Teach yourself Black & White Photography Editing black & white in Photoshop
1
Darken the sky
Double click the starting image in Bridge to load it into Adobe Camera Raw. Grab the Graduated Filter tool from the toolbar. Click the Exposure minus icon in the settings on the right to set -0.50. Drag inwards from the top-left corner to darken the area.
2
Fine-tune the blend
Lower Exposure to about -2.65. This makes part of the cloud too dark, so click Brush (Photoshop CC only), then hit Y to toggle the mask on and paint over the darker cloud. Next, add more grads to darken the bottom-left corner and lighten the lower half of the frame.
3
Enhance the rocks
4
Blur the clouds
5
Apply selective contrast
6
Dodge and burn
Grab the Adjustment Brush. Click the Exposure plus icon and check Auto-Mask. Hit Y to toggle the mask on and paint over the stones. Set Exposure +1.00, Contrast +27, Clarity +36. Press N for a new pin, uncheck Auto-Mask, then paint a second mask to lighten the sheep. Click Open Image.
Click the Create adjustment layer icon and choose Curves. Plot an S-shaped curve line, then press Cmd/ Ctrl+I to invert the layer mask to black. Grab the Brush tool and set the colour to white, then paint over the foreground rocks, sheep and grass to selectively boost the contrast.
Grab the Quick Selection Brush and select the sky. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+J to copy to a new layer. Cmd/Ctrl-click the layer’s thumbnail to select it, then go to Filter>Convert for Smart Filters. Go to Filter>Blur Gallery>Path Blur. Plot several lines in from the edge to blur the clouds.
Finish off with some subtle dodging and burning. Press Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E to merge a new layer, then grab the Burn tool. Set Range: Midtones, Exposure 10% then paint to darken the edges slightly. Hold down Alt while burning to temporarily switch to the Dodge tool.
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