Get better mono results

Create effective monochrome shots by using colours to form contrasting greyscale tones

there are a few reasons why you might want to remove colour from an image.

By removing the distraction of colour from a photograph you can use contrasting greyscale tones to draw attention to various shapes, textures and patterns in the scene – and a black-andwhite conversion might save a disappointing shot, for example if the sky is overcast and the colours are dull and drab. A monochrome image can also evoke different moods, especially if you use a wash of colour to tone it.

Simply desaturating a shot doesn’t guarantee a successful black-and-white conversion, however. Key elements in an image, such as a portrait subject’s clothing and their background, or a sky and the landscape below, may take on the same greyscale tones, causing them to lack impact and definition. The secret to a successful monochrome conversion is manipulating the colours in the original image to create a greater variety of greyscale tones. This process mimics the photographic technique of placing colour filters over the lens when shooting with black-and-white film – a red filter, for example, will darken blue skies in the black-and-white image, causing lighter white clouds to stand out more in contrast.

If you shoot using your Canon’s Raw format then you can use DPP 4’s Monochrome picture style to experiment with black-and-white looks. Our vegetables image isn’t a subject that you’d traditionally convert to black and white, but its variety of colours enable us to illustrate the versatility of the Monochrome picture style and its filter effects.