silverize

My Artistic Palate- A Feast For The Eyes

2009-04-01T10:44:00.002-05:00

These are all some of my recent favs from DeviantArt. Each image links to the post of the original artist. If you like something I strongly encourage you to view the full image (especially since some are displayed here disproportionally). Please visit the artist's submission and give them the credit.

These are listed starting with my newest favs, so you can see what gets me all hot and bothered artistically these days. :) I just look at these and they are so inspirational to me, or they move me in a special way, and I want to share that feeling with people. So have fun and look around and be inspired!!! I command you!

Much <3

Sharing the Love

2009-02-11T12:09:00.004-06:00

I ran across a ... what would I call it? A program? A utility? A tool? A website? It's pretty much like all those things and more. I can't even recall how I ran across this gem, but I am one to admire a well developed application, so I give kudos to this site. You can create your own flash widget, site, gallery and more for free! The free display shows ads for the website, but each site/widget you create can be upgraded to premium where it can be linked to your domain and the ads can be removed. I'm impressed so far. It's so intuitive and they offer quite a few options. You can seriously create an entire site with all the basic anitmations, etc... you would need, offering nearly endless options for customization.

Go check it out. Here is something I created with it:

codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,28,0" allowScriptAccess="never" allowNetworking="internal">
Wix.com

My Favorite Color is... CHROME!

2008-12-05T10:52:00.007-06:00

Ok. So I'm been meaning to scream this to the world for sometime (as if the whole world even reads this blog, lol) But I love Google. Best free email, best search engine, best image search, 2nd best blog (I know I use blogger, but that's only because I'm still in transition, I prefer wordpress) they have the best map/directions, and gosh... so much more. But I am constantly amazed by their new web browser, Google Chrome.

They have very detailed documentation for people who are interested in how innovative Google Chrome is. Each tab is a separate process, so just becuase one crashes, the others aren't forced to die. They have an "incognito" browser which is great if you don't want your personal information shared with the world. Chrome learrns from your use of the browser and will put your most used pages on the opening page/tab and will remember any URL you type in the address bar. But... unlike other browsers, you don't have to worry about it jumping to "wwww.goolge.com" because once, forever ago, your fingers didn't work and you accidentally typed the wrong address (leaving it forever tatooed into the memory of your inferior browser. lol) It also doesn't just give it as a drop down menu (as in Firefox) where you have to arrow down or mouse click the option. It is honestly amazing. I am spoiled now. I find myself typeing "hot" into other browsers because I'm use to google jumping to hotmail when I hit enter. Let me tell you now... you dont' want to look up "hot" or "hot.com" lol. Trust me.

Today I was even further impressed when I was exploring CSS designs online and right clicked as I would normall do to view the source of the page and clicked "Inspect Element" It was like stumbling open a room full of iPods or realizing you have been given free Starbucks for the rest of your life. You can actually look at the code, element by element, show only the code you're interested in, pick it apart. This is great for me because I learn the most by seeing something I like and learning how someone else made it work. I suggest just trying this sometime, espeically if you are into web design or coding.

Other amazing Google things...

I also stumbled upon a few other awesome free google stuffs...

Google Sites: Free, create multiple sites, customize it, link it to your domain name. I haven't fully expolored the possibilities here, but I'm sure they are pretty much endless and I intend on digging in deaper sometime in the future.

Picasa: It hasn't taken off like Flickr has, but it's great for storing photos, sharing them with other, and creating public galleries of your favorite pix to share with the world.

GoogleDocs: You can not only upload, store, and share documents online for instant access and sharing, but you can actually CREATE documents online as well. Word-type documents, presentations, spreadsheets... pretty expansive and entirely free. This is very quick and convenient for students, businesses and more. Example: Have each of your pricelists saved in Google Docs, share it instantly with a potential customer. It's incredible.

So Now you know my latest love story. Go share it with the world, use it, explore, LEARN!!! Don't just stick with what you know simply because it's what you know. Think about all the amazing progress throughout history. Not made by doing what you always do, but breaking out from the norm, opening your mind and exploring new possiblities.

