Colours into tones in black and white

The purpose of this exercise was to experiment with different coloured filters in black and white photography. I created a still life shot which included the colours red, green, blue and yellow and used Photoshop Elements to digitally create filter effects.

 

I converted the original image to black and white and set all the sliders; red, green and blue to the same level. This gave a very dark image which I used as a starting point each time. In order to then create the effect of a red filter, I moved the red slider up gradually until I was happy that the effect appeared obvious, yet still gave a pleasing image. As shown, the filter allows the red of the jugs to pass through, yet blocks opposite colours such as greens which appear very dark. I repeated the exercise, in turn moving the green and blue sliders with similar effect.  

The next task was to create the same image with a yellow filter. As the primary colours using light; red/green/blue are different from those we learn using paint; red/yellow/blue, the yellow filter would have to be created by enhancing both the red and green to create the effect of yellow. As expected, this had a similar effect to reducing the blue; the blues appeared darker and the yellows appeared lighter. I also created experimented with the effects of boosting blue and green together, having the effect of increasing cyan and reducing red and then boosting red and blue together, having the effect of increasing magenta and reducing green.

 

My favourite image in this experiment is the one using the yellow filter; the blue background and toothbrush have created a dark background and foreground, creating balance and more contrast in the image. My least favourite, probably due to the lack of contrast is the magenta version. In black and white photography, contrast is important in creating the lines and shapes which balance an image. Until now, I have always used the pre-set filter effects when converting to black and white but this experiment has given me the confidence to take control and find the right balance manually.