# Another question about Black & White photo shooting.



## surapon (Apr 30, 2014)

Dear Friends and Teachers.
Well, Another question to ask you that, What is the best ways to CREATED Black and White Photos :
1) Just set the Camera and shoot in Monochrome Mode, in Picture Style Or
2) Shoot regular mode to get the good color Photos, and Use Photoshop change from Color to Black and White ( Mode ---to-- Gray Scale) as the attached photos below.
3) If a great Scenery Location, Just shoot both = Colors + Black and White in Monochrome Mode .
Which one have more detail in Shade and Shadow ?.
Which one will give us more details / Sharper Image ?

Thank you, Sir/ Madam.
Surapon


----------



## tolusina (Apr 30, 2014)

Dear friend, teacher and fellow student Surapon,

I'm pretty certain that if you shoot raw while shooting black and while, only the embedded jpg will be in camera post processed to black and white, the raw file remains in color with full sensor information as always.
So, you can review on site in black and white, once in your favorite raw converter/developer, you'll have full latitude to tune the image as you like.

Ron


----------



## yorgasor (Apr 30, 2014)

tolusina said:


> Dear friend, teacher and fellow student Surapon,
> 
> I'm pretty certain that if you shoot raw while shooting black and while, only the embedded jpg will be in camera post processed to black and white, the raw file remains in color with full sensor information as always.
> So, you can review on site in black and white, once in your favorite raw converter/developer, you'll have full latitude to tune the image as you like.
> ...



Correct. If you shoot RAW, the sensor will collect everything in color, which you can then convert to whatever you'd like in Lightroom or other tool. You can also tweak the shading of each color. I'm sure you may find a purist who insists his B&W photos still look better if he adds a real red or orange filter, rather than tweaking the settings in software, but I'm pretty sure no one will realistically be able to tell. Plus, the software adjustments are way more flexible. Instead of using a single red or orange filter, in software you can simulate both, with whatever strength you desire.

For practical purposes, if you set the photo mode to B&W when you're using RAW, the camera will present the image in B&W, which does give you an idea of what your final product will look like. So, in that respect, setting your camera to B&W when you know or suspect that's what your final product will look like is a good idea.


----------



## privatebydesign (Apr 30, 2014)

surapon said:


> 2) Shoot regular mode to get the good color Photos, and Use Photoshop change from Color to Black and White ( Mode ---to-- Gray Scale) as the attached photos below.



Surapon,

Shoot regular mode but don't use Photoshop, use Adobe Camera Raw to do the grey scale conversion, then you have all the colour sliders to adjust, it completely changes the look of the image and effectively mimics using different filters at shooting time. Much more powerful than Mode-Grey Scale in PS.


----------



## Menace (Apr 30, 2014)

privatebydesign said:


> surapon said:
> 
> 
> > 2) Shoot regular mode to get the good color Photos, and Use Photoshop change from Color to Black and White ( Mode ---to-- Gray Scale) as the attached photos below.
> ...



+1

Or use Lightroom


----------



## climber (Apr 30, 2014)

In PS, there is also Black & White option under the adjustment layer menu. The initial sliders are almost the same as these in LR or ACR, but here you have a million other options, if you know how to do. (i don't) Like masking, tinting,...


----------



## surapon (Apr 30, 2014)

Good Wednesday morning in North Carolina to all of my friends and Teachers.
Thanks for your Expertise and Your Knowledge of Black & White Photos creation. Yes, I will learn and try to use all of your Tricks/ Techniques in my Next Projects = Black and white Digital Photography.

Sir, Here are the Attached Photo that I try to use your Methods. The First Photo is just first generation of B&W Photos from Full colors Photo. And The Second one is Revised/ Improved ( ?) photo from the First one.

