How to take pics in B&W?

[djdaqm]

I seem to get contradictory advice from two books. One of them suggest to take the pics in color and then do the conversion. And the other one, to set the camera in B&W mode if the picture is intended for B&W.

What do you guys think?

[MattyB]

whatever tickles your fancy mate, try both and see which suits you personally :)

[Tuna]

I seem to get contradictory advice from two books. One of them suggest to take the pics in color and then do the conversion. And the other one, to set the camera in B&W mode if the picture is intended for B&W.

What do you guys think?

I believe that more information is retained (tonal range, shadow detail, etc.) when the initial capture is in color though a proper conversion method must be used to retain that information when changing to B&W - I use channel mixer combined with layers/masking for levels, curves, contrast, etc.

You should notice the different sizes of files (information) when shooting in color v. in-camera-grayscale.

Tuna

[John C]

I believe that more information is retained (tonal range, shadow detail, etc.) when the initial capture is in color though a proper conversion method must be used to retain that information when changing to B&W - I use channel mixer combined with layers/masking for levels, curves, contrast, etc.


I'd agree - you've much more control over the final picture if you shoot in colour.

[baldybaldstock]

I always shoot in colour with thoughts of converting after. Channel mixer is very powerful at making conversions. You can use it the same as if you had a Red, green or Blue filter fitted when shooting black and white film.......just remember to tick the monochrome box when you first go into the channel mixer!. You can also use a combination of filter colours this way. nothing looks better to me than a red filter on a dark blue sky!. Have fun!

[djdaqm]

Thanks for the replies. That is what I thought made more sense, since one has more information available to manipulate.

Maybe I should I stop reading "Digital Art Photography for Dummies" since they give dumb advice. :)

[ChP]

I think the best way to do black and white is to buy film. Though when it comes to digital shoot in color in case you change your mind.

There are numerous way to do BW conversion; try the channel mixer or calculations for nice results. Don't just convert to grayscale, the results are not as nice.

[Spearin]

I always shoot in colour with thoughts of converting after. Channel mixer is very powerful at making conversions. You can use it the same as if you had a Red, green or Blue filter fitted when shooting black and white film.......just remember to tick the monochrome box when you first go into the channel mixer!. You can also use a combination of filter colours this way. nothing looks better to me than a red filter on a dark blue sky!. Have fun!
That's pretty much exactly what I would've said too :P Shooting colour and converting via Channel Mixer. Plus you'll still have that image in colour anyways, and if you have b&w set on the camera... it takes precious time if you want to shoot something in colour, and have to switch it back.

[JD.]

Ditto ditto ditto...
Channel Mixer conversion gives you the most control. Although it can often be the most complex and time consuming when you start using multiple channel mixer layers and masks for different parts of the picture.
Like ChP said don't just convert to greyscale, or desaturate for that matter. Those two methods have preset mixes of the RGB channels so you have no control over the outcome.