How to Simulate The results Colored Filters In Your Pictures In Black And White With A Lightroom    

All filters on photography collection that boasts customary to speak of UV filters, polarizers, neutral density, and finally, color filters. Surely, many of us have in our team the first three filter types, but what about the color filters?, how many do we have these filters?, or better yet, how many are accustomed to use?

Since we know the answer to these questions in many cases will be confirming that we do not make much use of these filters, we thought to show you how easy it is to simulate the result offered through Lightroom, and so we saved to buy the filters and the inconvenience of having to mount in those shots that we would apply. What do you think?

Why use color filters? For Black and White Photography

Before simulating the result they offer, which is often used to see, right? Curiously, these filters are used to photograph intended for processing into Black and White. Using these filters for color photography, though not discouraged, yes, that is much more marginal and is exclusively aimed at achieving different and creative results.

However, Black and white photographs, using filters allow a clear and darken other color, achieving a higher contrast, or more aesthetically pleasing images. These filters allow an image in which apparently there is not enough tonal contrast, can be modified so that there is a change and therefore achieve a conversion to White and Black much more enjoyable.

What Each filter produces results? 

As you know, are called color filters, because the filters have endless colors often. Why are so many types needed? Because each color produces different results.

Depending on the hue of the filter, its behavior when converting to Black and White image on which the filter is applied is as follows:

• Lightens the color or color filter
• Darkens areas of color or contrasting colors

You can see an example of what has been said in the picture above four variants with different filters to apply basic colors (red, green, blue and yellow).

Red Filter: For Hazel, Hair and Faces 

This filter allows skin lightening and brown and coppery hair, giving a sense of smooth and soft image. Look at the picture on the right. Here the child has come to have a completely white complexion. In contrast, tends to obscure the red and green. Offers stunning when applied to heavens with clouds, creating much contrast and high drama in the scene results.

Green Filter: To Images With Vegetation 

The green filter helps clarify the vegetation (grass, trees, bushes), also allowing greater contrast in regions where matching different shades of green. Converting an image to black right, with so many greens, not having used a green filter and white, would have resulted in an image with little contrast. In contrast, produces a darkening red and orange, so it is not something suitable for its people, as it darkens the skin and emphasizes fine lines and wrinkles.

Blue Filter: To Soften The Heavens 

As you can deduce, through this filter can smooth the heavens (also seas) and banish the clouds. Through this smoothing of heaven, are often completely white, making the viewer’s focus on the rest of the image. In the image on the right can be seen as the sky whitened image (and also the background and saw them).

As is the case with the green filter, causes darkening of reds, yellows and oranges, so neither is there anything recommended use in portrait photography.

Yellow Filter: Clear For Hair

With the yellow filter blond hair is rinsed and the skin texture is improved, offering a better result if it is the red filter. In the right picture you can see how they have made clear tones blond hair, like the skin of the face. Also, as the red filter, causes a darkening of the green and blue. With what can sometimes also be achieved with an attractive heaven important given the contrast generated.

Other Colours 

In addition to these colors, you may find on the market other colors like orange, yellow-green, purple, brown…

The results offered by these colors are often a compromise between those achieved by the filters of component colors. For example, the orange filter no longer be a filter whose results are midway between the red filter and yellow filter.

How to simulate these results with Lightroom

As we said in the introduction to the article, the color filters are not exactly the most common filters in the team of professional photographers and much less amateur. Fortunately, there are some alternatives in the post-processing phase to simulate impact to be had with these filters and thus do not have to give up their results by the mere fact of not having these filters. We will talk about the options offered Photoshop and Lightroom, focusing especially on the latter. Although sure with other software there are multiple options to achieve these results.

In the case of Photoshop, everything happens for using the channel mixer and has more or less skill in the chosen to achieve the desired result values. We talked about this in this article makes a whopping 7 years (how time flies!). Lightroom, how could it be otherwise, allows us to make the difficult easy and achieve mimic the outcome of these filters with just a click.

The Develop module provides a number of presets that allow conversion to black and white photography as if it had used a color filter. Specifically, offers the great results of different filters:

• Yellow Filter
• Blue filter
• High contrast blue filter
• Orange filter
• Red filter
• High Contrast Red Filter
• Green Filter
• Infrared

Clicking on each of these presets we be able to quickly check the result we would have obtained in the case of the use of a filter different shades. All this happens in a simple way and with just one click.

If you do not have this version of Lightroom, all will not be lost. Whenever you have the option of accessing the Develop module and through the HSL / Color / Black and Black panel, click on the last option and change the sliders to achieve the desired result. Or, import the settings associated with these presets in your version of Lightroom.

In the screenshot above you can see the settings in this module are required to simulate the application of a yellow filter. Also if you are not entirely satisfied with the result, you can always change these settings).