The End.

Google's Awesome

Brittany out....

SO.... I need a macro lens

2008-11-14T12:56:00.003-06:00

Featured Artist

Hello everybody! I just felt like sharing one of my favorite photogrpahers on DeviantART. So creative and some of the most beautiful manipulation of light I've ever seen. I hope you are inspired and enjoy! Please click on the icon or link below to go to onixa's DeviantART gallery. Thanks!

*onixa on DeviantART

Diptychs - No, not chocolate covered blood-sucking parasites

2008-11-12T11:34:00.018-06:00

A diptych (pronounced "dip-tick" IPA: [ dip'tik] (or US: [ 'dɪp.tɪk ]) from the Greek δίπτυχο [ ði'pti.xo ] di- "two" + ptychē "fold") is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge.

In the photography world I learned that a Diptych can be created by displaying two photos displayed right next to each othere. So basically I see these things on DeviantART all the time and love them. I immediately found them fascinating, because the 2nd image really drives the mood of the artwork home. There is also a triptych (3 images, obviously :D)

I was stragely happy to learn the name of these things, as I am seeing them more and more often. It is my newest obsession in photography and very interesting to see how people use this technique.

LINKS ABOUT DIPTYCHS

Big Group on Flickr - Two is better than one

The Dipthyc Effect

Here are some examples I found on DeviantART.

More Glowing Yummi-ness

2008-11-05T14:21:00.004-06:00

Of my recent attempts at this style, this is by far my favorite of them all. I love the photo I started with and the lighting was already perfect, plus, music/guitar photos are awesome and lend so much to the mood. So here you go....

EDIT:

Decided to add this one, too, since I just love this look and I'm super excited... :D

All rights to photos belong to Gary Palmer, Captured Images. I didn't take them :)

My Favorite Action - As of Today...

2008-10-29T15:17:00.003-05:00

So I decided I wanted to share my favorite action these days. It's by Night-Fate on DeviantART. Some great actions there and so many to download and try for free, but this if my favorite for now b/c of the way the blues look (and the colors are all bright) . . . Anyway. Just try it! :)

Actionset 59 (Action #3 is the one)

Sample image is of beautiful Autumn Kahler and was taken by Gary Palmer, Captured Images, Inc.

Gordon McBryde

2008-10-29T13:40:00.004-05:00

Please click the title above to visit one of the most creative photographers I have ever found. He just finished this new website and I'm so impressed by the photos, the simple layout is great for showcasing his incredible work.

Gordon's DeviantART Site

The Website

More Exploding Colors

2008-10-27T12:38:00.003-05:00

If you've been following the trend of my inspiration these days you'll remember that I was easily caught by the awesomeness of this style as inspired by wirestyle on DeviantART . So I have been reading some tutorials and trying a few new things. It still isn't to the level I want to be, but it's better than some of my recent attempts, so I decided to share it. :)

Here are before and after shots for you. If you have questions about what I did differently from my other tries you've seen just write me a comment or send me a message.

Some Fun and Useful Stuff

2008-10-22T10:58:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I was looking around for some inspiration and help because I just HATE doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over and, well, you get the idea. So I came across an author with a lot of great help... Click the title of this post to go to a great article on Design tips and scroll to the bottom for the previous 4 tips.

Through this reading I found this website, which has all sorts of color themes for designs, so I suggest taking a look for your viewing pleasure. :)

Enjoy!

My Newest Illustrative Challenge

2008-09-24T11:01:00.004-05:00

I don't usually like to post twice in one day because it seems to sort of "knock" the other post down a bunch. But I wanted to share my newest challenge. I like to challenge myself.

