Workshop: Gritty black and white portrait

Another fun workshop to demonstrate the power of Photoshop.

The idea is to create portraits in the style of Bruce Gilden, who's known for shooting some extremely unflattering street candids.

Canon 7D

50 mm 1.4 lens

f/6.3

1/125 second

Before

Using Camera Raw in Photoshop, the temperature, exposure and contrast are adjusted.

The Dodge tool is used to brighten the whites of the eyes and the catchlight, if there is one.

The image is sharpened by selecting Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask

Then Amount 40% > Radius 20 (pixels) > Threshold 0

A duplicate layer is created, then

Filter > Other > High Pass > 5 (pixels)

Layers panel: > change from Normal to Soft Light

Then you have a nice gritty portrait

After