mindzye Loc: WV

I get posts from The Creative Photographer on a semi regular basis. Some good info, other times rather basic. That being said, I thought those of us here that are into b&w might find this interesting. The link following is the latest I've received.

If nothing else I hope it will encourage those who aren't into b&w to try it as this medium offers a perspective of images not found in color. Learning to see a potential image in b&w, and in learning the zone system -gradations of white to black, etc., will aid in compositions in color. It literally changes the way you look for/ at images.

Lots of very good and talented b&w photographers here. I'm always looking forward to finding methods/ ideas that help, or in aiding me to critique my own efforts. Always wanting to learn. It offers the opportunity to sign up for updates and notifications of current posts if desired.
Best to all in the coming New Year.

https://www.creative-photographer.com/black-and-white-photography/

User ID

No need for me clicking the link. I enjoyed what you wrote cuz it amused me. Thaz not a knock on what you wrote. I have no issue or disagreement, but its really amusing to read a sincere admiration of BW as a special type of photography, as a unique aesthetic challenge.

The essence of my great amusement is that everything you wrote ahout BW is exactly how I view color photography. Ignoring Kodacolor Instamatic 4x6 snapshots by legions of non photographers who needed about 10 weeks to finish a roll, shooting and "seeing" in BW was the default while color was used only if there was some peculiar reason or special project.

The switch to digital reversed the defaults. To a considerable degree that was economics. Color was now free, no expense. One now actually has to alter a cameras basic settings the get rid of the color !

Again, the amusement is that being entirely accustomed to a mainly BW photo universe, I find that dealing with color nearly constantly is a similar challenge (for me, and others) as the BW vision challenge that you wrote about. You present BW as new way of depicting subjects. For me (and others) depicting subjects in color requires a special adjustment of vision. Its just plain weird, and weird is amusing. Thank you !

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Interesting post. Way back in the 60s I switched from B&W, mostly Plus X and Tri X, to Kodachrome 25. The main reason I switched was because I was in my teens and girls and cars were more important issues financial issues than trying to build a darkroom. With Kodachrome we all were on a level playing field. I always envied people with darkrooms but not enough to give up girls and cars.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Maybe my situation was unique. I grew up in a little town 300 miles from anywhere. A local pharmacist had an arrangement with Kodak in Dallas, and used the bus to get film to them and processed Kodachrome transparency slides back. Time was three days, and cost was very reasonable. Both black & white and Ektachrome took a week of more and were much more expensive.

So for us (and many others in town) Kodachrome was the norm. Anything else required special consideration (and justification).

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Are you aware we have a B&W section here?
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-140-1.html
No reason to go somewhere else.

Bohica Loc: SE Coast of NC

Question for anyone; I'm fairly new to processing, had a darkroom doing B&W, color prints, slides and prints from slides, mostly B&W. Now in the digital age I've been shooting JPEG and want to try RAW. Can you do B&W in RAW or does it make a difference?

JFCoupe Loc: Kent, Washington

A basic note. All RAW images start out as color in the camera. Once loaded into your post processing software, you can convert the images to B & W. There are many software options for this. I primarily use LRClassic for the majority of my post processing work.

I think one advantage of mirrorless cameras is the capability to choose a monochrome setting and with the view finder being electronic, then the user can see the scene being photographed in monochrome. If I recall correctly, with a DSLR you can select a monochrome setting and see a Black & White image in Review mode, but not prior to actually making the shot.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

You can convert the color raw file to a B&W image and save it as a JPEG.

The alternative can be expensive. Have the Bayer array removed from the sensor and the raw file will be B&W that does not require demosaicing. You get a slight increase in sharpness and about a one stop boost in sensitivity.

I have used both methods and prefer the second alternative. I used an old body. It forces me to consider what kinds of images may not see any improvement from color. You might be surprised to learn how many times that is true.

srg

Yup.
B&W is the absence of an essential ingredient.
But it IS trending.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

You beat me too it. Our B&W section is a rather lively posting area, gathering most all B&W posts that might have instead landed in the main Photo Gallery. Stop on by!

mindzye Loc: WV

Um. I can relate.

Photomono

Not only can you do B&W in RAW, it is the much preferred way because you retain all of the image’s information. I recommend that you first make your adjustments to the color image and then change it to B&W. If you are using Adobe’s Camera Raw or Photoshop you can then make adjustments to your monochrome image in any number of ways.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

To expand, the RAW file is color as this is the original data from the digital camera sensor. The JPEG can be set to B&W, if you capture both together, as the B&W conversion is performed in the camera to transform the RAW data into the B&W JPEG. When you offload both files, you have the RAW original (in color) and the B&W JPEG.

The preferred method is to process the RAW file and complete a B&W conversion at the end of the workflow for that RAW image. As mentioned, this approach gives you much more control over the final result, especially beginning with the maximum amount of original image data contained in the RAW.

Miker999

If color is not important to the image, get rid of it. There are many times a color image is OK, but it would have been a GREAT image if in B&W.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

I’d shoot raw and covert in post processing.