave the Green Channel alone, but adjust the Blue Channel to read approximately +80%.
   
   As you adjust the sliders you will see the automatic preview of your image changing.
   
   When you are happy with the results of the monochromatic photo, click on the Save button to save your settings. In future you can quickly load in your settings for further projects.
   
   
5. Click the OK button to accept the changes.
   
   

   Origianl Image

   With Monochrome Ticked

6. Right, so now we have a black & white image, but we need to do something with that sky. First we will use the Levels command, and then the Burn Tool. Using the Rectangle Marquee tool, make a selection around the sky and the sea (stop when you get to the sandy shores).
   
   
7. Now feather the selection by 50 pixels. Select… Feather and
   enter 25 in the value box. This will soften the edges more when we apply the changes to the sky.
   
   
8. Press CTRL+L to activate the Levels command, and adjust the left hand slider until you have something similar to the settings opposite.
   
   Now, because we feathered our selection by 50 pixels we didn't get any hard transitions between the sea and the beach when we adjusted the levels. The sky still needs a little something doing with it to darken it more.
   
   
9. From the Tool Box get the Burn Tool. Choose a large, soft brush. I used a 500 pixel brush on the original image, you may want to use smaller for now. Set the Range to Midtones, and the Exposure to around 50%.Brush over the top half of the sky and clouds until it darkens, but make sure you don't over do it.
   
   
10. Finally, sharpen the image by selecting Filter…Sharpen… Unsharp Mask, and enter the following settings:
    
    Amount 153%
    
    Radius 1.0 pixels
    
    Threshold 0 levels
    
    Note: The Amount settings will vary on different sized images. Experiment with the settings until you are happy.
    
    
11. Click OK to apply the changes.Below are three samples of the same photograph, each using a different technique. You can see the difference in all.
    
    Channel Mixer
    
    
    
    Desaturate
    
    
    
    Grayscale
    
    

There you have it! Color Photographs to Monochrome. Try this technique on other scenes and subjects. Add a little noise using the Noise filter for more a more dramatic appearance.

Now that you have your black & white photograph, why not add a sepia tone to it. Project #37 will show you three ways to do this. Why not give it a try?