September 2025

POST PROCESSING TIPS _____________________________ Post Processing: Even if you are a B&W photographer, you will always perform some sort of post-production. At least changing your color photos to B&W. But in post, there are some things you may want to add to your ritual. Here are some of my post-production techniques when converting a color photograph into B&W. In Adobe Lightroom , within the Basic panel , I initially change my Treatment to Black & White . This one simple step automatically changes my color photo to B&W but also changes the HSL/Color panel to B&W (we will talk about this in a minute). Under the Tone sliders , I initially change the Exposure and pay extra attention to the Contrast . This is what will make my photo have high or low contrast. Then I add slight Highlights (+) and Whites (+) to bring out my bright areas. I finish up by bringing my shadows up (+) (yes, I wrote up! This opens up those mid-tones) and then drastically go down on my Blacks (-). This will leave a high contrast image. My shadows will pop against the highlights with no or minimal gray areas. Then go to the B&W panel . Here I have control over each Black & White Mix within the color spectrum. This is where I fine-tune my image. Yes, I will also add Texture , Clarity , Detail , Lens Correction and all of the above but when working with a B&W image, the Tone of the image is most important as this sets the mood. AMBIENT LIGHT AMBIENT LIGHT I__S_O___T_I_P__S High or Low ISO: Professional photographers understand that low ISO reduces grain while high ISO adds grain to the camera’s digital file. So why is this important to know in B&W photography? You will notice that most B&W photos will have a presence of grain. Wikipedia says, “Grain adds random optical texture of digital photographic film which looks like small particles of a metallic silver or dye clouds into an image.” So the question is, “Do I add grain and if so, how much?” Let me share an experiment I did with camera grain when I first shot for B&W. I took the same photo at different ISO settings then brought these results to Adobe Lightroom. I looked closely at the results and could see how much grain was present within each ISO setting. By performing this experiment, I was able to find grain pleasing to my eye and where I felt it was too little or too much. I was also able to find a window where my ISO needed to be set to add ‘natural camera’ grain when shooting for B&W. If you are unsure of how much grain is pleasing to you, simply go out and perform this experiment. You will find your ‘sweet spot.’ With that experiment explained, know that most professionals would rather shoot at the lowest ISO possible and add digital grain during post-production. This is preferred because the photographer can control how much or how little grain to add. In other words, it is a more controlled and preferred technique. STUDIO AMBIENT LIGHT OUTDOOR STUDIO STROBE LIGHT STUDIO Models: Brad Garland ( right ), Jaures Cobbin ( below ) Cleane Brito & David Lee Acevedo ( far right ) Models: Slim Erica ( left ), Rachel Wilson ( below ) Jenna Denchfield ( far left ) “It’s not the camera. It’s the artist behind it.” - Rich Taylor