Black & White Photography

[Brownbear]

1. What exactly makes a great B&W photo? I think a high contrast photo, with nice light and a good tonal range, but really it is a guessing game (for me). My current strategy is to choose a photo I think will look good in B&W, try it out, and instinct as to whether it looks good or is a flop in B&W.

2. For B&W photography is it better to shoot in B&W, or shoot in colour and then convert to B&W?

Thank you.

[Donald]

Christina

For me, the 4 'golden' words are - Line, Shape, Tone & Texture. Your subject needs to be strong in these elements for you to be looking, in my opinion, at a good B & W.

Re shooting. Do you shoot in RAW? If so, then you are not shooting in either colour or B & W. You're shooting and you are capture all the data, including the colour information. You then decide, during post-processing whether you're keeping the colour information (and making a colour image) or losing it (to make a B & W). It's only if your shooting in JPEG that you make the decision at the time whether to capture the image as a colour or B & W photograph.

But that latter point is a very different from making the decision, before you press the shutter, whether the final image is going to be a colour image or a B & W. As I've written on here before. I shoot for B & W. But I shoot in RAW and, therefore still capture all the colour information. But I know I'll be making a B & W image from that RAW file.

Does any of that help?

[Arlen]

And they don't all have to be high contrast. For some most excellent demonstrations of that, take a look at some of Donald's posts of the Tay Bridge images.

[Brownbear]

Hi Donald,
Thank you so much... You summed it up perfectly and simply! Now I know what to look for, and texture never came to mind!

Yes, I shoot in raw and jpeg, and the next time I try a B&W photo, I will try editing from raw.

It's also very helpful to know the thought process behind it.

I've seen your Tay Bridge shots and they are gorgeous!

[Manfred M]

My decision to go colour or B&W is often something I will only decided on when I am in PP, even if I am planning a colour or B&W shot at the time.

If I have an image, where I like the overall composition, but it is somehow too busy and all the colours are distracting, I will throw on a B&W adjustment layer to see if this step simplifies the image enough to improve the overall effect. Donald puts it quite well; Line, Shape, Tone & Texture.

Sometimes I find that a "period" piece (old house or barn) will look better in B&W (perhaps monochrome is a better way of describing it, as I will sometimes either go towards a warm, off-white background or an overall sepia look rather than pure black and white). Sometimes a scene will look more compelling if it takes on that B&W photojournalistic appearance or the 60's and 70's.

[Brownbear]

Thank you. Very helpful..

I have a highly textured, pelican somewhere, that fits the bill, and I will try it out.

[Mike Buckley]

I have a highly textured, pelican somewhere, that fits the bill

Please, please tell us that your pun is intended.

[Mike Buckley]

Line, Shape, Tone & Texture.

Maybe we should adopt the acronym, SLiTT, or perhaps, LiSTT.

Do you shoot in RAW? If so, then you are not shooting in either colour or B & W.

I recently saw information about a very expensive camera with sensor sites that record only luminosity, not RGB data. I take it that the sensor that has no RGB sites is truly a black-and-white camera and that all black-and-white imgages converted from data captured on RGB sensor sites are "only" conversions. I would appreciate anyone with the technical understanding to explain in easy-to-understand lay terms the differences between the two technologies and the differences, if any, between the results.

[Brownbear]

Well actually...

The beak




(looks better in colour)

The rumpled guy who is not looking very well.

The beak and the rumpled guy look better in colour... This guy looks ok in B&W, and better in Sepia I think...

[Donald]

I recently saw information about a very expensive camera with sensor sites that recorded only luminosity, not RGB data.

Mike

I think your referring to the new :Leica M.

It's a case of - If you need to ask the price, you can't afford it!

[Mike Buckley]

If you need to ask the price, you can't afford it!

I definitely need to ask.

[William W]

What exactly makes a great B&W photo?

What I find missing from many Digital B&W Images is the full tonal range.
That is not to say that a Full Tonal Range is an absolute for EVERY image.

***

For B&W photography is it better to shoot in B&W, or shoot in colour and then convert to B&W?

Assuming you are limiting the question to Digital Media - it is better to shoot in raw and convert to Black and White in Post Production.
This relates to my first point.
It is my experience that the LACK of a full tonal range is usually rooted in a poor understanding of B&W conversion and this is predicated by the user not understanding the (core) relationship between how and why we used Contrast Filters when shooting B&W with Film and the Digital conversation process which uses attenuation or amplification of the six colour tones.
Although there are many excellent plug-ins available for B&W Conversion and B&W Post Production, it occurs to me that a trained eye can often differentiate an Hand Made Wet Print from a Black and White Negative: in this regard the full response to your question requires an answer including: ‘perhaps best to shoot with B&W film’.

WW

[Mike Buckley]

William,

You might be interested in Carolyn Guild's images at http://carolynguild.com/Carolyn_Guil...otography.html. Museum gallery curators have been astounded to realize that her prints are made from digital captures. That's just one reason that her work is owned by museums.

[William W]

Mike,
Thank you for the link.
Very impressive,
WW

[Loose Canon]

Christina, I hope you don't mind me chiming in here.

But I am a huge fan of B&W portraiture.

Especially babies, head & shoulders and tight shots, mothers-to-be, and well, most anything if they are well conceived. Plus if you are a street shooter a B&W gritty kind of look is pretty cool. Have a look at Jiro's street stuff. It sings in B&W.

Low key is another example (and this is not going to necessarily include a full tonal range).

I think for these and the above mentioned it is a classic and timeless look.

And pay special attention to whatever Donald tells us about this.

Just a theory!

[Mike Buckley]

Terry's comment about street photography reminds me that one reason to use black-and-white is to eliminate the colors that would otherwise distract the viewer from the story being told.