My B&W Photos?

Hey all, I take mostly black and white digital photos, but was told that they

come out more of a gray than a black and white photo. Can anyone help me figure

out what im doing wrong and what are the best settings for my camera to be on

when i take black and white pictures?

 

David<div></div>

The sky is overexposed. Check your histogram. Do not let this happen.

 

Recover highlites with curves or highlite/shadow control.

 

The best way to get better black and white is to use shoot color, use LAB mode and channel mixer in photoshop.

 

Another is to shoot RAW and use different blach/white filters in the RAW converter.

 

With simple equipment, it is better to keep the highlites under control and let the shadows go dark and bring them up in Photoshop.

David, I think most will agree that the best way to convert color to BW is in post

processing. If you have Photoshop, here are a some techniques to get you started.

 

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/or/black-and-white.html

 

http://www.eyesondesign.net/pshop/bw/converting_to_bw.htm

 

http://av.adobe.com/russellbrown/BlackWhiteVariationsSM.mov

 

--Roger

I don't think you need to worry too much about camera settings, if you have a good photo editing program like photoshop just use that. change the saturation, contract, B&W or greyscale

David,

 

Given I was the one who made the comments you are refering to earlier, I will try and add a little more. If you are shooting digital, then as others above have mentioned, shoot colour then use this additional information after to achieve the B&W tonal look youre after. While I have some differing views on how to do this than others, I wont cloud the issue any more on that front.

 

Just looking at the image you posted above; As Ron mentioned, the highlights are blown - no details. B&W film has a greater luxury of keepng more details in both the highlights and shadows than digital so you need to understand what compromises you are going to make. Basically you want to control your highlights here.

 

You do not have a black point set. That is, there is no 100% (level 0) black in that photo which helps in making it more grey than B&W. I had a litlle quick fiddle with it as attached. Pushing in more black to achieve a true black point darkens the image a little too much so at the same time raise the mid tone value (gamma) a little to compensate. The only other thing I did was in crease the mid tones contrast using a gentle 'S' curve and a luminosity mask to protect the highlights and shadows. Not perfect but trying to convey the idea.

 

Craig

Sorry, forgot a caption...<div></div>

Thanks for all the information. I do have photoshop and will try them techniques. Is there a way i should set my digital camera to where i have to do little editing?

David,

 

Others can probably advise you better on your camera settings as I only shoot B&W film and scan but I suspect the answer is basically; be aware of the tonal range within a scene / meter for the highlights / shoot in raw.

 

However, be aware that to produce "good" B&W images as a final result - digital or film - is going to require post processing skills and time. So if you want to pursue digital B&W with any earnst be prepared to spend sometime learning; and that involves editing...

 

 

keep it up and enjoy :)

Thanks Craig, Youve been much helpful. Taking photos is what i Love to do. I want to learn all i can so i can get better. Thanks :)

 

David

Hello David. Photographing in colour and then changing to black & white is usually regarded as the best method. There are a number of ways to do this.

 

However, here is an alternative method for giving a bit of zip to a tired photo. This has often helped me with colour as well as b&W. Try it and see if it works for you.

 

Create a duplicate layer and hide the layer. Add a Curves (or Levels) Adjustment Layer to you original (background) image. Adjust to give a bright image with good highlights. Open the duplicate layer and set the blend mode to Multiply (it will probably be a bit too dark) adjust the Layer opacity to suit. In the example I have used 50 per cent but it may take a little more. Also you can return to the Curves layer and give it a little tweak.

 

Geoff.<div></div>

If you are serious about traditional B&W there is only one way to go. Large format film. Digi is OK for numerous things, but it is not the best tool for what you want to do.

Here is the same photo after i tweaked it alittle bit. Tell me what yall think. Thanks for all the advice everyone.

 

David<div></div>

Ok, I'm at a loss here for understanding. If a digital camera has good black and white

(monochrome) capabilities, why is shooting color and converting to black and white better

than shooting monochrome in the camera (ok, alongside color). I hear this and haven't

found sources to read and understand comparisons, except all the neat tools in Photoshop

to do this. I shoot b&w in film (35mm and 4x5) and digital (35mm) and don't see the

problems shooting monochrome in the camera. I've tested it with grayscale cards and

wouldn't recommend pushing or pulling b&w in the camera, the dynamic ranges falls off

fast, but you can get a good dynamic range in the cameras, so what's the problem? I would

sure like to understand all the criticism to this practice.

David-- I think you have vastly improved on the original with your tweaking. It is richer and

has more life. Now, there is some natural movement in the photo and I find a pretty

distinctive place where my eye wants to be drawn. You might think about working with that a

bit more to pull the viewer in and make more of a visual statement, creating more depth

overall.