Yes, I have indeed just released my first black-and-white presets pack for Adobe Lightroom (and Photoshop)! A couple days ago, I received the news that my photos will be exhibited at the Black-And-White Photographer Of The Year exhibition in New York at the end of February. So I thought it was finally time to release this black-and-white presets pack that I have worked on for so long.
Myself, I'm not necessarily a huge fan of preset packs. Most of those that you find online were created as a quick way to monetise from people in need of a quick solution, but they are not that good or useful (and a famous name behind them is no guarantee of better quality). You should be particularly wary of those that contain a large number of presets, like 30-50-100 presets in one pack. And not just because the quality control on those is questionable, but also because such a broad selection is actually a hindrance to your editing and to developing your skills.
With too many options, you will be lost and waste time trying to find what to use.
Some packs are actually good, but they're a large minority.
Here I will try to offer you good value. In this black-and-white presets pack, I'm giving you 12 presets that I actually use in my own editing, including those I used in the photos exhibited here and also in London, Berlin and Hanoi (by the way, you can see all my exhibitions here).
They are the same presets I also used for the photo galleries on this blog, like the Oxford and Ripley-inspired ones, or the classic “cinematic” looks.
And how can you tell these are good presets? Well, let me talk you through my process…
Quality Control
You often find photographers creating presets for the images they capture with their own cameras, and that's it. For the past decade, I have captured images with Fujifilm gear, so I know my presets work with Fujifilm RAW files. However, high-end Fujifilm cameras use their proprietary sensor technology, so how can I make sure my presets are also fully compatible with your cameras?
Having worked with many different brands in the past, I already had RAW files in different formats. But to be more thorough, I asked my friends and my followers on Instagram to send me their RAW files. And I also found fellow photographers who already share their photos online for this very purpose. So, in the end, I was able to test this black and white presets pack against almost the entire range of camera brands (Phase One or Sigma photographers, if you read this…).
After creating the selection for this preset pack, I tested them on diverse images, from portraits to travel, cityscapes to astronomy, etc., just to make sure they could work in different scenarios.
It was a long process but necessary to ensure these presets were of the highest standard and actually useful. That's why it takes me a long time to release presets in my store.
And to make sure you don't find issues with the presets, I did not use custom profiles, and I did not include parameter resets, so these will not revert your previous edits to default (for example Geometry, Crop or Sharpening).
So Are These Presets Useful To You?
If you're looking for a quick and easy one-click solution, this black-and-white preset pack may already be useful to you. They work on Lightroom Classic, Lightroom CC, and Photoshop Camera Raw (detailed info on the product page), whichever you prefer to edit your images on.
You can see in the screenshot above and in the examples below how they work already with no other edits applied. But as is often the case, presets are more like a starting point to kick off an editing session or to cut editing time short.
Every photo is unique, so it may still require some refinements. For example, the blues in the sky or the skin tones are likely very different from photo to photo.
NOIR: Black And White Presets (Before and After)
So here are a few examples…
Get ready to scroll because I am showcasing everything. There's one example for each of the presets included:
Alton
Andre (Cinematic look)
Aura (my Street Photography style)
Botham
Breonna
Brooks (matte)
Daunte (film grain)
George
Philando
Prude
Tamir (ultra sharp)
Tanisha (best for Travel)
Now Go Get Them
This Black-And-White Presets Pack for Adobe is called NOIR and is now available in the store. You can find it from the top menu (Shop > Presets) or by clicking the direct link here.
For the whole of February 2022, you have a chance to get the presets pack for FREE! Just purchase the pack, and I will select a random winner to have the expense fully refunded (the selection will be live on Instagram for full transparency).
[UPDATE: Congratulations Liam!]
Another chance will be offered through my Instagram Stories, so it might be a good idea to follow me now.
And remember that if you subscribe to my newsletter you will receive a discount valid throughout the store ;)
A Final Note
Before I wrap this up, I want to say a huge thank you for supporting me.
If you decide to purchase this black-and-white preset pack, know that it will go a long way toward supporting my work and allowing me to create more content for you: more presets, YouTube videos, tutorials, etc. So, thank you for your kind support!!!
