Photographers spend a lot of time learning how to process digital images after they have been captured in order to achieve a certain look. Having shot on film for years and having had a darkroom gave me some insight into the process when I turned to digital work. Lately I have been working on some black and white prints and some thoughts came to mind.
Today I see so many digital black and white prints or images that are flat and lack good tonal range and contrast. Most photographers just use the black and white camera mode or desaturate a color photograph in post processing but that simply doesn't represent a good black and white. A good black and white begins with a color image and is processed using the individual RGB (red, green and blue) color channels in post processing, then contrast is adjusted to maintain the highlights.
Below is and example of how to identify a flat, dull black and white digital image. The image on the left is dull with gray skin tones and flat blacks. I prefer the image on the right as it has light creamy skin tones and rich dark blacks with a higher contrast ratio.
This is a good example of a nice black and white, gray skin tones just wouldn't work with this image or capture the dynamic lighting I used for this portrait.
Grain or noise doesn't look good with color images but it can add interest with black and whites.
Years ago I used Marshall's Oil Colors and a paint brush with cotton swabs to hand color my black and white prints. Today with digital you work with a layer mask and allow selected areas of color to show through to create the beautiful hand colored look like the image below.
Womans portraits look fresh and flattering with light creamy skin tones. Dull gray skin tones tend to emphasize flaws and imprefections.
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