First, download this image. This is so you can see the same effect I see when you’re editing.
In Photoshop, go Image – Adjustments – Channel Mixer. I’m using Photoshop 7 so don’t worry, this feature has been around a long time!
Tick Monochrome.
Set the Red to 0.
Now drag each slider to +100 and back to 0, to see which one has the least contrast. In my tungsten-ful shots, it’s always Green. So I leave the Green at +120.
Then, drag Blue down to negative and you will see the highlights fade into grey. I left it at -35.
At this point, you may want to bring the Green up to say +150 (so that the shirt is in the middle) while bringing the Blue down to -70. Adjust as you like.
Finally, add as much Red as you like.
I won’t show you how the final picture ended up, so you can tweak it as you like! The numbers will be different for every picture so please don’t go “oh I need to set this slider to this number and this slider…”
You will notice that boosting channels will increase noise. Big deal, it’s black-and-white, it looks better! 😀
This is how I processed the pictures in Netto From The Ghetto, Live From Section Five.
yo albert.. where to get a cheap hot shoe? just need to let me use a pc connector
btw, to trigger the flash.. just need to trip the +/- of the pc connector right? thanks!
how does this differ from desaturate and playing with the contrast?
John: Anywhere, look for the optical slave triggers, they should have a PC Sync Connector on them.
Will: Try it! The clothes rise to the mids better while the skin does not overexpose and blow.