I have done several Black and White Tutorials.  Several years ago I wrote a Black and White tutorial, I then recreated that in a video, and then there are the 3 hours and 40 minutes of Black and White and tone control in Black, White & Beyond: The Digital Zone System.  After all of that you would think I covered every way to make an effective black and white image.  I am happy to report that there is yet another way.  Without using the Digital Zone System (reigns superior) to create a Black and White photo, this may be the best way over all the others.

Better-Black-and-White-in-Photoshop-Example

This method is pretty simple in nature, but so powerful in practice:

  1. Make Gradient map set to black and white
  2. Place Hue/Sat layer underneath
  3. Adjust HSL of colors to make effective Black and White Image
  4. You can also add another gradient for the Sepia Tone Effect.  Take a look at the Tonal Grading System for access to all of my gradients (it’s Free)!

Watch the video Tutorial:

Blake Rudis
f.64 Academy and f.64 Elite are the brainchildren of Blake Rudis. While he is a landscape photographer, he is most passionate about post-processing images in Photoshop and mentoring others.

For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
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