Black and White LR Presets

[katrinak]

I'd love to know what your favorite LightRoom Black and White presets are (and where I might find them!)

I've got a photo I love of my DH but he has naturally redish skin and I can't seem to make it look right in color!

I'm looking for that perfect creamy black and white look!

[hguenthe]

As I don't have LR, sorry can't help there. I also have varying luck with B&W settings depending on the photos.

Does onOne software's PhotoPresets for LR have the old portrait options? Their PhotoPresets for Adobe Camera Raw has some old portrait options and they give a nice vintage look which could minimize the redness issues you are facing in his skin tone. I have found these to help me out with some photos that I have problems with their color but can't quite find a B&W setting I like.

[lenasmommy]

Here is where I get my (free) presets:
http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/
http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=33

But I have to say that I like Lightroom better for colored pictures (Try Matt's Nostalgic Presets ; ) - I still desaturate my pictures in PS.
I hope that helps.

[bluelemur01]

hi Katrina, for turning a photo to b/w, here's a way to get that creamy, almost ethereal/porcelain look to skin (which can look a bit fake, but also cool!):

have you tried splitting the channels in Photoshop? Here's a link that I've used to learn how to do it:

http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00DQR3

I've gotten some great images this way. However, sometimes the lips are too pale when I use just the red channel, and I have to blend in a darker layer and mask them in. But it makes skin tones very "dreamy"!

Jennifer

[kathie02]

Phaunt Actions has a couple free b&w presets here....I haven't tried them yet
http://www.phauntactions.com/store/i...products_id=34

[ptknox]

Kelsey Smith's b&w presets are my favorites....and she has some amazing presets for colored photos too. Here's a link!

http://kelseysmith.typepad.com/my_we...oom/index.html

[Aino]

Originally Posted by bluelemur01@hotmail.com

http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00DQR3

I've gotten some great images this way. However, sometimes the lips are too pale when I use just the red channel, and I have to blend in a darker layer and mask them in. But it makes skin tones very "dreamy"!

Jennifer

Jennifer!

I couldn't find the tut here (link didn't work) - could you help me out here - this looks interesting and soemthing I would like to try!

[Melissa6169]

Katrina,

I know this isn't for Lightroom presets, but perhaps this will help you?
Actions from : Totally Rad Actions (their b&w's look awesome)

How I got this is through this photographer. She says she uses "Boutwell Actions" (and a mix of her own)

HTH

[Starlite9711]

I use Matt's Presets and the OnOne WOW presets, And sometimes I still do a PS BW with a gradient mask adjustment. (sometimes after that I will change the color balance to a bit red and a bit yellow for a "not so black and white" look)

[bluelemur01]

Mrscoala & others,
here is a quick tut I put together on using the split channels technique to convert a color photo to b/w with the dreamy/creamy skin.

I copied this technique from photographer Marc Williams who posts at photo.net. For some reason the link doesn't work for everyone, but here is the original link to his post with instructions:

http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00DQR3

Feel free to email me or post questions here if I can answer more questions on how to do this!

[bluelemur01]

ok, that's too teeny to read, isn't it? Sorry, but I don't think I can post it any larger. If you'd like, I can email it to anyone who's interested...let me know!

[bluelemur01]

One more try. Here's the text from that document I posted above:

I sometimes prefer using the split channel technique to turn a color photo into b/w. Using this really gives a dreamy, porcelain look to skin. This is not always the right look but can be great for certain photos. I also use the black & white conversion in CS3. I never use “desaturate” b/c it gives a rather muddy look.

Here’s a quick tutorial:

1. Open the color picture you want to convert to b/w

2. Select the Channels palette. When you are in channels, you will see a small dropdown arrow and three horizontal bars right next to it, all the way at the right hand edge of the box. Click on this.

3. Select “Split Channels” option. Your picture will split into three channels. Be careful to save your original before doing this, as you cannot always do “step backwards” on this command.

4. Cut and Paste in the lips:
The red gives an alabaster/porcelain skin look, but the lips can often be too pale. I usually go into the green channel, select the lasso tool, set feather to 4-5 pixels, and draw a pretty close loop around the lips. It does not have to be perfect, but try to get it pretty close. Then copy and paste the lips from the green channel into the red channel. Move the lips over using “nudge” until they line up correctly. Adjust opacity if they are too fake and dark.

5. Flatten the image. Adjust levels/curves if desired, and sharper as desired.

I've attached a photo turned to b/w with this technique.

[digigal]

Jennifer, thank you! Going to copy this down, I LOVE this effect!

[Aino]

Wow! Thank you Jennifer! I will give this a try! THanks for the effort!

[bluelemur01]

you're welcome! It's pretty easy to do, and it makes a great b/w look.

[belle]

katrina go into your develpe panel then go down to hsl color click on grayscale now,

in that same area in the top left side click the the circle with the dot in the middle is should change to a circle with a dot and then it has a errow on top and bottom now reach over to your photo click the face and began to drag up and down until you pull out that pinkish color .

Even though your in greyscale light room is smart enough to still see the colors and will make the adjustments that way. you can do this even after you apply your preset to just tweak the preset a bit if this does not make since let me know and maybe i can get a screenshot , btw as you drag watch your sliders they should start to move


Belle


Belle

[belle]

btw remember lightroom is nondestructive you can always revert back and I always create a virtual copy so I have both color and black and white it just saves the info for both it is still just one photo I LOVE LIGHTROOM lol

Belle

[katrinak]

Originally Posted by Belle

katrina go into your develpe panel then go down to hsl color click on grayscale now,

in that same area in the top left side click the the circle with the dot in the middle is should change to a circle with a dot and then it has a errow on top and bottom now reach over to your photo click the face and began to drag up and down until you pull out that pinkish color .

Even though your in greyscale light room is smart enough to still see the colors and will make the adjustments that way. you can do this even after you apply your preset to just tweak the preset a bit if this does not make since let me know and maybe i can get a screenshot , btw as you drag watch your sliders they should start to move


Belle


Belle

thanks this is exactly what I needed! I appreciate the other help...but Im a LR freak and won't take the time for adjustments I can't do in LR!

[belle]

good i am glad it helped , I have been doing some online lessons on lightroom it is wonderful program

[trudem]

I have to second the vote for Kelsey Smith's B&W presets! I also "splurged" on Traci Reed's Pop Starrs preset set (say that ten times fast!) and I use them constantly. I also found this website not too long ago in the search for the perfect B&W preset, and I like a few of them.

[Melissa Hill]

I found a fun website that shows you step by step how to convert a colour photo to B & W using Lightroom. I also want to learn the quick how-to's in Lightroom rather than photoshop all the time. Looks fairly complex but the final result looks awesome.

http://www.layersmagazine.com/black-...lightroom.html

I just wish this was in a tutorial to watch!

[michellefilo]

my very favorite one is "New Mexico Road".. well, it is Sepia really, and is very washed and artistic, but I love it
You can find it here:
http://inside-lightroom.com/st.php

[katrinak]

Originally Posted by michellefilo

my very favorite one is "New Mexico Road".. well, it is Sepia really, and is very washed and artistic, but I love it
You can find it here:
http://inside-lightroom.com/st.php

Thanks Michelle! Watch for lots of New Mexico Road in my gallery I have a few other presets from that sight...just not that one!

[michellefilo]

Since that is all we think about, yeah, makes for GREAT scrapping photos very whimsy, I love the washed look!

I used the preset on these:

[deanie]

You guys are making me salivate! I am definitely going to save this thread!

[michellefilo]

I saved some of my lightroom presets to share with you guys, link on my blog (blog link on the signature)

[justmp]

Thanks for the presets and for the tips! I had played with the trial version of Lightroom several months ago and didn't love it, but you all inspired me to try it again, and now I must have it!