The Art of Black and White Photography

Learn how to create dramatic black & white images using a range of powerful Photoshop techniques.

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Many of the most powerful, memorable and effective photographs are black and white images. With digital photography though, you can no longer take a great black and white photograph – unless you're happy to shoot JPEGs – but you can create one using the black and white photography techniques taught in this course.

So if you're confused about which black and white conversion techniques to use, unsure about how to adjust the tonal range and balance of your black and white photos using curves and masks, want to make more of your black and white portraits, and you want to learn how to tone your black and white images, this course is for you.


What black and white photography techniques are you going to learn?

You're going to learn how to use a range of powerful, flexible and non-destructive black and white conversion techniques. You're will learn which are the most useful and powerful, e.g. the Channel Mixer and Black and White tool, when to use one technique rather than another, and which techniques to avoid (and why).

You will learn how to evaluate the tonal range and tonal balance of an image, and then, how to make global and selective changes using adjustment layers, selections, masks and the Curves tool: four of the most powerful tools and techniques within Photoshop.

You'll then learn how to use these tools and techniques to overcome some of the unique problems you'll face when converting your portraits to black and white, including how to delineate your subject from the background, how to work with skin tones to maximise detail or smooth your subject's skin, and how to enhance your subject's eyes.

You'll learn how to add unique and complex tones that will really bring your black and white images to life.

You're going to learn how to embed all of these tools and techniques into a flexible, powerful and repeatable workflow.


But this isn't just a course about post-production and Photoshop: each video will also enable you to develop the skills and give you black and white photography tips you need to create not only technically optimal black and white photographs, but ones that are aesthetically striking too.


When you create a black and white image, pressing the shutter is just the start. Sign up for The Art of Black and White Photography and take the next step now!


Your Instructor


David J. Nightingale
David J. Nightingale

David is an internationally acclaimed photographer, author and instructor. His soulful seascapes and powerful street portraits have earned him a worldwide following.

He is a master of Photoshop and, with his background as a university lecturer, is able to transfer his extensive knowledge to his students.

David has been featured on television and publications worldwide –including BBC television, ITV, The Times. Time Magazine and Creative Live – and has run many international workshops and photo tours. His five photography books have been translated into many languages and are available in bookshops and on Amazon.


Frequently Asked Questions


Who is this course for?
Anyone who wants to learn how to create technically optimal and aesthetically stunning black and white images using Photoshop.
When does the course start?
Whenever you want! The Art of Black and White Photography is a completely self-paced online class - you decide when to start and when to finish.
What are the requirements?
A fairly recent version of Photoshop (CS3 or above). If you're using an old version of Photoshop (CS2 or below) you'll be able to work with most of the tools and techniques covered in this course other than the Black and White tool which was introduced in Photoshop CS3. You DON'T NEED any prior knowledge of Photoshop. You'll be learning some powerful and sometimes complex techniques, but we'll work through each of these step-by-step.
What am I going to learn?
With 15 lectures and 6.5 hours of content The Art of Black and White Photography will teach you: How to create technically optimal and aesthetically stunning black and white images with Photoshop. How to develop an effective, powerful, and efficient black and white workflow. How to use a range of black and white conversion techniques to maximise the impact of your images. How to evaluate the tonal range and tonal balance of an image in order to work out the changes that need to be made during subsequent post-production. How to use the histogram effectively. How to create and use adjustment layers. How to use masks to seamlessly blend two or more adjustment layers. How to use the Curves tool, Photoshop's most powerful tool, to apply both global and selective changes to the tonal range and tonal balance of your images. How to blend two or more conversion techniques within the same image. How to smooth skin tones, a technique that's especially useful for portraits of women and children. How to lighten your subject's eyes. How to maximise the detail in your subject's face: especially suitable for male portraiture. How to add unique and compelling tones to your images to really bring them to life.
Can I sell this course as an affiliate?
Yes, you can sign up for our affiliate programme and earn 35% of all sales. If you're interested, email us for further details and we'll let you know what you need to do.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After purchase, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are dissatisfied with your purchase, contact us during the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.

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