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In this digital age it’s easy to understand why people think converting a color image to black & white is a simple Photoshop task. And in truth it is simple, but if you want your image to be beautiful in black & white, advanced planning is required. I’ve listed some considerations to help lead to success.

• First let your photographer know at the time of booking you’d like some black & white images so that he/she can advise you how to prepare.
• The best black & white results occur when there is sufficient contrast between color tones. In simplest terms, it’s best to wear dark colored clothes against light pigmented skin, and light colored clothes against dark skin. With the above image, the lingerie that appears black was actually a dark blue and because of this it contrasted nicely against a medium skin tone. This is a simplification of course, but for the purpose of this discussion I?m not going to give a photography workshop on the subject.
• Your photographer will also help you with improving contrast in color tones by posing your light colored outfits against dark backgrounds and vice-a-versa. Again using the above image as an example, the dark blue lingerie and her medium tanned skin tone contrasted beautifully against the white bedding and canopy.
• Rarely does an image look equally good in both color and black and white so try to avoid the trap of presenting two versions of the same image in your portfolio.

Following the above suggestions will improve you chances for quality black and white conversions.