How to Create a Dramatic Black & White Portrait

Download your FREE copy of The Rules of Composition eBook here:
www.joelgrimes.com/dramatic-b...
In this episode, I’ll teach you the full workflow I used to edit a pretty flat photo of my neighbor into a dramatic final image!
Building drama using these techniques is unique because you have undestructive layers to go back to, and (I think) a better final result than some of the shortcuts out there.
I want you to see how easy it is to take an image and make it really dramatic and exciting.
Enjoy!
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00:01:25 - The Before and After we Are Going For
00:02:50 - Lightroom vs. Adobe Camera RAW
00:03:53 - Portrait Lighting Setup
00:04:10 - Adobe Camera RAW Basics
00:05:34 - Radial Gradients in ACR
00:07:52 - Using the Brush Tool to Improve the Eyes
00:08:20 - Linear Gradient Mask in ACR
00:10:39 - The Color Mixer
00:12:55 - Opening the Image in Photoshop
00:14:40 - Black & White Conversion
00:14:58 - Let’s Start Building Drama
00:16:20 - Using The Black & White Adjustment Layer to Create Drama
00:18:00 - Dodge & Burn Workflow
00:19:42 - Final Contrast Adjustments
00:21:50 - Luminar Editing Tips
00:23:53 - How Did We Do?
00:24:11 - Cropping Your Image
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Lots of you have asked for a look into my camera bag. So here is my gear guide:
🧳 kit.co/JoelGrimes
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Stay in touch!
👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Facebook: / joelgrimesphotography
📷 Instagram: / joelgrimesworkshops
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[@Syscrush]

This is without a doubt the most absurdly convoluted workflow imaginable. I'm glad that you found something that works for you as an artist, but as someone coming at this from an engineering perspective it's really hard for me to wrap my brain around.

[@SP-qo1so]

Joel, You truly are one of the greats, not ONLY because of your vision, talent, and attitude, but also because of your willingness to share and teach. You were a massive reason that my hobby of photography turned into a passion. God bless you sir.

[@joelgrimes]

Wow, thank you!

[@JamesBoyer-plus]

Thank you, Joel. Your generosity as both a teacher and an artist is greatly appreciated. 😊

[@joelgrimes]

thank you so much for the kind words!

[@a.lanesilance9895]

Priceless ! And thank you Joel for the download.

[@joelgrimes]

thanks so much for watching!

[@scotthumphrey4624]

Fantastic demonstration. Love your work Joel. Very inspirational.

[@joelgrimes]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@karlshikles]

Thanks for making these! You're an inspiration!

[@joelgrimes]

You are so welcome!

[@AliasJimWirth]

Excellent, Joel, excellent. I always learn from you. Thanks for sharing this.

[@joelgrimes]

My pleasure!

[@LuisMcote5]

Amazing video mr. Grimes. Thank you very much for sharing this type of content with us. I love the way you teach us how to edit photos for dramatic effect. Needless to say, I really appreciate how meticulous you are.

[@joelgrimes]

So nice of you

[@MrMoonpie001]

That is a good work flow, I like that you cover all the detail stuff that makes all the difference!!! I have always wanted to learn how to do this technique, but have never been happy with the results. Those gradents are a real game changer and the soft light! Your result was really spectacular!!!!! Thanks Rich

[@joelgrimes]

awesome! thanks Rich!

[@shadowfoxsports]

Always informative Joel. Thank you. You gave me a couple of new tips on how to process B&W images.

[@joelgrimes]

Great to hear!

[@BarryCDonovan]

As usual excellent video. Thanks for sharing Joel. I have been a student of yours for nearly a decade now. . . always outstanding advice and ideas!

[@joelgrimes]

Wow, Barry. That's awesome!

[@KenRossPhotography]

Informative and inspiring as always - thank you so much for sharing!

[@joelgrimes]

Thanks for watching!

[@JamesSmith-fv6vb]

Love it. Thank you Sir.

[@joelgrimes]

You are so welcome!

[@johnstanford100]

Excellent demonstration Joel. I have a bunch of your courses and they're all excellent. Thank you for sharing your expertise

[@joelgrimes]

thanks so much for the kind words, John!

[@gregmg999]

Thank you for sharing your expertise with us, Joel. You're an excellent teacher, and I'm always learning something new, and I consider myself to be pretty high end in Photoshop. Doing all of your edits in RAW ... never thought of going all the way! I've been doing my image corrections in RAW, but the fine edits on layers on my PSD file. Going to be switching to your methods now. Thanks again for your insights!

[@joelgrimes]

awesome, Greg! Glad to hear it

[@alanhopps]

Really enjoyed that video & great delivery by the way...just the right speed

[@joelgrimes]

Thanks 👍

[@MarcoFazio]

really great!

[@joelgrimes]

thanks!

[@LadyKoper]

Wow, thank you so so much!

[@thomasagabaonyango7548]

Mr. Grimes, I’ve been an ardent student of yours for a little over a year now and I have been focused principally on post processing and using the lessons to inform my(very limited) lighting options. Incredible that even with a single OCF I can see how to further contour and give more dimension my subjects faces. Perhaps with this I may not have to spend money on flags. This “extra” on raw processing is quite timely as I have been feeling a little overwhelmed by the layout and new features on ACR. It’s all very much appreciated. Thank you! 🙏🏾

[@joelgrimes]

That's great to hear!!