Please comment these Photos, and tell me Which one you like= That I can learn and improve my love hobby in the future.
Thank you, Sir.
Surapon

PS. Dear Friends, The Last Colors Photos is the original Photo that I use to do Post Processing to be Black and White Phots----Please try and Teach me " HOW ?"----Thanks you, Sir/ Madam


----------



## privatebydesign (Apr 30, 2014)

I prefer the second, but post the original in colour and we can all have a play


----------



## surapon (Apr 30, 2014)

privatebydesign said:


> I prefer the second, but post the original in colour and we can all have a play




Yes, Sir, I already add the color/ original photo on my post-----THANKSSSS..
Have Fun, Dear privatebydesign, And I will learn from you again----Because some time, We set up our Monitor in difference ways.
Good day.
Surapon


----------



## yorgasor (Apr 30, 2014)

In black and white, I prefer photos that have a good deal of contrast between the blacks and whites. If it's all gray, it often seems a little muddy looking. The shot of the city has the bright white building, and lots of dark sky and other buildings. While that contrast is good, everything but the building seems a little too dark. Are you using a polarizer on these shots to get such dark blues in the sky? Sometimes that can have a dramatic effect, especially if there are white, puffy clouds thrown in for good measure.

After my trip to the grand canyon, I went through and noticed that while some photos looked ok in color, the contrasts offered much more dramatic effect in B&W. These two photos are very similar (the B&W shot is zoomed in a little more than the color), but in B&W, you don't notice the haze very much. And the shadows that might detract a little in the color photo make the B&W one stand out some more. The blue haze in the back can be tuned with the color filters in Lightroom to be darker and provide more contrast as well.



IMG_4643 by yorgasor, on Flickr



IMG_4642 by yorgasor, on Flickr


And here's a couple more that I liked:



IMG_4629 by yorgasor, on Flickr

The foreground on this would have looked better if it were brighter, but the background looked really great:



IMG_4636 by yorgasor, on Flickr



IMG_4630 by yorgasor, on Flickr


----------



## surapon (Apr 30, 2014)

yorgasor said:


> In black and white, I prefer photos that have a good deal of contrast between the blacks and whites. If it's all gray, it often seems a little muddy looking. The shot of the city has the bright white building, and lots of dark sky and other buildings. While that contrast is good, everything but the building seems a little too dark. Are you using a polarizer on these shots to get such dark blues in the sky? Sometimes that can have a dramatic effect, especially if there are white, puffy clouds thrown in for good measure.
> 
> After my trip to the grand canyon, I went through and noticed that while some photos looked ok in color, the contrasts offered much more dramatic effect in B&W. These two photos are very similar (the B&W shot is zoomed in a little more than the color), but in B&W, you don't notice the haze very much. And the shadows that might detract a little in the color photo make the B&W one stand out some more. The blue haze in the back can be tuned with the color filters in Lightroom to be darker and provide more contrast as well.
> 
> ...



Yes, Sir, Dear Mr. yorgasor.
I should not use Cir. PL. Filter that make too much Black sky on Black and white Photos----Ha, Ha, Ha, It look like in the night time. Thanks you, Sir.
Wow, I love your Grand Canyon Pictures/ Beautiful Pictures, Both Colors and B& W too, Yes, You are right on the Target, The Toner/ Difference Tone are make your Photos look like 3D Pictures.
Have a good raining day in our home town.
Surapon

Ps. Here are the more toner Photos with out Cir. PL Filter.


----------



## privatebydesign (Apr 30, 2014)

Surapon,

Your original image is not optimally exposed for post processing, it looks like you used a polarizer and under exposed a fair bit. For B&W base shots I'd suggest a more even starting point, it is easy to get the drama in post but impossible to salvage the shadows from such an underexposed image.


----------



## yorgasor (Apr 30, 2014)

Surapon,

I like those last two much more. Dark skies aren't always a bad thing though. When you do IR photography, the blue sky often turns out very dark, but the trees, leaves & grass usually show up much brighter, giving an interesting contrast to the scene. I don't have any really good examples (at least, none as fancy as some that I've seen online) but this is my best photo that demonstrates the effect. I believe it looks even better when you have bright, fluffy white clouds.



IR-Neighborhood by yorgasor, on Flickr


----------



## surapon (May 1, 2014)

Thousand Thanks to all of my dear friends to answer and share the great tricks with me, That I will use in my next Black & White Shooting.
Yes, You are right on the target, we better have Both Colors Photos and Black and White Photos at the same shooting.
Have a great weekend, Sir.
Surapon


----------

