Digital Imaging with Hasselblad 41
modifi ed in the digital darkroom by changing some or all of the gray tones. There are different
techniques available in programs like Photoshop to make the conversion. Study the different
programs, such as channel mixer, black and white adjustment layer and others, read special
books on this subject and talk to successful photographers to determine which approach
is best for your particular purpose. As described in Chapter 17, each color is recorded in a
special shade of gray; red may have a similar gray tone as green. Various software programs,
such as Channel Mixer, allow you to change the gray tones of every color in the original to
any desired degree. In such a program, you work with red, green, and blue channels adjusting
each to lighten or darken the gray tones of any color to any degree. You can darken red and
lighten blue or whatever separates the various elements within the picture. What you actually
do in the computer is exactly what fi lm photographers do by placing fi lters over the camera
lens, for example, using a yellow or red fi lter to darken blue skies. This process is described
in detail and illustrated on the color chart in Chapter 17. Further in Chapter 17 you can read
that a fi lter of a certain color lightens the gray tones in colors that are the same as the fi lter
or at least are on the same side of the wheel and darkens those that are on the opposite side
of the wheel. A green fi lter lightens green and darkens red. Study that part of the manual. You
will fi nd it helpful when creating black and white images on the computer.
Black and white fi lm photographers make extensive use of all these different color fi lters
when they record the image in the camera. Because the Hasselblad black and white image is
created in color in the camera, you do not use the fi lters mentioned above that change gray
tones on a black and white image on the camera lens.
However, do not overlook using the fi lters that improve color images, especially the
polarizers and the split neutral density types for images that you plan to convert to black
and white. Also keep in mind that images to be converted to black and white need perfect
exposures. As discussed in Chapter 15, evaluate the histogram of your color picture carefully
making certain that the image has details in both the lighted and shaded areas. The histogram
should just reach the far right to ensure details in the highlights instead of being reproduced
as pure white and should not be heavily based toward the left hand side to retain shadow
detail.
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