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General Photography
Black & White
Best way to Shoot B&W
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<blockquote data-quote="BackdoorArts" data-source="post: 247117" data-attributes="member: 9240"><p>Do you want to learn to shoot B&W, or do you want to make great B&W photos? </p><p></p><p>If it's the latter, concentrate on shooting great photos and then either get something like Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 (best conversion s/w I've found) or learn how to manipulate the colors in a desaturated image using Photoshop or Lightroom (I did a tutorial <a href="http://nikonites.com/tutorials/19510-better-b-w-conversion-using-multiple-hue-saturation-layers-photoshop-elements.html#axzz2qN1fuvEY" target="_blank">here</a>).</p><p></p><p>If you want to concentrate on B&W as an art form then learning to think in B&W is critical, because vastly different looking colors will look very different in B&W - two colors of varying hues will look identical, lighter and darker looking colors will swap which one is light which is dark. And all of that can be manipulated via color filters. DSLR's have a built in, basic filtering available in monochrome mode, so that will help you learn. I like the suggestion of shooting RAW + B&W because it will allow you to see the color image and the B&W, but unfortunately only after you export the RAW file (in camera it will display in the Camera Mode you shot it in). The alternative is to set one or both of your User settings to Monochrome, perhaps one with a filter, and alternate a photo between color and the B&W setting(s) to see how it impacts the photo. Shoot, shoot, shoot until you can start to predict how certain things will look. Shoot bushes of varying shades of green and learn under what conditions they blend together and when dull, single color becomes wildly varying shades of grey. </p><p></p><p>It's a lot easier to make great B&W images from a color image than it is to think in B&W, and if that's the way you go I strongly suggest shooting RAW. But it's well worth the effort if it's a style you want to concentrate on. I haven't gotten there yet, but I suspect at some point I will want to try it out - maybe shoot nothing but B&W in camera for a month? Even then, shooting RAW will give you more control of your light on the back end, and Adobe Camera RAW will apply your camera's Monochrome profile settings for you, so you'll see your B&W shots as well, and maybe want to convert them to color. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BackdoorArts, post: 247117, member: 9240"] Do you want to learn to shoot B&W, or do you want to make great B&W photos? If it's the latter, concentrate on shooting great photos and then either get something like Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 (best conversion s/w I've found) or learn how to manipulate the colors in a desaturated image using Photoshop or Lightroom (I did a tutorial [URL="http://nikonites.com/tutorials/19510-better-b-w-conversion-using-multiple-hue-saturation-layers-photoshop-elements.html#axzz2qN1fuvEY"]here[/URL]). If you want to concentrate on B&W as an art form then learning to think in B&W is critical, because vastly different looking colors will look very different in B&W - two colors of varying hues will look identical, lighter and darker looking colors will swap which one is light which is dark. And all of that can be manipulated via color filters. DSLR's have a built in, basic filtering available in monochrome mode, so that will help you learn. I like the suggestion of shooting RAW + B&W because it will allow you to see the color image and the B&W, but unfortunately only after you export the RAW file (in camera it will display in the Camera Mode you shot it in). The alternative is to set one or both of your User settings to Monochrome, perhaps one with a filter, and alternate a photo between color and the B&W setting(s) to see how it impacts the photo. Shoot, shoot, shoot until you can start to predict how certain things will look. Shoot bushes of varying shades of green and learn under what conditions they blend together and when dull, single color becomes wildly varying shades of grey. It's a lot easier to make great B&W images from a color image than it is to think in B&W, and if that's the way you go I strongly suggest shooting RAW. But it's well worth the effort if it's a style you want to concentrate on. I haven't gotten there yet, but I suspect at some point I will want to try it out - maybe shoot nothing but B&W in camera for a month? Even then, shooting RAW will give you more control of your light on the back end, and Adobe Camera RAW will apply your camera's Monochrome profile settings for you, so you'll see your B&W shots as well, and maybe want to convert them to color. ;) [/QUOTE]
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