{"id":2385,"date":"2012-02-26T12:27:58","date_gmt":"2012-02-26T20:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/?p=2385"},"modified":"2012-02-26T12:28:52","modified_gmt":"2012-02-26T20:28:52","slug":"making-photograph-black-white-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/2012\/02\/26\/making-photograph-black-white-points\/","title":{"rendered":"Making a Photograph – Black and White Points"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are a lot of instructional books on how to use Lightroom, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and the like.\u00a0 They provide a comprehensive and in-depth review of the various adjustments and filters available in these powerful tools.\u00a0 And as such they serve as excellent references.\u00a0 I own many of these fine books.<\/p>\n

Now, a lot of workflows are built around the concept of seeing what needs to be fixed next and fixing it.\u00a0 I advocate a more structured approach; namely, fix the tonality first, then the hue and finally the saturation.\u00a0 See my recent post on Workflow.<\/a>\u00a0 But I often hear the statement, \u201cI look at my photograph and just don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d\u00a0 Many people often don\u2019t know where to begin.<\/p>\n

So I want to take a different approach.\u00a0 I want to look at an image and identify what it needs and then talk about the various techniques for achieving it.\u00a0 In other words, I want to start with the question, \u201cWhat makes a compelling photograph?\u201d and go from there.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t help to know all of the tools and tricks available in Lightroom and Photoshop if you don\u2019t know when to use them.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll start with this image.\u00a0 It is photographed in the Mesquite Flats Dunes of Death Valley.\u00a0 The dunes provide an inspiring variety of compositions and ligh.\u00a0 (You can click on this and all other images in this post to enlarge it.)<\/p>\n

\"BP<\/a><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start by examining the images tonality and see what improvements can be made.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Checking the Photograph<\/h1>\n

The first thing to check is the exposure.\u00a0 To do that we look at the histogram.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how it looks in Lightroom.<\/p>\n

\"BP<\/a><\/p>\n

The image is not bad. The exposure is actually very good.\u00a0 There is no highlight or shadow clipping problems; that is, the histogram does not extend to the right or left sides.\u00a0 In fact, it is pretty well centered which, in this case, is a good thing.<\/p>\n

But the image is lacking in drama.\u00a0 It has no snap.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing to make it stand out.\u00a0 The problem is it lacks contrast.<\/p>\n

Contrast<\/h2>\n

Contrast adds interest because it adds drama.\u00a0 Bold dark areas balanced with brilliant light areas are exciting.\u00a0 They catch our eye.<\/p>\n

Contrast also adds clarity.\u00a0 You know what it\u2019s like to be outside on a clear day after a cleansing rain or when it\u2019s windy.\u00a0 Distant mountains become very clear.\u00a0 In fact, one often hears, \u201cIt was so clear I felt like I could reach out and touch them.\u201d\u00a0 This is because the haze and dust in the atmosphere is gone.\u00a0 Normally the atmosphere will scatter the light from distant objects, making them appear fuzzy and giving them a blue cast (\u201cPurple mountain majesty\u201d).\u00a0 But when we have these exceptionally clear days it\u2019s always thrilling.\u00a0 The fuzzy appearance of the distant mountains results from the contrast being reduced and this can be \u2018corrected\u2019 by restoring at least some of the contrast.<\/p>\n

But contrast applies to more than just images of mountains and other distant objects.\u00a0 It\u2019s a fundamental quality of all photographs and in many cases, greater contrast is preferable to lesser contrast, the notable exception being fog.<\/p>\n

Now, the histogram also tells us that this image lacks contrast.\u00a0 The same observation about the exposure (that the histogram does not extend to either side) also tells us that the dynamic range is at least somewhat limited.\u00a0 In other words, the image lacks the necessary contrast to make it interesting.<\/p>\n

