5 Steps Of Digital BW Photos Processing (Part 2)
In the previous part we've told you about Contrast Changing, Light Drawing and Film Grain Imitation in B&W images. Now we continue to describe variants of B&W photos processing.
4. Infrared Photography Imitation
Infrared photography is of the great interest among photographers, but
not all of us have time and will to search for the required filters,
check the principles of focus shift, long shutter speeds and other
important but quite complicated photographic information. So here we
can try to answer the following question: is it possible to edit your
image in such a way, so that it would be almost similar to the original
infrared image? Generally speaking, it is possible, although only in
quite a relative way.
Photo
in the visible light
imitation, made with Channel Mixer; imitation,
made with the help of IR Film plugin;
original infrared piture
All
methods of infrared image imitation try to use Robert Wood's effect,
which makes the green grass lighter, while the blue color of the sky
turns black. But the infrared spectrum has nothing to do with colors in
visible light, because it has its own characteristics of reflection.
That is why anyone, who's been passionate about photography for quite a
long time, would be able to see the difference between an original
infrared image and its fake.
The main drawbacks of
Photoshop editing are non-detailed representation of clouds, too light
shadows, high contrast on the grass and leaves.
But if you still want to make an infrared image imitation, then pay attention to the following useful tips:
- Object. It's better to photograph only leaves and clouds.
- Polarizing filter. It has to be used so that the sky would be darker and the greenery would look more saturated.
-
HDRI.
If you shoot in the sunny weather, then it makes sense to take a couple
of shots and convert them into HDRI. Since dynamic range of infrared
photography is relatively low, so even in the cloudless day shadows are
not completely black, and the clouds structure remains easily visible.
-
Processing. Let's use the Channel Mixer dialogue box with the Monochrome
option. Set values of channels to -70/200/-30, for example. Such
parameters are offered by the Channel Mixer for Infrared settings in
the CS3. You can try to change the influence of the red channel and,
accordingly, adjust the values of blue, so that the sum would be equal
to 100. In case your greenery is still not light enough, then make a
copy of the Layer with Soft Light blending mode, and (if needed),
decrease its opacity. In some cases during processing the IR Film plugin imitates infrared shots quite well.
- Kodak HSI film effect.
We can also recreate an effect, which is known from some types of
films, such as Kodak HSI. For that you need to set the colors in
Photoshop to black and white (D) and launch a Diffuse Glow filter, adjusting parameters according to your taste. After that you can also make imitation of the film grain.
5. Rendering Tips
There are several methods for monochrome rendering of black and white photos:
1. Creating a New Adjustment Layer with Photo Filter;
2. Creating a New Adjustment Layer with Hue/Saturation and Colorize option;
3. Creating a Layer, filled with one color, also using Color blending mode.
1. Gradient Map. Create a New Adjustment Layer with Gradient Map
and change its blending mode to Color. Now you can change its gradient,
defining, what color tone different brightness areas will have on the
original photo.
2. Curves. Create a New Adjustment
Layer with Curves in the Color blending mode. If we choose 1 channel in
the Curves dialogue box (for example, a blue one), we can find out,
which bright areas will have blue tone, and which will be painted in a
complementing yellow tone. Sometimes such results could be even more
interesting, if the blending mode is not changed to Color (in both
Gradient Map and Curves).
3. Using the color of original photo.
For that put a Layer of original image with Color blending mode on its
b&w variant. Now you can slightly blur the colored layer, decrease
its opacity, change the saturation of the entire Layer or its selected
color tones.
4. Color balance. Theoretically you can also use this method for rendering into different colors, depending on the brightness level.
 
And don't forget, that working with black and white images in Photoshop
(just like with any other parts of photography) gives huge
possibilities for experiments. Just try not to be afraid to use new
methods and approaches of editing, and at the same time try to form an
objective view on the results of your experiments.
We are waiting for your new photos in our PhotoContests!
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