Exposure for Black and White?

M

M.Hinch

Senior Member
Knowing that you are going to convert your image to black and white,
should one expose for the whites and let everything else fall as they may?

Or should one expose for the middle tones,or yet expose for the subject and
let everything else fall as they may?

Michael,:confused:
 
J

Joseph Bautsch

New member
Regardless of your shots final color, B&W or full color you always expose for a full tonal range from whites to blacks. Any special effects can be added afterward. The sensor sees everything in color and records it that way. The conversion to B&W is made after the shot is taken wether it's converted in camera or in post processing. So your objective is to take as full a tonal range in color as possible to start with. That way you can make color conversions and add any special effects you want in post processing.
 
ohkphoto

ohkphoto

Snow White
Joseph said it best.

In my opinion, that's one of the best things about digital --you don't have to make a decision about BW vs color until you post process. It's not like the film days, where you start out with either color or BW. In digital, you can have both.
 
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