Dynamic Range of the Medium<\/h2>\n

But what this also tells us is that the image is not taking advantage of the full dynamic range of the medium.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve read Ansel Adams, you know that his goal in creating black and white images was to take advantage of the full dynamic range of the paper he was printing on.\u00a0 The full dynamic range is the blackest black and the whitest white the paper can display.\u00a0 The whitest white is the natural white of the paper.\u00a0 And the blackest black is the darkest tone that can be created by the maximum density of the silver in the emulsion.\u00a0 In our digital world, the whitest white is still the white of the paper but the blackest black is the darkest tone that can be created from the black inks we use.<\/p>\n

So one characteristic of a compelling print is that it makes use of the full dynamic range of the medium.\u00a0 And one way to determine if it\u2019s doing that or not is the histogram (yep, the histogram).<\/p>\n

Looking at the histogram for our image we can see that we need to stretch it out, thereby increasing the dynamic range AND the overall contrast.\u00a0 One way to do that is to set a black point and a white point.\u00a0 Let\u2019s break it down.<\/p>\n

Setting a Black Point<\/h1>\n

Setting a black point creates a tonal foundation for the image.\u00a0 In Lightroom the Blacks<\/strong> adjustment is used to set the black point.<\/p>\n

Now, I must point out that my starting point in Lightroom is with Blacks set to zero.\u00a0 Adobe defaults Blacks to 5, no doubt because that makes the images look better.\u00a0 But I prefer to override that when I import my images and set all Blacks to 0.\u00a0 See Lightroom Tutorial – Camera Specific Presets<\/a><\/p>\n

\"BP<\/a><\/p>\n

The Blacks adjustment affects just the left end of the histogram.\u00a0 So by increasing Blacks the left end of the histogram will move toward the left side.\u00a0 Now, before I start I want to turn on the two clipping warnings.\u00a0 To do that I click the triangles in the upper corners of the histogram.<\/p>\n

\"BP<\/a><\/p>\n

Now I slide the Blacks adjustment to the right until I get a small <\/strong>amount of black clipping.\u00a0 Note the emphasis on the word \u201csmall,\u201d\u00a0 A tiny amount of black clipping is good for an image but too much is a bad thing.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n

\"BP<\/a><\/p>\n

Notice that the black clipping warning triangle is now \u2018lit up.\u2019 The histogram is just barely touching the left side but it is enough to create a very small amount of black clipping.\u00a0 You can see some blue areas in the shadows near the bottom of the image.\u00a0 This is where the shadow clipping occurs.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s compare the before and after images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"BP<\/a>Before<\/td>\n\"BP<\/a>With Black Point<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Already there is a noticeable improvement.\u00a0 The ripples in the sand stand out more because if the increased contrast.\u00a0 And the image has a richer feel to it.\u00a0 Oftentimes adding a black point will also saturate the colors, especially in Lightroom.\u00a0 So the yellows of the sand are more pronounced.<\/p>\n

Setting a White Point<\/h1>\n

We can kick this image up another notch though.\u00a0 We can increase the brightness of the image by using the Lightroom Exposure <\/strong>adjustment.\u00a0 This will have the effect of moving the right side of the histogram toward the right with minimal affect on the blacks.\u00a0 If we increase Exposure to the point where the histogram touches the right side we will have created a white point.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not always desirable to create an actual white point in color images (unlike black and white images which almost always benefit from a white point).\u00a0 But increasing Exposure will add contrast and give the image more pop.<\/p>\n

Increasing Exposure produces these results.<\/p>\n

\"BP<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve increased Exposure to +1.3.\u00a0 This is similar to increasing the exposure in your camera by 1.3 f\/stops (not that you can adjust the exposure in your camera by 1\/10 stop increments \u2013 usually we choose 1\/3 or\u00a0 possibly 1\/2 stop increments).\u00a0 Here are the three images \u2013 the original, the black point and the combined black point\/white point images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"BP<\/a><\/td>\n\"BP<\/a><\/td>\n\"BP<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

It\u2019s clear that the image has grown from one that is flat and uninteresting to one that has a lot more promise.\u00a0 The image we started with just doesn\u2019t have any life.\u00a0 The final image is vibrant and much more interesting.\u00a0 The texture and contours of the sand are much more pronounced now and the color is more vivid.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t say it was done yet.\u00a0 We may have more adjustments to make to tonality, hue and saturation.\u00a0 But the point here is not to produce a final image but to spell out in some detail how setting black and white points is a great first step in your workflow.<\/p>\n

