B/W or colour?

[Witam]

I have been wondering for a while now, how one can spot a B/W? I mean i can shoot a shot and look afterwards if it makes a nice B/W or not, but i want to know it before shooting and not just have luck afterwards.

I do know i need a contrast in tones and not colours, but still at times i expect more than it turns out when B/W. What else is important when looking for B/W?

[KevRyan]

Practice - composition - story - relationships - graphic possibility - an ability to pre-visualise the result - an understanding of how colours are represented as monochrome tones - contrast for sure - understand the full range of tones available - turn your colour eye off - if you have the option turn the camera colour capability off or shoot jpeg and RAW in black and white so that you can have the colour or b&W conversion possibility later - go stalking with black and white eyes only for a day or two! Be a committed b&w photographer and then it will come more as second nature in the middle of all those colour shots........


happy hunting kev

[rushfan2112]

The best advice I was ever given was to put a solid colour filter (doesn't matter which but I tend to use yellow) over the end of the lens and you'll start to see things in terms of contrast, tone and shade rather than colour.

It's not a universal truism but most top quality B&W shots tend to have a full and smooth range of tones from pure white to pure black. Have a look at Ansel Adams' photos if you're not already familiar with them. He's not everyone's artistic taste but he was an absolute genius when it came to creating B&W images and then producing prints from them.

Seldom can you do anything "wrong". See what happens when you convert some colour shots into B&W. Try applying colour filters to the B&W files and see how the affect the overall result. Have fun - experiment...!!

[Witam]

Thank you very much for that suggestion. I'm going to try it.

[Witam]

"if you have the option turn the camera colour capability off or shoot jpeg and RAW in black and white so that you can have the colour or b&W conversion possibility later"

Did i understand the prvious correctly:
If one shoots jpg/raw in B/W it still saves in colour?

[KevRyan]

On the Canon 5D yes (and i guess it will on other cameras too) because the RAW captures all the info - so you get a B&W image and a colour image which can still be used for high quality B&W conversion.

[Witam]

Thanks. That's great to know.

[jaspernina]

Hi

I've often felt the same. What I now do is shoot in RAW, (Nikon D200)but also at the same time shoot the image in black & white, (same exposure) using the camera settings, as a jpeg, obviously the RAW is colour, but if you like the BW version you can convert it.

Stephen

[Witam]

Thanks. Do you see the review on your camera in B/W or in color this way?