Black and White in Photoshop II - Black and White in Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop Lightroom - page 154

Blend Modes
An often unrealized, but very powerful method of extending the creative
powers of Layers is leveraging one or more of the 25 Blend modes. Blend
modes govern the relationship between the layers and can be used to blend
color and monochrome, add or remove contrast and quickly realize unique
changes to an otherwise drab conversion. Looking closer, here are a couple of
fun methods to try.
With an existing monochromatic conversion, from, say, the auto results of the
B&W feature in Photoshop, duplicate the layer.
Now simply change the blend mode to any of the below to realize new and
dramatic results.
Change the opacity of that layer and/or mask to get more rei ned results.
Multiply
This is a great way to introduce punch and contrast to an otherwise l at image;
I really enjoy this particular blend coming from a nice B&W conversion in
Lightroom.
Liner Burn or Color Burn
These of ers great ways to realize immediate and very strong contrast.
The ef ects of these adjustment layer blend modes on a somewhat l at
monochrome image are reminiscent of Kodak's Tech-pan i lm (which was
unique in its almost black or white tonal range, or lack thereof ). Of course,
this too can be minimized with opacity and masking controls.
Color Dodge and Linear Dodge
These can be a lot of fun as they essentially wash your image with light. This is
almost like a bleached image or an infrared minus the specii c softening of the
Green channel. Harsh images are softened considerably by the use of either
of these.
Hard Mix
This extremely heavy-handed blend mode of ers a shortcut to half-toning and
is great for dramatically simplifying the range of tones.
So, you see that the Stand-alone Black and White adjustment control gives
you the conversion, but the blend modes really give you the spirit of the
image.