Turning Photos into Black and White Photography

As you can probably tell from my blog and Instagram feed, I’m a big fan of black and white photography. Walking through my home, you’ll quickly notice that the walls throughout my home embrace my love of black and white photography. Why do I love black and white photography so much? Because the photos exude a certain feeling that cannot be achieved by color photography.

Don’t get me wrong. Not every photo should be displayed in black and white and not every photo should be displayed in color. With that being said, every photo should be in color before transitioning the photo into black and white.

How do you decide when to turn a photo into a black and white photo? If the photograph will tell a deeper story in black and white, then by all means, get rid of the color and allow your photograph to show off the shadows, highlights, features, moods, and feelings that come with black and white photography. Yes, black and white photography is quite the storyteller.

Steps for Turning a Photo into Black and White

1.) Take the photo in color. Do not use the black and white camera setting. To me, the black and white camera setting isn’t a true match. Plus, as I said before, every photo should be in color just in case you want to have the colorful photo on hand.

2.) Upload your photo to your photo editing program whether it’s Lightroom, Photoshop, Picmonkey, Instagram, etc.

3.) Find the saturation option in your photo editing program and bring the saturation to 0. Your photo will then appear to be in black and white. Do not click the “Black and White” editing option in our photo editing program. By getting rid of the saturation, you’ll achieve a better black and white result.

4.) Adjust the contrast, shadows, and highlights as necessary until you achieve the right look and feel.

5.) Save your photo.

Simply put, don’t use an automatic “Black and White” feature or button. Instead, allow zero saturation to be your best friend when turning a colorful photo into a black and white photo. Your eyes and patience will thank me.