This post says it all. Don't shoot just jpg!
Joe Blow wrote:
1) Shoot RAW, in color. That allows processing in post. Forget colored filters, the only filter you may want to use is a Circular Polarizer (CP) filter or maybe a neutral density (ND) filter.
Color is all the various light wave frequencies reflected. In B&W you remove those various light waves and just use the intensity. In post, when you convert a color photo to B&W, you are just removing the various light wave frequency intensity and keeping the light intensity.
With film, the red wave lengths were usually harder to capture chemically. So most B&W photographers would add a red filter to reduce the green and blue wave lengths. (That is also why red lights were used in B&W dark rooms.) Film also used a lot of other filters to reduce ultra-violet, haze, etc. That is not required with digital photography. Digital sensors catch all wave lengths equally and the camera processor removes unwanted UV, etc.
2) Shoot simple. Since B&W can't use color to differentiate elements in your photo, each element must stand on its own. Use as few elements as possible and make each stand out. B&W is much more favorable to textures, lines, silhouettes, and side lighting.
3) I suggest searching the internet on shooting B&W. There are hundreds of people smarter than I offering ideas with samples. There is no one trick to B&W with all others being wrong. Many things I think wouldn't work, someone else will make it work. Get ideas from others and try to make them work your way. Experiment and play in post.
Good luck and show us what you've done.
1) Shoot RAW, in color. That allows processing in... (
show quote)