Black and White Editing

The Black and White Formula I Keep Coming Back To (and How to Actually Make It Work)
Video Tutorials

The Black and White Formula I Keep Coming Back To (and How to Actually Make It Work)

Most of my black and white conversions used to land in the same frustrating place: technically fine, emotionally flat. The tones were balanced, the histogram looked reasonable, and the image felt like a photocopy of something that should have been great. What was missing wasn’t drama exactly - it was depth. That particular quality you see in a well-printed darkroom photo where the shadows feel like you could fall into them.

The Black and White Portrait Edit That Breaks All My Rules (And Why It Works)
Video Tutorials

The Black and White Portrait Edit That Breaks All My Rules (And Why It Works)

There’s a short list of things I tell every beginner who comes through my workshops: don’t max out your contrast slider, don’t crank clarity on a woman’s portrait, and don’t push highlights and shadows in opposite directions at the same time. Then I watched Jack Davis do all three of those things in a single edit, and the result looked incredible. That’s the kind of tutorial that makes you quietly question your own advice.

From Flat to Film: Scott Kelby's Black & White Lightroom Workflow (And What I Added to It)
Video Tutorials

From Flat to Film: Scott Kelby's Black & White Lightroom Workflow (And What I Added to It)

Most of my black and white conversions used to live in a frustrating middle ground. Not bad enough to delete, not good enough to post. I’d desaturate, bump contrast, call it done. The results looked like a color photo that had given up rather than a deliberate black and white image. It wasn’t until I started paying closer attention to the Profile Browser in Lightroom Classic that things clicked, and this Scott Kelby tutorial on black and white conversion is the clearest breakdown I’ve seen of exactly how to use it.