How To Make A High Key B&W Portrait Tutorial

 

This tutorial will show you how to make a High Key B&W Portrait Tutorial, using Adobe Photoshop CS5.

 

So firstly we need to get an image we are going to be using. For this example I have used an image of Kate Beckinsale.

Now we need to Desature the image, as in the image below.
Shift+Ctrl+U
Image –> Adjustments –> Desaturate 

Now we need to edit the Curve.

Ctrl+M
Image –> Adjustments –> Curves 

As you can see in the image below have made the line on the curve nice and smooth, you need to make something similar to this line, obviously this will depend on your image but should be roughly the same.

Now we need to duplicate the layer, I do this by right clicking on the layer and choosing Duplicate Layer…

On the new layer that will be on the top level, we want to apply some blur. In this example i’m going to use Gaussian Blur.

In the image below you can see the settings I have used for the Gaussian Blur.

With this top layer selected, Layer 1 copy, click where it says Normal

Change it to Overlay, and lower the Opacity ..

Now choose the Burn Tool

Choose the settings as below.

Burn the eyes and around the eyes, you may want to do this on both layers depending on personal preference.

Also you may want to do the same around the mouth

 

Final Image.

The PSD for this tutorial is available in the shop.