A 7-Step Guide to Editing Black and White Portraits in Lightroom

Creating a compelling black and white portrait is about a lot more than simply removing the color from an image; it is an art in itself. If you would like to learn how to create such images in Lightroom, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features an experienced photographer guiding you through a seven-step process for creating compelling results. 

Coming to you from our friend, Pye Jirsa, with Adorama TV, this awesome video tutorial will show you how to edit compelling black and white portraits using Lightroom. Some of the best advice I ever heard regarding choosing whether to edit a photo in color or black and white is to go with color when you want to convey information and black and white when you want to convey emotion. As such, black and white can be a natural choice for a portrait, especially for drawing the focus back to the emotion of the scene. Remember that in Lightroom, you can always create virtual copies of photos if you want to try out a black and white edit along with a color one or deliver multiple options to clients. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Jirsa. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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