Effective monochrome in minutes

1 Remove the colour Right-click on the start image in Bridge and choose Open in Camera Raw. Click on the HSL/Grayscale tab, then click on the Saturation tab and drag all eight Saturation sliders left to -100; this removes all the colour, but the underlying colour information is still available to us. 2 Adjust selected tones Click on the Luminance tab, and use the sliders to lighten or darken tones in the image. You can also use the Targeted Adjustment tool – see the Quick Tip. Darken the sky, and lift the greyscale tones corresponding to the yellows and greens in the landscape.

3 Play with white balance

Go to the Basic panel, and experiment with the Temperature and Tint sliders to see how they affect the tones. Next, play with Vibrance and Saturation, and use the other sliders to fine-tune global and local contrast. A boost in Clarity works wonders here.

4 Add a grad effect

Select the Graduated Filter tool from the toolbar, click on the ‘+’ symbol to the right of the Temperature slider, then drag down from the sky to darken it for an ND grad filter effect. Experiment with the Temperature and Tint sliders to change the look of the sky.

5 Dodge and burn

Take the Adjustment Brush, click on the ‘–’ button to the left of the Exposure slider, set a high Feather value and paint around the lower-left edge to darken it slightly. Press N to add a new mask, click on the ‘+’ Exposure button, and paint to lighten the water and cliffs.

6 Save a preset

You can save your edits as a preset, then apply this to other images. Click on the Zoom tool to return to the Basic panel, then click on the Presets tab. Click on the New Preset icon, name the preset and check the relevant boxes: White Balance, Saturation and HSL here.