A few words of caution are in order.\u00a0 Not every image benefits from a true white point.\u00a0 In fact, if you check the histogram for the final image above, it does NOT have a white point; the histogram does not touch the right side.\u00a0 Rather, the Exposure was increased so that there is a pleasing brightness and an interesting amount of contrast.<\/p>\n

The same can be said for black points although most color images benefit from black points.\u00a0 But this is not something you want to do blindly.\u00a0 In both cases you may find that if you go all the way to a black or white the result is too strong.\u00a0 In this happens, back off.\u00a0 Set levels of Blacks and Exposure that strengthen your images but do not overpower and thus ruin them.<\/p>\n

Other Ways to Set Black and White Points<\/h1>\n

We\u2019ve described how to set black and white points in Lightroom.\u00a0 But Photoshop offers more ways to do this and while the controls are different, the principle is the same.\u00a0 I won\u2019t get into the details here but will just outline how it\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

The first Photoshop adjustment that people often learn is Levels<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Levels<\/a><\/p>\n

There are two sliders in the Levels adjustment that allow you to adjust the black and white points.\u00a0 They are circled above.\u00a0 Slide the black triangle to the right to adjust the black point.\u00a0 Hold down the Alt key while you slide and the image will turn white.\u00a0 When you start to create black points those area of the image will turn black.<\/p>\n

The same technique works for the white slider.\u00a0 Holding down the Alt key will turn the image black.\u00a0 As you slide the white slider to the left the areas where highlight clipping occurs will turn white.<\/p>\n

Levels is available in both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.<\/p>\n

The Curves<\/strong> adjustment can also be used to set black and white points.<\/p>\n

\"Curves<\/a><\/p>\n

As with the Levels adjustment there are black and white sliders (circled above).\u00a0 Again, holding down the Alt key and sliding the respective sliders will have the same effect as with Levels.<\/p>\n

When used in this way (simply using the black and white sliders to set black and white points) there is really no difference between the two controls.\u00a0 However, Curves offers a great deal more flexibility than Levels and for most experienced Photoshop users it is their go-to adjustment.\u00a0 We\u2019ll get into some of the differences at some point but let\u2019s just leave it here for now.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h1>\n

So what\u2019s the answer to those who say they have no idea where to start with an image?\u00a0 The answer is to explore what adjusting the overall brightness and added contrast can do.\u00a0 And this can be done by setting a black point and possibly a white point.\u00a0 As long as your photograph is well exposed, this is a good place to start.\u00a0 (Of course, if it\u2019s under or over exposed then you need to approach the image in a totally different manner.)<\/p>\n

The adjustments you will use in Lightroom are Blacks and Exposure.\u00a0 In Photoshop you can use Levels or Curves.<\/p>\n

Both approaches lead to improved contrast which adds drama and impact to the image.<\/p>\n

If you find this post useful and know others who might enjoy it, please feel free to share it with them.\u00a0 You can use the Share button at the top of the post.<\/span><\/p>\n

We do photography workshops.\u00a0 Come on out and join us.\u00a0 Click here to check us out.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

You can also check out our photography.\u00a0 Click here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

(12783)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Add snap to your photographs by adding contrast. This step-by-step shows you how to set black and white points in Lightroom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,273,272],"tags":[58,371,373,368,367,374,297,266,192,47,364,48,370,369,127,372,1358],"class_list":["post-2385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-to-articles","category-lightroom-how-to-articles-articles","category-photoshop-how-to-articles-articles","tag-adobe","tag-black-point","tag-blacks","tag-brightness","tag-contrast","tag-curves","tag-dynamic-range","tag-exposure","tag-levels","tag-lightroom","tag-luminance","tag-photoshop","tag-photoshop-elements","tag-phtograph","tag-tonality","tag-white-point","tag-workshops"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Nl7-Ct","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2385"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2387,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2385\/revisions\/2387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}