Black and White photos with the Sony HX1

Howdy friends! I received a couple questions about taking Black and White photos with the Sony HX1…

• How do I enable black and white mode on the Sony HX1?
• Can I take pictures in color on the HX1 and then convert them to black and white?

Enable Black and White mode on the Sony HX1

Those of you who are looking to simplify the process and would like to shoot in black and white using the HX1, then follow these steps:

1. Put your Sony HX1 in P (Program) mode. You can also put your HX1 in A, S or M modes, but these modes require a bit more skill. If you’re in any other mode the black and white color mode will not work.
2. Press the Menu button
3. Navigate to the Color Mode option
4. From this menu you can select B&W (Black and White)

You can read more about the different color modes by going to page 72 of the Sony HX1 Handbook.

When you’re in B&W mode, all of your photos will be captured in black and white. If you want to shoot in color, you’ll have to go back through the menu and change it back to the Normal color option. You won’t have the ability later on to convert the photo back to color, so keep this in mind when using the black and white color mode.

Converting HX1 Color Photos to Black and White

The best way to capture black and white photos with the HX1, is to shoot in color first and post-process (edit) the photos later using image editing software. This allows you to have a color and a black and white version of your photo.

Professionals use Adobe Photoshop to convert color photos to black and white. Intermediate and semi-advanced beginners primarily use Photoshop Elements, which is an easier version of Photoshop. With a quick search online, you can find lots of techniques and tutorials to create stunning black and white images using both Photoshop or Elements.

For beginners, I recommend you start with Picasa. Picasa is a free image editing program created by Google. With Picasa, you can do many simple image editing techniques, including converting color photos to black and white. The program also gives you the ability to keep certain subjects in color while the rest of the photo is in black and white, similar to the photos taken by Kim Anderson.

So how do you convert the HX1 color photos to black and white?

1. Once you’ve installed Picasa, just open the image you’d like to edit
2. Click on the Effects tab
3. You’ll see three options for Black and White conversion
4. Select the B&W option for an automatic conversion to black and white
5. Select the Filtered B&W option for more control over the black and white conversion
6. Select the Focal B&W option if you would like a certain subject to be in color, while everything else is in black and white

Well there you have it! Everything you need to know about capturing black and white pictures with the Sony HX1. If you have any questions, leave a comment to this post and I’ll get back to you lickety split.

Happy shooting!