David Lyon

The way Ansel shot can be done at great expense, as he used LF with its movements, which any Canon or Nikon can not get. Yes, you can get a digital back for a 4x5, though I hate to think of the cost.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Does he know he should not ask any more advise??

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Yes, do your basic PP before converting to B&W. I shoot (nearly) everything RAW. For same I'll initially process with ACR via Ps. For B&W I usually increase contrast and saturation more than for color. Then I'll convert to B&W using either ACR or Ps using the color channels while converting to B&W. Plain de-saturation looks flat to me. I'm an old film to silver B&W printer.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I convert images from color. I use Topaz B&W Effects.
I believe Nik software is still free.

aschweik Loc: NE Ohio

I am terrified I am going to become one of the 10, 100, 1000 shooters looking for one good shot and I hope that having a "Super Camera" is not going to detract from my film shooting.[/quote]


Here's what I do when I go out shooting with my D7200.....I think about the fact that if I shoot 1000 images, later on I'm going to be sitting at my computer looking at 1000 images deciding on which 2 to keep. That keeps me focused on getting the right shot and not just shooting willy nilly hoping something good comes out of it. I'd rather look at the 10 good shots I took that day than 1000 junk ones.

I just bought an old film camera and used The Darkroom. Excellent place.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

I know that TCR still processes film. Have you used them? I've never used their lab, so I'm not recommending it. I just know it's available.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Ricardo, I hope this is an open question to anyone who still shoots film. I readily admit that I still shoot film and enjoy it. Though, I do process my own negatives. Due to the ability to share images electronically, the need to print has diminished considerably. Even so, I still have 4 enlargers and intend to keep them. For the few times I do need a print, I'll rely on having either of my printing services print them for me.

In addition to enjoying the art of photographic darkroom work, there are things one can do with film that digital will fail miserably. Each has its place in creating photographic art.
--Bob

steveg48

It doesn't hurt to post-process first - do basic adjustments - and then convert to black and white. There are different ways to convert to black and white in Photoshop: gradient map, channel mixer, black and white adjustment layer and others. Generally - desaturation is not used. The key point is that, in my opinion, you need to continue post-processing after you convert to black and white. For example if you use the black and white adjustment layer, there are sliders for the underlying colors so that their effect on the overall image can be individually tweaked.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Amen to this!

Quinn 4

Safeman: Forget about digital, keep with film. With film one has to use one mind, which at my age(73) is a good thing

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Tempe Imaging Center has moved away from color film processing. How far I'm not sure. I'll find out and post another reply later. They are a great lab and I've relied on them a considerable number of times. However, I simply ask them to print what I give them. This means the lab doesn't do any editing prior to printing. That is also less cost per print.
--Bob

Smudgey Loc: Ohio, Calif, Now Arizona

I have had the passion of photo art for nearly 70 years and have used everything from 4x5 view cam, 4x5 speed graphic, 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 reflex, many kinds of 35mm cameras and all sorts of lenses, spent thousands of hours in the darkroom and have never seen any kind of photography, or print that could end be duplicated or improved digitally. That being said, I applaud you, you have stuck to your guns and are doing what works for you, but don't be afraid to expand your horizons. The darkroom days were wonderful, and I wouldn't trade them for anything, but digital is simply better.

zzzynick Loc: Colorado

Well, first off congratulations, for being 75, and out and about taking pictures.
I shoot digital, but that's my choice. You have made yours, and who cares what you shot as long as your out there.
I went through a b&w phase. Ooh, look at the contrast. Can't you just feel the grain. The shadows and shading.
Ansel did it.
It's soooo artsy.
It was crap. I am not, nor ever will be Ansel. I went back to color, you know the way we see things in real life.
Although I am only 65, I have been called a curmudgeon, I kinda liked it.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

If you're scanning your Velvia yourself, I would suggest you try chromogenic B&W neg film. One I'm aware of is Ilford XP2. It's ISO 400 (there may be others, that's just the first one that comes to mind).

This B&W film is processed using C-41... same as much color neg film. Because of this, it also should solve your problem finding someone to develop it for you. There are a lot of places still doing C-41... maybe even a local lab.

But the main reason to use chromogenic B&W film is because it scans MUCH better than traditional silver halide negs. The prints you get back when you send it for processing tend to look a bit flat and low contrast, but don't worry about that, since you'll be scanning it anyway.

The problem with scanning silver halide B&W negs is the tiny silver crystals themselves... the image is basically made up of totally blocked light or completely clear emulsion that allows all light to pass through... tonal gradations in traditional darkroom enlargements are created by the inter-relationship of those two extremes. But when you scan an image instead of enlarging, the results tend to be less than ideal, since scanning is done at a "macro" scale (instead of a "projected" enlargement).

Chromogenic B&W doesn't use silver halide... instead it's made up of dyes, same as color neg and slide film. As a result, it has "true" tonal gradations that make for much better scans.

Actually, I love "real" B&W film... Fuji Neopan Acros is one of my favorites. If you wanted to continue to use it, I'd recommend you learn to process it yourself, since it's not hard and secondhand darkroom gear can be bought cheap these days. But if you want to work with silver halide B&W images digitally, the best way is to first make a traditional darkroom enlargement from the neg, then scan that print with a flatbed scanner.

Aside from the issues scanning silver halide B&W negs, I don't think it matters much whether you shoot color, then convert to B&W during post-processing or shoot B&W film... either can be done successfully. There's something very cool about visualizing a scene in B&W, establishing exposure using the Zone System and using filters to emphasize particular aspects of the scene, etc. But much the same can be done in post-processing adn that may be more "controllable"... allow you to try other options... as opposed to getting everything "just right" during exposure.

Just as an example, the image below was shot on film (either Velvia 50 or Ektachrom 100 VS). It was a dark, gloomy, rainy day... flat light. I was shooting fast handheld because it was cold and I was getting soaked. On film the image looks pretty bad! But I always thought it had some potential... scanned it and had some fun with it in Photoshop. After various adjustments and experimentation (incl. adding some "graininess" with a Nik filter), I'm pretty happy with the "moody" result...



I tried the above in B&W and sepia... didn't like it as well as the color rendition. If I'd shot it in B&W, I wouldn't have had the option to go back to color without extensive work.

Another example, I shot this in color digitally and planned to do a B&W conversion from the start. Ended up doing a sepia toned version, since that seemed most appropriate....



Finally, I shoot a lot of equestrian sports. B&W is popular with dressage, so I've made quite a few digital conversions. But sometimes a conversion is unnecessary, thanks to ambient conditions such as a morning fog....



Hope this helps!

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Oh. Oops. I was told it was only slide film they had given up on. I thought you could still do print film there. Oh well.