Ellen101 Loc: Manhattan NY ..now Spring Hill, Fl

I go to many photo exhibitions. I see a lot of museums and galleries hang Black and White and Sepia photos.

Question: When do you photogs think about that? Is it sometimes better to go Black and White from an artistic or technical standpoint and why?

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

In my case I do not think about conversions when I am using my digital cameras. All files are not necessarily good for conversion but some of them could turn spectacular when converted.
Black and white photography as you know is monochrome. It has many shades of gray and has no color to distract the mind. It has always been the art media and the reason why you find b&w work so often at museums and galleries.
I think that Ansel Adams made significant and important contributions to the art of b&w photography and if you ask me I would say that many of the tonalities present in a printed fiber base paper from a film negative are not that easy to duplicate with a conversion.
We have better software for conversions and we can do today what was impossible to do in the optical darkroom in the past.
Very good conversions are possible, especially when the file is printed by a professional lab.
You are not going to find many galleries that will turn down a good b&w print.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

Short answer: It depends on the effect you are going for and if done properly the result can be spectacular.
I suggest you check out this thread:
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-179044-1.html
It's an existing discussion of your topic. Also has some excellent photos in it.
IMHO a good B&W shot can be a real show stopper. I would love to be able to produce some of the results displayed by various members.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Welcome to UHH, Ellen!

Black and white film photography was my first love. We were taught to compose for texture, shapes and light. That is a different approach than shooting an image "in color" as it were - and later on wondering whether it would be interesting - or better - converted.

Here are two more topics to read. Lots of great input by our members:

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-81475-1.html

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-169242-1.html

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

BTW, welcome to the Hog!

Ellen101 Loc: Manhattan NY ..now Spring Hill, Fl

Thank you ...actually I am returning after a break. I was an active member here for a few months. You all advised me to get the Nikon D5100 which I did. I love the ease of the camera now I'm hunting for a compatible telephoto lens.
Any Ideas ...please tell me
You guys are the best!

anotherview Loc: California

Photography began as a black-and-white medium. Not even a hundred years ago, Kodak introduced color film.

Part of the attraction of a black-and-white photograph lies in its appeal to the visual sense minus color (apart from black, white, and shades of grey). Black-and-white photographs depend on tonality, texture, contrast, and shape for their visual statement, which elements become emphasized without the distraction of color.

Interestingly, without the distraction of color, a black-and-white photograph seems to convey more information to the visual sense, and more economically because direct. A variety of papers support the medium of black-and-white photography.

From my reading and from my experience in doing black-and-white photography, I note the diverse methods of working in this medium as part of the history of photography.

Today, a software program like Silver Efex Pro 2 embodies nearly all the effects of black-and-white photography, including many of the traditional black-and-white films as effects. The tones alone, with their adjustment sliders, offer many variations for best presentation of a given photograph.

Telephone Booth, Morocco


Hot Rod Motor, Chandler Airport, Arizona

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

I suggest you give some thought to just what you want to photograph, if you haven't already, before you buy any lenses. Indoors, outdoors, distances, what type of lighting you expect to encounter, still or moving subjects, etc. Generally speaking, the opinion seems to be that a prime lens, which is a lens with a fixed focal length, will give better results if it will work for your situation. A zoom is more versatile but you often end up trading off some image quality, although there are some excellent quality zooms available. A lot depends on your budget and expectations. In addition to the recommendations you will no doubt receive from other members I suggest you check out retail sites like Adorama and B&H so that you can read the customer reviews of the different lenses. I currently have 2 zooms and will soon be buying a 3rd. A 17-40 for indoors or tight areas, a 70-300 for those longer outdoor shots and soon a 24-70 for a walk around lens. They are, of course, usable for other situations, but that is my general use for them.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

Love that Ford flathead. Just about the smoothest running V-8 ever built.

Ellen101 Loc: Manhattan NY ..now Spring Hill, Fl

Thank you and I will have to think about that because I need very good image quality. My aim is to produce images clear and sharp enough to put into an 11 x 18 frame.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

That's a somewhat different matter then just what lens will suit your needs best. Sharpness is affected by a number of things. The abilities of your camera and lens are of course important but so are things like your technique and post processing. Are you using a tripod? Remote release? Mirror lock-up? Are you shooting at a shutter speed that negates the need for those things? There are a lot of little things to help get sharpness and I certainly don't know all of them. How much you can enlarge a photo is going to depend on things like the megapixels of your camera, how much cropping you do and the overall picture quality. I know a little bit about a number of things but I am definitely no expert. Fortunately, there are plenty of members of the Hog who are. This seems to be a serious quest of yours so I suggest you invest in some books on the subject or any of the many on-line tutorials. Scott Kelby is one author I like. He writes with an easy going humorous style.

SX2002 Loc: Adelaide, South Australia

Sadly a lot convert pics to B&W as it seems to be a bit of a "fad". Good B&W images can (and are) be very striking but some with great colour are only ruined...

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Depending on the subject matter and the photographer's intent, B&W often lets you focus on line, shape, texture and contrast without the distraction of color.

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

GOOD B&W images fit a 'classic' mold and are not easy to create.
Conversion to B&W is somewhat of a 'fad' or 'craze' that goes around every so often.

I "see" in color, so rarely to I take an image where I think I want it monochrome.

SX2002 Loc: Adelaide, South Australia

Precisely... :thumbup: