Black & White images?

Do most of you take pictures in B & W mode or do you take them in color the convert them?

I try to take the picture in Black and White if that is how I am going to use it. I also try to keep a copy of it in color for future use as well.

What is really interesting is using filters (especially red) while taking b&w pictures. It can really make a differenc, especially where snow is concerned, emphasizing shadows which can get lost in a color picture.

If you are considering changing a color picture on the computer to a black and white photo, and you are using photoshop or an equivalent photo, don't just convert it to greyscale. Instead, check the different channels to see which has the best contrast and sharpness (usually not the blue channel), select all, copy and make a new file. Then paste the copied pixels.

This will give better results than a simple greyscale process.

Blue usually doesn't work as well because it is the noisiest of the three channels (red, green blue)

Taking a B&W photo to begin with is an important part of playing with the zone system, which is what Ansel Adams used.

Alton said:

Do most of you take pictures in B & W mode or do you take them in
color the convert them?

Click to expand...

A couple of years ago I had access to a Kodak DC4800. It had some interesting B/W features that the Nikon 995 doesn't have, you could select an electronic red or yellow filter along with the regular unfiltered B/W mode and they did work just like a film filter. The Nikon is 2 to 3 times the camera that the Kodak is but it was a nice little feature..

Jim M.

nosarious said:

What is really interesting is using filters (especially red) while
taking b&w pictures. It can really make a differenc, especially
where snow is concerned, emphasizing shadows which can get lost in
a color picture.

If you are considering changing a color picture on the computer to
a black and white photo, and you are using photoshop or an
equivalent photo, don't just convert it to greyscale. Instead,
check the different channels to see which has the best contrast and
sharpness (usually not the blue channel), select all, copy and make
a new file. Then paste the copied pixels.

This will give better results than a simple greyscale process.

Blue usually doesn't work as well because it is the noisiest of the
three channels (red, green blue)

Taking a B&W photo to begin with is an important part of playing
with the zone system, which is what Ansel Adams used.

Alton said:

Do most of you take pictures in B & W mode or do you take them in
color the convert them?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Jim M. said:

A couple of years ago I had access to a Kodak DC4800. It had some
interesting B/W features that the Nikon 995 doesn't have, you could
select an electronic red or yellow filter along with the regular
unfiltered B/W mode and they did work just like a film filter. The
Nikon is 2 to 3 times the camera that the Kodak is but it was a
nice little feature..

Jim M.

Click to expand...

Jim, that is a great feature. I wish my 995 had a built in IR filter to slip and and replace the cut filter at the press of a button. The F707 has a hot mirror or cut filter that flops out of the way in night shot mode. Pretty slick.
FJBrad

Alton said:

Do most of you take pictures in B & W mode or do you take them in
color the convert them?

Click to expand...

I too had to ask this question a while back. There are many opinions I found. For my own research this is what I concluded...

1. Take your shots in color and at the best resolution you use as a rule. This gives you more pixels to work with and print. (take 2 identical images, 1 in B/W, 1 in color and check the file size to see for your- self)

2. Do all your image adjustments for levels, curves, etc before you convert to b/w. The better seperation your shot has before converting the more detail and range of tones between 0 & 255 your b/w will have. This is a critical step and will help to give that crisp alive look that good b/w have.

3. The way to convert to b/w depends on the image and what you want to do. I use 2 methods.

A. Channel mixer and alter the % on a trial and error basis. Plus there are some plug in filters you can try.

B. Greyscale- then apply Deuotones from the many options that alows you. You can also mess with the curves in these presets to get some very interesting 'looks'. You need to convert back to RGB in order to save the new images as jpgs files etc.

If you have your image as a layer then you can apply a style option from the stlye pallet to see if the image is worth going to b/w..there are several styles that you can try for a quick effect. Aged, sepia, b/w, Night vision etc.

Hope this helps
JJ