Black and white studio portrait seated on a stool

Portrait photography

Black and white portraits: when to lose the colour

Convert when colour is competing with the subject — mixed light, a distracting background, uneven skin tone — or when the image is really about…

By Mariya Harley · London · updated August 2026

In short: Convert when colour is competing with the subject — mixed light, a distracting background, uneven skin tone — or when the image is really about shape, texture and expression. Do not convert to rescue a weak frame; black and white removes information, it does not add interest.

What monochrome actually does

It removes one axis of information and forces attention onto the remaining ones: contrast, texture, line and expression. A face with strong structure and directional light gains from that. A flatly lit face in a busy room does not — it just becomes a grey version of the same problem.

Three situations where it is the right call

  • Mixed light. Orange bulbs and blue daylight on the same face is nearly unfixable in colour and disappears entirely in monochrome.
  • A background you cannot control. A red sign behind someone's head pulls the eye in colour and vanishes in black and white.
  • Emotional register. Quiet, serious frames read as more considered without colour — which is exactly why it is overused for that reason alone.

Shoot for it, do not decide afterwards

If you know a frame is monochrome, light it for contrast rather than for colour harmony. Side light, a defined shadow edge, texture in the clothing. Set the camera's preview to monochrome while shooting raw — you compose in black and white and still keep the colour file.

Converting well

A good conversion is not a desaturation slider. Use the channel mixer or the black-and-white panel: dropping the red channel darkens skin and lips, raising it lightens and smooths. That single control is what separates a considered conversion from a flat one.

Where it is the wrong choice

Anything where colour is the subject — a collection, a location, a product. And profile photographs: on a professional profile black and white reads as affected rather than straightforward.

Read next

When should a portrait be black and white?

When colour is competing with the subject — mixed lighting, distracting backgrounds — or when the image is about texture and expression rather than palette.

How do you convert a photo to black and white properly?

Use channel controls rather than desaturation: adjusting the red channel changes how skin renders, which is the main lever in a portrait.

Should I use black and white for a LinkedIn photo?

Generally no. Colour reads as straightforward on a professional profile; monochrome reads as styled.

Next step

Want photographs like this of you?

London-based, and happy to say when a session is not what you need.

Get in touch