I have a habit of not finishing what I start and this sometime takes the form of the less obvious "I like to shortcut when I could do much better" problem. Which sort of happened with this one. I had grand hopes for it and could have done MUCH better getting this to really work right and be really in your face amazing. But instead I had work to do and the time it would have taken would have sucked away from time I needed to do my other things. So until I can sit down and work on this technique for a more significant amount of time, here is my latest attempt. :)

PS - I know the drop shadows on the splashes make them look flat, but I didn't have the time to work them up right. I'm sure I could have done more with the background and some more media, like vectors and swirls, but ... ok. I'm just going to shut up and post it :) lol

My Very First HTML Experience

2008-09-24T10:54:00.002-05:00

So... many people ask me where I first learned graphic design or how to make websites, etc.. I tell them that I learned straight HTML before anything else and to this day I think it gave me a foundation for web that is impossible without studying code.

I always distinctly remember the feeling I had the first time I wrote out HTML code, opened the page and found a whole website had been created with only a few tags. I am always looking for a good website tutorial, but it seems everyone immediately thinks of Dreamweaver (or FrontPage, etc...) and once you get into software there are so many techniques and different "rules." With HTML, everyone uses the same language, it progresses and changes at times, but it's pretty much universal.

Today I stumbled across the same tutorial I used 6 years ago to make my first web page from straight HTML only. I loved it. I look at javascript and other codes and want to bang a hammer to my head there is just so much to force into my brain, but I love it. I love learning and HTML was one of my favorite challenges that first year of Graphic Design class. So I'm sharing it with my readers :)

Here is a link (You can also click the title of this blog)

http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/index.html

New inspirations...

2008-09-16T11:24:00.002-05:00

Ok. So I've been going CRAZY over this style of digital art that I really want to master. Here is a link to the artist that like the most using this style so far: Pete Harrison
There are other styles similar that inspire me, so here is one in particular: JaxeNL

So I decided this will take a lot of work to perfect my style of these types of style, but here is my first work. Often I don't like to show my first work, b/c I know I'll get better. So this is by far NOT my best work, but I'm sharing it b/c I'm so excited to finally have made it (sort of) work after hours of tutorial perusing. I know the hair could use with some blending and be cut out better, but I wasn't as concerned with that as the technique. So here is a before and after shot of the effect. Made for a senior session at Captured Images, Inc.

Recent Illustrative Work

2008-09-10T13:57:00.003-05:00

Here is some stuff I've been doing at work.

Some urban illustrative stuff:

Jacob Urban by ~silverdoves on deviant ART

Some Pinup Stuff:

Website Tutorial

2008-08-28T12:56:00.003-05:00

I have created a tutorial for creating a website using Photoshop for graphics, and Dreamweaver for HTML and simple CSS. Feel free to learn and enjoy! Use the link above (the title of this post) or this button .

Brittany

Presenting: Contact Lenses

2008-08-19T12:17:00.005-05:00

Okay. I know I don't update this as much as some might like (I am one of the some) but I have a post today! Yay!

I made a breakthrough. A little background from a blabberer (me):
I have come up with some methods throughout the last few years for enhances eyes on portraits. My favorites still live on today, some have developed. I was looking at a brochure for colored contacts the other day. They also sell contacts that "enhance your natural eye color." This got me to thinking. Instead of repeating my process on portrait eyes all the time, why not create "contacts" that I could drop on and be done? While the creative juices were flowing they began to flow pretty flooding-ly. I decided that I could use designs to drop some cool textures on eyes. I knew I needed them to be to circular and symmetrical. So I found fractals. I won't keep going on and on, but basically I'm so excited about this new idea. Here is a photo I did the super retouching to, added the new eye effect and such and am now sharing here. Gary Palmer took the photo, © goes to him, k? And yeah, she's pretty much goreous to begin with...

Some recent effects...

2008-08-05T14:21:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone! I know I don't come on here often and post stuff. So I decided I would give you a taste of what I've been "into" lately. Some effects I've been doing on sessions lately. Just thought I'd share!
:D

Another, little different...

Also... for fun :) My "Inspiration Station"
For those who are interested.

Some great artists I've been drueling over at DA:

That may not seem like many, but believe me, it's enough.

