This is Part 2 of my four part black and white series. This one will cover what most post editing software packages include. And as always I will continue to help you take and create a photo that tells a story.
Do most Software editing packages will automatically have different black and white variations for us to choose from?
The answer is yes and that includes most software on phones, if your phone is new enough.
Note: I will be showing Camera Raw, which you can navigate to through Adobe Bridge. Camera Raw will work with .JPG and any RAW files. It is packaged with Adobe Creative Cloud Suites which include, Photoshop and Illustrator. I do basically 95% of all my editing in Camera Raw.
I edited this dahlia and changed the color to rainbow colors years ago. I am using it for this lesson because it is perfect to show how the pre-settings for black and white can change the look and feel of a photo dramatically.
Here is a listing of the various pre-set black and white choices I can use. As you can see there are several choices.
To find the Presents in Camera Raw follow these steps:
Open your photo .jpg or .raw in Camera Raw.
Then on the right side there is a navigation bar.
Click on the button that is right above the three dots, it has two circles with one filled and one open. Then, hover your mouse over it and it will say “Presets”. Click on it and you will see the list to the right.
Click on any of the main titles to open or close various options. In this case, I have the B&W section open.
NOTE: most softwares have options like this. You may want to google your specific software and find the presets for black and white.
This next series of photos, I will scroll through the various choices for B&W and I will note which one I am using. To see slideshow, click on any photo.
Landscape 
High Contrast 
Punch 
Low Contrast 
Flat 
Soft 
Infrared 
Selenium 
Sepia Tone 
Split Toned
From the various BW Pre-Set selections you can get quite a different photo without doing anything to your photo.
Next week, I will be showing you some advanced techniques for working with black and white photos. You will see how color mixing can really enhance and change your black and white photos into an extraordinary photo.
In the meantime, remember black and white photo is best with patterns, texture, lines and photos with lots of color.
Other Black and White Posts
Black and White Part 1: Easy Techniques To Try
I’ve gathered a list of challenges and their hosts. So if you know a challenge host, please direct them to my blog. Feel free to contact me anytime. I hope everyone will be able to use my lists.
Qi (energy) hugs
Cee
Cee's Photo Challenges 
Sadly, I can’t afford the online newer version of Adobe. They want $36/month and that is JUST for Photoshop. So I’m looking for something I can buy rather than rent.
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They have photoshop at 112 per year. I just looked it up.
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I never knew those presets were in there for Camera Raw. Since Photoshop took out the simple “Sepia” function with one click of the mouse, I now have to do it manually. As we discussed before, the manual way of doing it, gives you so much more control over your subject. Loving this! 🙂
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I have plenty of control in Camera Raw. Probably because I know it so well. I’m just showing the basics settings. You can manually change any of the setting you want.
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Yes, you know it so well and zoom zoom zoom! 🙂
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Photo editing is something I really enjoy although I use free or cheaper software. It is interesting to see the different effects you can get. I especially enjoy this in black and white which I think of as more “arty” than my colour photography. There I usually want to show things as more true to life the way I saw them.
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Black and white is fun to play with. I’ve always enjoyed it.
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Once again very informative
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Thanks for commenting 😀
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Thanks!
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😀 Glad you liked this.
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Thanks Cee 🙂
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My pleasure Brian.
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So you never use Lightroom? It took me a while to get used to it but I find it very easy to use before additional obsessive tweaking in Photoshop. 📷
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Nope most of what I do I can do in Camera Raw … it’s all non-destructive and super easy to use. I was showing something to a friend of mine how I do selective coloring in Camera Raw vs her Photoshop. She was amazed at how good and simple it was 😀
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