In other words, if you have a set of images and you want the black and white edits to look consistent, you will probably want to make sure they all have the same temperature and tint values. Whether you adjust your white balance before or after converting to monochrome, one really important implication of this trick is CONSISTENCY.
This is what I do, and I simply adjust my white balance sliders until the image looks just right to my eye. But another way to use this trick is to simply adjust your white balance AFTER you convert your image to black and white. So, now that we know this super secret trick, you may be wondering if you should correct your white balance before converting your image to black and white? That sounds like a great idea to me. These values change as we adjust our white balance and the hues in the image change. In black and white images, various hues are assigned to a certain lightness or darkness. See how your image is affected? You can do the same exercise with the tint slider and watch your image change again. Slowly drag it all the way to the left, then all the way to the right. You can see it for yourself – open a black and white photo in Lightroom (or ACR in Photoshop) and grab your temperature slider. That’s right, both your temperature and tint have an effect on how your black and white image will look. You may be really surprised to learn that your white balance matters even in black and white photos.
Here, I cover some little-known but simple Lightroom tricks that will help you polish and perfect your black and white conversions. Believe it or not, color actually matters a lot in black and white conversions. Paying attention to these details can help us ensure our image has the impact that we want.
The key to gorgeous black and white images often lies in the small details: making sure there is sufficient range of lights and darks, ensuring skin doesn’t look dull, and making sure our subject doesn’t fade into the background.