The Froggie From Heaven

2008-04-09T16:41:00.002-05:00

Photographers and Designers and people of all types. I have found an AWESOME gallery utility. It is totally free, the design is impressibly flexible and the efficiency is incredible. You can create galleries from your own folders, choose a look/design for your gallery, change settings and it will AUTOMATICALLY resize your pictures, create thumbnails, create directory structure, add captions/file numbers and you can then publish your gallery to any server space, including your free server space included in the free jalbum account. I am blown away. I believe I will be using this utility (with the Lightbox 2 skin, FYI) to showcase client galleries in the future. It is incredible.

Here is one of my practice galleries which was created and uploaded within 5 mintues. Not kidding.

Enjoy everyone!!!

The different color effects

2008-04-08T16:21:00.002-05:00

Another Font Site

2008-04-02T11:41:00.001-05:00

Hey bloggers and friends!
Here is another font site I came across. They aren't all free, but they have MANY free fonts (some duplicates from dafont.com, but you can look, some are unique)
Just thought I'd share. Click the title of this post to to the site or use this link:
http://www.typenow.net/numbers.htm

God bless,
Brittany

PS - I'm working on my new blog silverize.silverdoves.com which will eventually be where all this is at, but it's having some glitches now, so I'm updating this one until that one is fixed. Just a little update for ya'll.

My Selective Color Technique

2008-03-28T15:03:00.005-05:00

There are many techniques used to achieve the “selective color” effect. The effect I am sharing is the one I use most often. I have it recorded as an action so I can use it quickly.

1. Open up a picture to practice on. Also go to Window>Actions to show the Action palette.

2. Click the “Record New Action” button the bottom left of the Actions palette and name your action. I chose to name mine “Selective Color/WarmBW.” The action will now be recording, so be careful that you avoid making even small errors or unnecessary steps.

3. Click the “Default Foreground and Background Colors” button or press the “D” key on your keyboard.

4. Now go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Gradient Map. A mask will be created and the default colors will switch for the mask view. We need black to be our foreground color, so you need to now press the “X” key or the “Switch Foreground and Background Colors” button near your color swatches.

5. Select the brush tool (B) and make sure you have a round brush with medium hardness (50-75%).

6. On your Actions palette click on the little arrow to bring out the fly-out menu and select the “Insert Stop” option. You can put instruction in here such as “paint in the parts of the photo you would like in color and press play to finish the action” or leave it blank.

7. Paint in the areas of the photo in which you wish to bring back color, zooming in to keep your edges accurate. (You can zoom in and our using the + and – keys while holding down “Ctrl”).

8. Now select your Move Tool (V) and go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation. You can just high ok, or you can name it. Check the “Colorize” option on the bottom right and drag your “Hue” slider to (30-35) for a nice sepia-like tone and click ok.

9. Make sure your “Hue/Saturation” adjustment layer is selected and change it’s layer mode to “Soft Light” using the drop-down menu located near the top of the layers palette.

10. Use the Move Tool to click on your Background layer. Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves. Hit ok and on your curve, click to make a node about 2/3 or ¾ of the way up and drag up and to the left to lighten the faces or any other detail that was darkened by the “Hue/Saturation” layer you made earlier. When you’re happy with how it looks, click ok.

11. Go to Layer>Flatten Image.

12. Go to File>Save As and save your photo in a new location (I like to make a folder directly under my main folder and name it an appropriate name such as “effects” or “selective color.”

13. Go to File>Close or use the short cut “Ctrl+W”14. Back on the Actions palette, click the stop button (Right beside the record button that is active)

You can now use this action on any photo. Select the action you made and hit the “play” button. When the stop appears, just hit “okay” and paint in the part you want in color and click the “play” button the action to finish the action. If you find something goes wrong when you run it again, check the action to see if you added any extra steps (Backing up history states will leave steps the will mess up the action.)Before you save you can duplicate your "Hue/Saturation" Layer to make it more sepia with higher contrast. It's up to you what you want to do now!

