Comments on: Photoshop + Lightroom = Killer B&W

By: Hany Ragab

Hany Ragab — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:45:24 +0000

Hey guys , i really enjoyed the whole set of photos they are just stunning however i am more interested to know what sort of light does he normally use and what is the work flow like between lightroom and photoshop to get this sort of effect a quick tutorial would be just fab . your help will be greatly appreciated .
Thanks
Hany Ragab

By: heather buckley

heather buckley — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:26:29 +0000

Just finished a brilliant lightroom course at silicon beach training I love it - will be using it instead of photoshop for all my wedding photography from now on. The best thing is adjusting the curves on highlights and shadows independantly, and shifting the histogram. Brilliant, not to mention the storage savings using virtual photo and the quick exports.

By: Howard Kerr

Howard Kerr — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:08:23 +0000

Let me start by saying I'm not a professional photographer. Can someone please advise how I can stop Lightroom from converting my RAW B&W images into colour. I took the pics with my Canon EOS 400D. Many thanks. Howard Kerr Cape Town South Africa [Your raw images aren't B&W, regardless of whatever setting you applied in the camera. You can tell LR to apply a develop preset on import, so you just need to save some B&W settings you like, then select them while importing. In the future it would be great if LR/ACR could read info about the picture styles assigned in the camera. With settings generated by the new DNG Profile Editor, it should be possible to match those looks quite closely. I don't know whether the manufacturers write the info in a way that LR/ACR can read, however. --J.]

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:57:37 +0000

You guys rock!

By: Phil Brown

Phil Brown — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 05:59:42 +0000

Thanks, Kelly. Not only an artist, but generous with your knowledge!

By: Kelly Castro

Kelly Castro — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:06:59 +0000

John & Bryan – thanks for the cool write up. Here are the steps for the “eye trick”, written in the style of a bug report (sorry, it’s just ingrained at this point) : )
METHOD:
- Open a portrait image in Photoshop
- Choose Window > Layers (F7)
- Command + = (zoom in on the eyes)
- Shift + Command + N (new layer)
- Press X (switch foreground color to white)
- Press G (gradient tool)
- Open Gradient Picker in the Tool Options Bar and select “Foreground to Transparent”
- Select “Radial Gradient” in the Tool Options Bar
- Mode: Normal / Opacity: 100% / Reverse: unchecked / Dither & Transparency: checked
- Place your cursor over one of the subject’s eyes
- Click in the center of the pupil and drag to the edge of the iris
- Repeat for second eye
- In the Layers palette, set the blending mode to “Overlay”
- Adjust the layer opacity to taste
- Command + E (flatten layers)
- Command + S (save)
RESULT:
A portrait with more impact.
There ya have it. See ya Monday.
- Kelly
[Awesome--thanks, Kelly. --J.]

By: keith

keith — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:13:52 +0000

As for your comment: “favorite things about working on the Photoshop team is that we get to build a product people actually want to use when they leave work.”
And some of us get paid to use PS, how fun is that? That’s what I tell my students.

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:48:24 +0000

John, thank you for adding another facet to your blog. This article and Kelly Castro’s Flickr album is great stuff. I also wasn’t aware of this new book on B&W in PS and LR. Your blog is a treasure trove of valuable information!
Best regards,
Andy

By: David Zeller

David Zeller — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:21:36 +0000

I agree with Jarek — great stuff, but left us wanted a little more!
I, too, would be interested in what the gradient-on-the-eyes technique is.
David

By: Jarek Kovac

Jarek Kovac — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:33:49 +0000

The photos are absolutely stunning. Any chance you could share a bit more detail re. the treatment of the eyes?
[Kelly says that he'll try to jump in this weekend and add some detail. --J.]
.. and btw, thank you for this and the whole blog in general..
[Cool, thanks for saying so. --J.]
Best regards,
Jarek

By: Dave Dobish

Dave Dobish — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:05:49 +0000

Wow!!! Those are some seriously cool portraits. Thanks for the blog posting. Makes me want to dust off my SLR. Peace.

By: Tiemen Rapati

Tiemen Rapati — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 03:16:20 +0000

Indeed! I’ve added his work to my de.icio.us; and that says something!
Quick remark on the side: Such an internal glimp into the process what’s created the work is in my case just as valuable as sheer beauty. I like his work better, knowing it required such elaborate skill.

By: Phil Brown

Phil Brown — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:05:43 +0000

Awesome! Thanks for posting this, John. Kelly’s work is individual and fabulous and it’s a great start to my holiday weekend to be checking it out :-)
[Cool--glad you dig it, Phil. --J.]