Custom Black & White in Lightroom

Welcome back photographer Andie Smith

I LOVE LOVE LOVE black and white images. When I was in school, we shot with black and white film (Ilford for me please!) and processed our images in the darkroom (I miss the smell of stop bath). I had full control how my images turned out, from the contrast to the tones of the black and whites (I love warm paper!).

When I started playing with Lightroom during the 1st beta testing, I was sold with the control I had (yes, I’m a little bit of a control freak… I admit it!). I could make beautiful custom black and white images from my computer!!

How? Split Toning!

1. Edit your image in color to your liking, then convert to Greyscale

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

2. Scroll down the right hand side to Split Toning

3. Click on the box next to Shadows and choose a color. I went with a light tan to get a warm tone. also slide the % slider on the bottom of the box for the strength of the tone.

Click to Enlarge

4. Play around with other colors… like blue!

5. You can go crazy and play with the Highlights too…

I’m not morning the loss of the darkroom, and film as much any more, thanks to Lightroom.

Some other posts by Andie Smith

• The 5 min Photoshop Retouch
• Get Inked with Photoshop and No Needles
• Mask-uerade - Photoshop Clipping Mask
• Watermark It With A Photoshop Brush
• Vintage Tints
• Local Adjustments in Lightroom
• The Tilt-Shift Effect in Photoshop
• Make Them Shine!

About the author

Andie Smith wrote 10 articles on this blog.

Andie Smith is a Dallas-based freelance photographer, specializing in editorial and fine art photography. Andie’s favorite artistic expression has always been photography. As a child, she fell in love with the art while vacationing with her family. Even now, when she looks at those photos, she is instantly transported back in time to experience those moments again – the sights, the sounds, the smells, the people. It is Andie’s hope that her photography evokes a similar response in all her clients. She realized photography was more than just a hobby while studying graphic design at The Art Institute – Dallas. Andie knew she had the skills to succeed as a photographer, so she jetted off to southern Florida where she studied photography at The Art Institute – Fort Lauderdale. Andie’s favorite photography subjects are aircrafts and Americana (especially main streets).

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Tags: Black & White, Digital Photo, Lightroom, Split Toning, Tutorial