I have included an action I created for this effect if you would like to download it and compare. Hopefully you will actually attempt to make this action on your own, since that is how you learn and improve.

Selective Color Action - Download

Enjoy and God bless!
Brittany

Lightbox 2

2008-03-10T11:45:00.002-05:00

I am working on my new online site/portfolio and have been researching other website programming languages to expand my knowledge and learn some cool things. I discovered this javascript gallery (sort of?) that is very sleek and I think I will use it for my portfolio. So I'm sharing the link in case anyone is interested.
This is somewhat advanced, so I know I'm going to have to devote sometime to learning how the script works, etc... but if you have the fortitude and the desire to learn this, then please DIVE RIGHT IN! I hope to have this working on my site eventually...
The title is a link to the page and Here is the link again: Lightbox2

Have fun with it!

God bless,
Brittany

HDR Photography

2008-02-28T15:36:00.003-06:00

HDR Photography
Hey everyone! Here is the HDR PowerPoint that I showed at the seminar on Saturday (Feb. 23)
Feel free to download it and use it as a resource! Check out my archived blogs from oct, 2007 for more links to HDR info!

-Brittany

Fascinating CSS demonstration

2008-02-25T10:58:00.002-06:00

Ok...
So I've been researching CSS and I'm falling in love...
I'm so excited to actually try it out! I just never have the time. :(
This website is so amazing. It uses the exact same html document without ANY changes, but changes the CSS document. They look SO different and also SO wonderful.
I highly encourage all web designers/developers to learn CSS if you don't know it already. It is amazing and time-saving, once you learn how it works (I still haven't really learned, but I'm excited about learning it soon... I'm obsessed. lol)

css Zen Garden

Enjoy!

Brittany

Free CSS Layouts

2008-02-22T10:49:00.001-06:00

These layouts are seriously FREE. I was really impressed to find that these templates seriously are free.... just thought I'd share.

http://www.freecsstemplates.org/

Here's a Freebie for my Fans!!!

2008-02-13T12:18:00.005-06:00

Click Here to download the Freebie

This is a pattern freebie. It is made at 50% gray so all you have to do is the following:

1. Install the patterns (or use the included images to make your own)
- You can do this by downloading the ZIP file, unzipping it to a location on your computer and, with photoshop open, go to Edit>Preset Manager. Select "patterns" from the drop-down menu and click the "Load..." button to find your pattern set that is in the un-zipped folder and click "ok"
2. Use the patterns by using the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and set your Fill settings to 'pattern.' Choose one of the 4 included patterns and click once on a blank layer to fill the layer with a tiled pattern.
3. To set the color of your pattern, create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer by going to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation. Click the 'colorize' option and slide the 'hue' slider to the color you want and click 'ok.'

These patterns can also be used as a web background by using the JPG images included in the zip file as your background set to 'tile.'

Feel free to modify this image as much as you want. Hope you have fun!

God Bless,
Brittany

My New Forum!

2008-01-30T10:38:00.000-06:00

Come check out my new forum! You can show up here and post questions or discuss pretty much whatever you want to. :)
silverdovesINK

One Red Paperclip

2007-12-27T12:12:00.000-06:00

I shared a story one day in the Fall Online Publishing class about a guy who traded a paperclip all the way up to a house. Here are some links found from a Google search. You can check them out to read more about this awesome story...

Kyle MacDonald's Blog

ABC
CBC
MSNBC
BBC
Wikipedia
FOX
ABC

Another [FREE] HDR generator!!

