B&W or not?

Eduard

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
WayneF said:
Re Eduards posted picture. It says NO EDITS, so I will just comment. The levels (white point and black point) are naturally done, proper for many things, but here, the sun is sort of a specular highlight, it has no detail, and could be clipped more. The key for B&W is to create ample contrast, specifically to have some very black areas and some very white areas. It was Ansel Adams best advice. I'd move the White Point down to where the water begins, about 200 level (clipping the sun, who cares? It helps the water.) Clipping color can change the colors, but this is B&W, little concern except for clipped detail.

Blacker blacks and whiter whites is contrast (opposite of flat).
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I haven't done much B&W conversion - except for developing and printing in a lab back in the day while in the USAF. This is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for - thank you!
 
W

WayneF

Senior Member
480sparky said:
By this analogy, shooting .NEF is dead since WalMart, Costco, Walgreens, CVS or any other one-hour lab won't accept them.
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I'd say those reasons are at opposite ends of the scale. Neither B&W film or NEF files would be economical for them to support ... B&W because it is dead, and NEF because they are not up to it yet. :)

It does not seem inconceivable that a service to process and print raw files might have appeal to some... It would be paying for a few minutes of personalized attention, but it could offer premium results.

But trying to make a profit today processing B&W film has obviously been abandoned.

This may be arguing film vs digital, instead of B&W vs color. Even Kodachrome is gone too. But the one hour labs have to print grayscale digital files on color paper.

If anyone enjoys B&W work, then power to them, to each his own. I'm just saying I was stuck there for years, but I've recovered now. I wish I had those years back.
 
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480sparky

Senior Member
WayneF said:
I'd say those reasons are at opposite ends of the scale. Neither B&W film or NEF files would be economical for them to support ... B&W because it is dead, and NEF because they are not up to it yet. :)......
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Actually, they're on the same end of the scale.

But my point was really more that a handful of one-hour photo labs aren't the only benchmark in the industry.
 
J

J-see

Senior Member
I don't really understand why B&W is considered a thing of the past.

I process B&W or color because I prefer the shot to be one of both.

What the rest of the world prefers I could care less about. Yes the world is in color but when browsing around online, I also realize the world I see is certainly not in those colors. It's close to never that colorful, or that detailed and I don't see those details in the highlight nor in the shadows. If it comes to that, most color photos are as unrealistic as B&W.

If B&W is dead, realistic photography died too.
 
J

J-see

Senior Member
We all shoot what we like and everything that's available ain't dead.

If it comes to realism or how the world is; this is how it is to us:

_DSC3286-1.jpg

Since we're not depicting that with photography, what does it matter if we add some more un-realism?
 
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dickelfan

Senior Member
For that shot I'd prefer the color...I would crop it to take some of the water out of the picture lowering the horizon to the bottom 3rd of the frame.
 
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