Ryan Phillips Blog

I get a lot of questions on how I do my Black and White images. Let me start off by saying there is no magic bullet. I use a lot of different pieces of software to achieve specific looks but ultimately you have to start off with a great image! You can’t hide a bad image with B&W, you will just wind up with a bad grayscale image instead of a bad color one. I am going to use one example and show you different ways of processing it using Nik Filters Silver EFX Pro and Alien Skin. Depending on the look I want or how much control I want will depend on which Plug-In I choose.

To start with, I generally know at the time I take the image if it is going to be B&W. It changes the way I shoot the image. In addition, I process an image from RAW differently than I would a color one. I tend to my like my B&W’s moody so I slightly underexpose them in camera. I leave the brightness and blacks a little under when I process them. That way, when I bump the contrast I get creamy skin tones and I don’t clip the blacks into nothingness.

Raw Image: This is straight out of camera shot in RAW with a 5D Mark I. I underexposed it a touch so I could bring up the exposure in Lightroom but leave the mid-tones a bit dark.

Processed in Lightroom: I brought up the exposure and brought down the brightness to keep the skin tones neutral.

Silver EFX (Nik Silver EFX Pro): This is my favorite of the conversions and I had the most control. Using Silver Efex Pro I left it on the default setting and added +10 contrast and +10 structure. Then I added 6 control points around the subject and brought down the brightness to taste. Finally I used levels to bring up the skin tones a hair.

Delta 100 (Alien Skin): Standard Conversion. I use Delta 100 a lot! It has a great tonal range with bright whites and deep blacks. It also adds a little bit of grain for a film look but not too much.

Tri-X 400 Push 1 (Alien Skin): Standard Conversion. Tri-X replicates the old film stock really well! Sometimes I want to give something an old film look and I love the grain here. I use the Push 1 setting to enhance the grain and give it a more photojournalistic look.

3200 (Alien Skin): Standard Conversion. I don’t use it that often but if I want to give something a really grainy ethereal look I use 3200 speed to replicate a really low light situation. I generally use it on brides who are facing away from me and walking down a dark corridor or street.

OK, so I don’t have either of those plug-ins what do I do?

Well, there are two ways to handle that. You can turn the image grayscale and use the contrast slider to add drama. Then do a curves layer to bring the mid tones up or down.

OR you can do a channel mixer (More Advanced)
Using the “create new adjustment layer” button at the bottom of the layers palette, choose Channel Mixer.
Check the monochrome box.
Now play with the sliders until you get the look you want.

Final Result:

I added +20 of contrast from the Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast Menu to give it a little more punch.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask any questions in the comment field and I will do my best to answer. Now go have some fun and play around with your own images!

By now, most of you have seen the video “Reverie” by Vincent Laforet shot w/ a Cannon 5D Mark II. He just released a new video called “Nocturne” which is equally as a amazing. Check it out…

Watch “Nocturne” shot by Vincent Laforet on a Canon 5D Mark II

I wanted to share an often overlooked feature of Lightroom. Split Toning. I don’t use it that often but it can create an interesting effect if used properly. Split Toning is adding a specific color to the highlights and a different one to the shadows thus “toning” the photograph to give it a specific mood. You should preferably start with a black and white image. Grab the saturation sliders in both the highlight and shadow area of the split tone drop down menu and drag them to %50. This is just a starting point to see the affect of the Hue/Saturation sliders and you can adjust it later. For this specific image, I used the color picker and picked a muted yellow color for the highlights and a muted red color for the shadows. I played with the saturation slider to get the affect that I wanted. I then adjusted the balance to the highlight/yellow side to give the image a brighter more yellow feel. I liked it so much I saved the settings in Presets so I could use it on the next image as well.

You can choose any colors and remember to just have fun playing around with it. It will take some work to get a cool effect.

My Settings for this series:
Hue 48
Saturation 48
Balance +27
Hue 188
Saturation 16

Here is another example with a bride that gave me a sepia-like effect which I think I prefer over the Black and White. I used the settings from the above image as a starting point and made some minor tweaks.

My Settings for this series:
Hue 47
Saturation 44
Balance +77
Hue 21
Saturation 20

Bonnie has a fantastic sense of style! She had a beautiful Pronovias Dress with a great sash detail and a sweet pair of Badgley Mischka kicks. The wedding was all close family and friends and you could feel how much everyone was into this couple. Bonnie and Barry let me take them out for several mini-photo shoots through out the day and we had a lot of fun shooting different set-ups.

Isn’t this a killer detail?!






























Bonnie cried at every single speech…







The reception was all about the stogies. I think every person in the place had one lit up at the same time…

Felicia was simply electric on her wedding day! She was stunning in Monique Lhuillier! With everything that went wrong on her wedding day she never let anything bother her. It started when Lightning struck her and David’s house the night before and took out all their computers and TV’s. Pretty much every vendor had some horror that day but she remained poised and always kept a positive outlook. Felicia sent us a really nice email the day after her wedding:

HI Ryan,

This is the first chance I’ve had to get to a computer so I apologize for the delay. But I wanted to reach out and thank you for an absolutely fantastic day. In a day littered with hiccups, I am glad that I had such an amazing team taking care of one of the most important aspects of the day… the pictures. Your attention to detail, your professionalism (all the while being personable and fun) and your amazing work really made our day special. I could not have asked for a better team and I cannot be more pleased with my decision to go with your company. I am full of raves and cannot help but share them with anyone who will listen :)!

Thanks so much,
Felicia & David

Just a few pics of the family from the pumpkin patch…

The was the most bad ass pumpkin launcher EVER! Seriously it would fire these mini pumpkins a few hundred yards with amazing accuracy. The targets where two old vans up on haystacks, you could demolish them. Awesome!

I get a lot of questions about who does my killer album designs so I thought I would post about her and share the love. Her name is Tamar and you can find her at Newline Design She is amazingly talented and tells a story like no one else. She puts a lot of thought into every aspect of the design and will often ask for more images to craft the story on a specific page. Her attention to detail and fresh modern designs are what keeps some of the countries hottest photographers on her client list. Check her out…

If you use Lightroom and don’t have DQ Quik Keys drop everything you are doing and purchase them immediately. You need the hardware, and both the Lightroom and Photoshop modules. Yes they are insanely expensive but not compared to the cost of how many hours you and your employees will spend dicking with the controls in Lightroom. Even if you don’t master the one handed, eyes glued to the screen without looking at the keys speed as the master, Dave Cheung, you will still be 50% faster than you are now. And if you do…you will be like the final scene in the Matrix.

Seriously, If you are a Prosumer or Professional photographer who processes tons of files, you need to have these! They come with over 20 video tutorials on how to use them and they will teach you a ton about both programs regardless of the keys. The keys have revolutionized my workflow and not only am I faster but I can create more amazing images because I have more time to spend on each one.

In case you are wondering, I am not sponsored by DQ or have any affiliation with them. They simply rock! and I want to share…