Sometimes changing a color photo to black and white can add a nostalgic, classy effect. In many ways just desaturating a photo can give it entirely new meaning and elicit a very different reaction from the viewer. Still, there’s more that can be done to a photo once it’s shifted to black and white to make it even more dramatic.
This photo is very romantic, but the dull colors don’t do it justice. There are many tweaks that we could make to this in color, but I decided to try it out in black and white. While working on it, I significantly increased the amount of shadows that were in the photo, and also darkened all of the distracting elements (his watch, for example) so that the viewer will just focus on the couple, nuzzling in the dark:
Black and white adds a cool new texture to the photo, and it gives it some depth. The bumped up shadows makes it feel even more intimate, as if we’ve been allowed to peek in on a private moment. Next week we’ll discuss how we use Photoshop to achieve these feelings and step-by-step the techniques.
by Lara
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