MAKE IT MONOCHROME

Use this advanced black-and-white editing technique to create timeless portraits in Lightroom

It goes without saying that black-and-white on its own isn't an editing trend. However, processing images for a dramatic monochrome look remains popular among photographers of landscapes and portraits, as it delivers sophisticated and timeless results.

In the tutorial on the next page we'll walk you through the steps you'll need to transform full-colour portraits into beautiful black-and-white images in Lightroom Classic. The steps take some care and consideration - and they go beyond simply pressing the B&W mode button - but the extra effort is worth it. Converting photos to mono in this way is perfect for weddings and events, or any scenarios when you want to focus on the connections and emotions shared by the subjects in your shot.

Ideally, you'll be starting with a raw file, as this will give you the most leeway in terms of colour correction and tonal tweaking. By starting with a virtual copy of your file, you can also compare the difference to a standard black-and-white conversion, and fine-tune the results to suit your preferences.

TOOL GUIDE

Virtual Copies In Adobe Lightroom and similar software, create multiple versions of the same raw preview to apply different edit variations

Inverse Curves Add a popular matte effect by lifting the bottom of the Tone Curve and apply other localised toning with curve shapes

Colour Calibration The Calibrate Tab controls the relative balance of colours, adjusting the so-called colour science of your raw files for custom effects.