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Last week I wrote a little about my creative process, and showed you how I work in black and white on location. This week I’m going to show my other way of working in black and white, which is to start with color photos then convert them in Lightroom Classic.
Despite doing most of my work in color, I still enjoy black and white photography. But it helps to have a goal in mind. One of my aims this year is to set up a website selling prints and cards of my garden and flower photos. I think it’s a good idea to include a gallery of black and white photos. There’s something bold and powerful, yet minimal about black and white prints that I like. I’ll also print out a few for my own home. They could also go in a zine or photo book. There’s plenty of places I can use them.
I started by going through some of the flower photos I made last year and adding them to a new Collection in Lightroom Classic. I looked for the following attributes:
- Bold, graphic compositions. These look great when converted to black and white.
- Interesting textures in the flower.
- Dark backgrounds.
- Flowers with light colors. Although this wasn’t so important, as you can brighten flowers in Lightroom using the Highlights slider or the B&W panel sliders.
I selected ten photos to start with, then converted them to black and white in Lightroom Classic. You can see the results below. To add a little fun, I’ve shown the color and black and white versions together. Take a look, and see which you prefer. Let me know by leaving a comment!
Further reading
The Magic of Black & White ebook
My ebook The Magic of Black & White takes you on a journey exploring ideas like the ones in this article that help you make better black and white photos. It covers topics like composition, light, the best subjects for black and white and post-processing.
6 comments
I prefer the black & white versions of your photos they seem to be more dramatic
# 7 is impressive. Beautiful. I bet there are many photographers out here that wish they had taken this one.
Be interested in a photographic discussion? Have further insights.
It is an interesting comparison. I don’t think there is a blanket answer and for me some are more interesting in B&W and some in colour. Particularly 1-4-5-7-and 9 work better in colour with number 7 – the poppy seed heads – outstanding. The others work better in colour for me.
Wow! I don’t have a single answer. I think B&W works brilliant for some but less well for others. Reds do seem to be a particular problem in B&W and I think those are the ones I feel work better in the original colour.
Experiment is the answer. Try it and see.
I prefer colour for flowers because that’s their beauty. Many colours are so subtle one cannot reproduce them in watercolour paintings
O love them. Sometimes I think color will do, but black and white is fine.