[@nakul2795]

The comnt section is very positive and downright encouraging! Love it!

[@joelgrimes]

I'm glad to hear it!! We are all artists trying to improve!

[@shahrokhbiniaz5862]

Beautiful and thank you for sharing. I've been following your videos and have purchased a couple of your tutorials. Love your work and although I've started working with photoshop 2.5 version, back in 1992, but I'm learning something new each time I see your videos. Thanks again.

[@joelgrimes]

awesom3!

[@swashy58]

its awesome Joel .. how you did it ... really great ... thanks

[@jeffdavis7912]

Thank you for sharing. Learn something new. Came across your channel now a subscriber.

[@joelgrimes]

Awesome, thank you!

[@trobertsphotography]

I love your videos and workflow. Thanks so much. I have bought your brushes and on the whole find them very useful. Would there be any way you could create a video on how you use your dog brushes as I’m having few challenges making them look authentic. Cheers.

[@mikejohnston9113]

Great tutorial Joel. You are a great teacher and artist. I have the same question as others as how to set the monitor brightness. I have the printing masterclass and there was one session on that but it does not seem to work well for me. Maybe you could make some suggestions. Thanks for the video.

[@deborahbalcanoff6335]

Just bought Urban Landscapes! Very excited to delve into it

[@joelgrimes]

That's awesome, Deborah!! Enjoy!

[@julieholbeche-maund6960]

Brilliant 🙂

[@joelgrimes]

thanks, Julie!

[@mjphotos]

Would prefer to buy the book !!

[@johnnyhardin3708]

Amazing techniques, but especially - great art! What's got me scratching my head though is the issue of monitor brightness - I was under the impression that a common error was having one's monitor too bright and that something like 29-35% was recommended otherwise the image will be too dark when printed (which in fact always turned out to be the case)

[@KevinRusso]

agreed

[@andreak4280]

i set my monitor to about 50-51% and so far that seems to be more accurate but i suppose brightness could be diff per each monitor (??) but def never set at higher settings 70-100%

[@johnnyhardin3708]

@@andreak4280 same here - mine's at 51%, which I find a reasonable compromise...though am about to buy something called a BenQ PD2700Q QHD (!) ...so will soon be back to the drawing board no doubt :P

[@johnnyhardin3708]

Way back in my Cibachrome & Ilford Gallerie days (anyone remember those?) there were no monitors to even fret about - now there's no Cibachrome ha

[@juniorgbb]

I love your B/W

[@joelgrimes]

thanks junior!

[@theonex9953]

that's great

[@joelgrimes]

thanks!

[@KevinRusso]

Can you elaborate more about why you set your monitor so bright? I have always used a calibrator to set brightness values and find a lower value is better for a screen to print matching.

[@horstschoninger1265]

Thanks for your great teaching.... For my taste I would not crop and have the hut ful on the frame. I think this a characteristic to his face. May I would get a little bit less dramatic. But you did a phantastic job to teach. But you show how much dramatic can do ... and this is ok. I will download your e book and study it. From your video you can really learn a lot, I mean a lot. Thank you again.

[@joelgrimes]

Glad it was helpful!

[@gregmartin1615]

Gosh!

[@videoestudiofilms]

Thanks for tNice tutorials amazin tutorial! Such a helpful one

[@joelgrimes]

You're very welcome!

[@jonassekondi931]

Hello, what type of photographic equipment and optics did you use to obtain this portrait?

[@Nancy-V]

I would like to know which monitor you use. I calibrate mine, but still find it difficult to match what prints.

[@selenagomez7718]

softING AROUND THE BUSH

[@mattorrz759]

Why did you drop the contrast At the start Joel?

[@topflight2358]

Joel , are you actually in Buckeye AZ,, phoenix, , or California ??? where is studio located. is see several addresses ????

[@adameccleston554]

Joel, would you suggest editing our own photos or hiring a professional retoucher?

[@ilesmic]

Great technique but I think it is too grainy-- Can you do almost all of that in LR or camera raw -- Have you tried to do with out any PS?

[@joelgrimes]

This is just my process, there are probably 100 different ways to do it. Finding the one that suits your style is the key!

[@zarrir]

I can do that. Pay me well though

[@jim6099]

You really missed the mark on this one. The man’s shirt is white, not grey. All the highlights are almost non existent.

[@joelgrimes]

thanks for the feedback Jim!

[@Praveenkumar-gu7gq]

im too dumb to understand i will stick to only my guitar

[@joelgrimes]

hehe

[@marcdeckard7064]

Excessive manipulation makes the photo look fake.

[@AnGelo-nv1hx]

I don't like it. The end result does not look natural to me. You have many masks, that at some point you have shades coming from the same side as light and that doesn't look natural. And I don't understand it, because you clearly have great skills controlling light, your video has excellent lighting, so you could definitely done a better job with the portrait. May be spend a tiny bit more time on set and get the right thing done, instead of relying so heavily on software.

[@TheMaP142]

I pirated ur app

[@joelgrimes]

oh

[@antoparjiyo2785]

careers. TNice tutorials was an amazing introduction to tNice tutorials software.

[@joelgrimes]

Glad you think so!