Having trouble taking black and white photos: I am just entering the photography field. It was fun while using auto but am trying to learn to how to take manual photos. I hear a lot of...

PhotoChallenged Loc: Bear, Delaware

I am just entering the photography field. It was fun while using auto but am trying to learn to how to take manual photos. I hear a lot of people raving about B/W but I just can't seem to get it...Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

From what I've read, you will have better results shooting in color and converting the image in software. Has to do with the tones that convert to shades of gray, I believe, plus you have other controls.

I'm not a portrait photographer, but I think some will mention that your shot here is not successful because the girl's face is in shadow. And looks like the harsh light might make the exposure difficult in either b&w or color.

Some scenes are not really suited for b&w. You might want to use Google images, or other source, to check out some b&w and determine what stands out for you: often it's shapes, shadows, textures, simplicity of composition, and dramatic light - in a good way :)

Since you're just starting out, read or watch videos about composition and exposure. You will pick up lots of pointers, no matter what area or technique you are interested in.

Photography is a joyous hobby; enjoy the journey :thumbup:

MMC Loc: Brooklyn NY

My advise. Do not take B&W pictures in camera, take color and then convert it to B&W using software. Result will be much better.

PhotoChallenged wrote:

I am just entering the photography field. It was fun while using auto but am trying to learn to how to take manual photos. I hear a lot of people raving about B/W but I just can't seem to get it...Any help would be greatly appreciated.

PhotoChallenged Loc: Bear, Delaware

Thank you for taking your time to help me out. I really like photography but it's surely not as easy as you would think it should be, and I get frustrated! But I do enjoy it.

Linda From Maine wrote:

From what I've read, you will have better results ... (show quote)

GWR100 Loc: England

My advise,
1- shoot in RAW and Jpeg
2- set camera to Aperture priority and take a shot 1 or 1 1/2 stops either side of the camera setting,
3- Shoot in colour and convert in a good PP programme
3- Practice

The picture thou posted is not at all bad, for me it just Lac's a bit of punch which can be corrected with adjustment in levels or Contrast/brightness.

Have fun

Geoff

PhotoChallenged wrote:

I am just entering the photography field. It was fun while using auto but am trying to learn to how to take manual photos. I hear a lot of people raving about B/W but I just can't seem to get it...Any help would be greatly appreciated.

PhotoChallenged Loc: Bear, Delaware

Thank you for the advise. I am taking photograph classes and our assignments require both B/W and color. I guess I should clarify with my professor if he will accept color photos converted to B/W.

MMC wrote:

My advise. Do not take B&W pictures in camera, take color and then convert it to B&W using software. Result will be much better.

PhotoChallenged Loc: Bear, Delaware

Thank you for the advise. For my photography course we are not to shoot in RAW... I totally agree with you on the photo lacking punch, as I feel this way about all my B/Ws. That's why I decided to ask

GWR100 wrote:

My advise,
1- shoot in RAW and Jpeg
2- set camera to Aperture priority and take a shot 1 or 1 1/2 stops either side of the camera setting,
3- Shoot in colour and convert in a good PP programme
3- Practice

The picture thou posted is not at all bad, for me it just Lac's a bit of punch which can be corrected with adjustment in levels or Contrast/brightness.

Have fun

Geoff

:| :-(

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

PhotoChallenged wrote:

I am just entering the photography field. It was fun while using auto but am trying to learn to how to take manual photos. I hear a lot of people raving about B/W but I just can't seem to get it...Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What's wrong with that picture...?

It looks great.

Shooting B&W in camera (as opposed to converting later) will train your eye to recognize light tones and dark tones more easily and you'll be able to make better decisions about your subject. It's a different skill-set than shooting in color and you don't get to "get lucky" by shooting color and then just desaturating the shot to "see how it came out" after conversion.

This is just my opinion, nobody has to "correct me" on that.

PhotoChallenged Loc: Bear, Delaware

I just didn't see the "pop" I guess you would call it, and I thought it looked looked washed out. I will definitely keep practicing as I want to learn the total skill set. Thank you for helping and your kind words

rpavich wrote:

What's wrong with that picture...? br br It looks... (show quote)

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

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rpavich Loc: West Virginia

PhotoChallenged wrote:

I just didn't see the "pop" I guess you would call it, and I thought it looked looked washed out. I will definitely keep practicing as I want to learn the total skill set. Thank you for helping and your kind words

Well...all of the tones in the image are similar right? You won't have a lot of contrast because of that.

You could goose the contrast slider in post if you need more contrast.

Notice that she's against a tone that is similar in value (the water)...everything in the shot except for her hair, the bucket, and the coping behind her is very similar...

Now you know what to do when shooting in black and white...you put "light subject against dark background" or "dark subject against light background" when deciding on subject and background...right?

It's called "figure to ground" relationship and is an important part of making images.

PhotoChallenged Loc: Bear, Delaware

No, I didn't do anything except crop to size.

Searcher wrote:

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PhotoChallenged Loc: Bear, Delaware

That helps, I'll try again and see just how much I've learned. Thanks!

rpavich wrote:

Well...all of the tones in the image are similar r... (show quote)

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

PhotoChallenged wrote:

No, I didn't do anything except crop to size.

I withdrew my post, I think I was looking at jpeg artefacts from the thumbnail image.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

PhotoChallenged wrote:

That helps, I'll try again and see just how much I've learned. Thanks!

Good!
you don't need people or even interesting subjects...just go look for light/dark relationship and start making images with that in mind.

Here is a great video series about "seeing like an artist" and covers things like this. It's by Adam Marelli (a genius of Photography in my book)

http://www.udemy.com/a-room-for-improvement/#/

It's worth the 20.00 for the course.