2007-11-28T15:11:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! I ran across a link for another HDR engine that is free, apparently. I haven't downloaded it or tried it out yet, but I thought I'd share it with you. Anyone interested can download it and try it out!!

http://www.hdrshop.com/

-Brittany

PS - here is another free program I found. Again, I haven't used this yet, but I've heard great things about it. So check it out! It's for making collages (with templates), slideshows, etc... and it's FREE, so anyway... here's the link:

http://picasa.google.com/

PPS - haha... okay. I found this awesome HDR gallery, too, so I figured I'd add it to share with the cyber world.

http://www.hdr-photogallery.com/

Some more cool HDR shots

2007-11-21T21:08:00.001-06:00

Link to good tutorial stuff: http://stuckincustoms.com/2006/06/06/548/

Some HDR Photos

2007-11-02T10:08:00.000-05:00

Here are some recent HDR photos I've been experimenting with. Just thought I would share some stuff. I'm hoping I can explain at least a little about them, too. For those of my viewers who are from the Pittsburg, KS area I'll give some details about the location, too.

HDR 1: October 26, 2007

Location: The bleachers at the baseball diamond between the Tech Center and the Weede.
Exposures: 8-12 photos
Postwork: None

HDR 2: October 26, 2007

Location: The baseball diamond between the Weede and the Tech Center
Exposures: 8-12 photos
Postwork: None

HDR 3: October 26, 2007

Location: A tree by the Tech Center parking lot.
Exposures: 8-12 photos
Postwork: Curves, Levels, Dodge & Burn
Notice the halo effect that HDR often produces.

HDR 4: October 17, 2007

Location: Russ Hall, Pittsburg State University campus
Exposures: 5-7
Postwork: None
I'm not too impressed with this one. But it's an example of what HDR can look like when you don't have a lot of contrast to start with.

HDR Revolution

2007-10-25T17:34:00.000-05:00

I have been doing some searching concerning HDR (high dynamic range) photography and the "Merge to HDR" function in Photoshop CS2+. I have pretty much fallen in love with the whole technique, although I have yet to master the CS2 method, I have found that Photomatix Pro offers a great engine that will do the trick.

I am no expert, this is all very new to me, but I thought I'd give you a bit of explanation of what HDR is. Basically, your camera can't record the full range of your photo. So with an HDR image you can take photos taken at varying exposures and combine them to create an image with the "perfect" exposure.

Here is an excerpt about HDR from Cambridge in Colour:

As digital sensors attain progressively higher resolutions, and thereby successively smaller pixel sizes, the one quality of an image which does not benefit is its dynamic range. This is particularly apparent in compact cameras with resolutions near 8 megapixels, as these are more susceptible than ever to blown highlights or noisy shadow detail. Further, some scenes simply contain a greater brightness range than can be captured by current digital cameras-- of any type.
The "bright side" is that nearly any camera can actually capture a vast dynamic range-- just not in a single photo. By varying the shutter speed alone, most digital cameras can change how much light they let in by a factor of 50,000 or more. High dynamic range imaging attempts to utilize this characteristic by creating images composed of multiple exposures, which can far surpass the dynamic range of a single exposure.

Here is my first sucessful (I think) HDR merge using Photomatix Pro (I used the trial version, which is available here)

This photo was taken at the golf course in town and was done by combining the exposures of 8 photographs. This also has some post-work done in Photoshop. I made the sky bluer (because it appeared grayish in the merge) and I increased the overall contrast and saturation to make the greens "pop" even more.

Because I am still learning the technique and I don't want to mis-tutorialize, I am providing some links to useful resources that you can use to find out more about HDR merging.

Vanilla Days - Many, many resources on HDR, including tutorials, articles and more.

Cambridge in Color: HDR - Some great information and tutorial

The Luminous Landscape - Great detailed information on how HDR works. (also a tutorial)

NatureScape - Detailed information on HDR

Backing Winds - Very good tutorial and a wonderful blog. Great photographer.

Some examples of HDR:

Thanks to everyone who checked this out. I urge you to look around for any other resources you can find on HDR. If anyone find a great example of the use of HDR, then feel free to leave a link, etc... I would love to check it out!!

God Bless,
Brittany

The Black and White Conversion

2006-12-21T18:42:00.000-06:00

I decided that my first post should be a tutorial for one of the most basic and most useful effects that we can use for photography. Converting a tutorial from Color to black and white. I will share with you five of the more popular techniques that I have seen others use and shamelessly share my personal opinion about the advantages and disadvantages of each. The first two that I'll start with the most commonly resorted to techniques that I believe should NOT be used.

Conversion #1: DESATURATE

Many people will find that going to Image>Adjustments>Desaturate (Ctrl-U) will take all of the color out of your photos. It is true that you don't want color, but you also don't want to sacrifice the depth, the contrast, or the appearance of your art, either. I do not suggest using this method.

Advantages
- Quick and easy

Disadvantages
- Results are varied and often lacking.

Conversion #2: GRAYSCALE

Another common technique people automatically assume will work right is to go to Image>Mode>Grayscale. The scale is right, but the appearance after this technique is used is just aweful sometimes, So I would not suggest this method.

Advantages
- Not much advantage in my opinion.

Disadvantages
- If you use this method, you have to covert your photo back to RGB or CMYK if you want to add any color to it, etc...
- Results also not dependable and your picture often loses some of its quality.
Conversion #3: MUSICAL MODES

This is probably considered the most accepted and professional method of converting photos from color to black and white. It is more complicated, but results in a photo of more quality. The first step is to convert your photo to lab color by going to Image>Adjustments>Lab Color. Once that is done open your Channels pallet and click on the "Lightness" layer to select it. You must then convert your photo to Grayscale by going to Image>Mode>Grayscale. When promted to delete other channels click "yes." Then Convert it once more to RGB mode by going to Image>Mode>RGB. You should now have an accurate and more pleasing black and white photograph. At this point, dependeding on the photograph, you can adjust the contrast of your photo. This can be done many ways, the quickest options are probably to go to either Image>Adjustments>Levels or Image>Adjustment>Curves and play around with the highlights, shadows, and midtones.

Advantages
- Clean and professional, resulting in an overall accurate conversion

Disadvantages
- Making all the mode conversions can take a little extra time, and if this method is going to be used, I would suggest creating an action so the process can be automated.

Conversion #4: Mix it Up

Some people choose to use a more cutomizable method to convert their color into black and white by using the channel mixer. You can go to Image>Adjustments>Channel Mixer, or you can create an adjustment layer which can be edited later (I prefer to do most of my adjustments with adjustment layers instead of Image>Adjustments because you can adjust it at any time). To do this go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Channel Mixer and hit okay. Now you can check the "Monochrome" option at the bottom of the palette and play with the sliders until you find a suitable setting. Remember, once you've made your changes and hit okay, you can still go back and change your settings if you used an adjustment layer.

Advantages
- This method lets you customize your black and white to each specific picture and with an adjustment layer can be changed easily.

Disadvantages
- It takes a little more work to customize each photo with this method and sometimes we may create something that looks okay, but isn't really doing the picture justice.

Conversion #5: Treasure Map

I might as well admit up front that this is the method I use the most. Mainly because it creates a photo with high contrast which I love. It is also realatively simple. To use this method, hit the "D" key on your keyboard, or click the Default colors button on your tool palette. Then go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Gradient Map. This will create an adjustment layer above your photograph's layer that automatically applies a black to white gradients to the color range of your photo. This is not necessarily professional, but I usually like the results most of the time. As with all of these conversion techniques, every picture if different and you shouldn't assume that any method will work with every photo.

Advantages
- This method is very quick and simple and results in a high-contrast black and white photo.
- By using an adjustment layer you have more control because you can mask the effect or lessen the effect, etc... (the same is true with using the channel mixer or any adjustment layer)

Disadvantages
- Not all photos look good with high contrast and some photos will turn out too dark in the shadows.

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So Those are the 5 methods I have seen and I'm sure there are many others and each photo is different. As always you are welcome to ask any questions about this post or about anything you might need help with. I don't have all the answers, but I'm willing to do what I can to help you out. : ) Hope this was useful and I appreciate any comments.

God bless,
Brittany