B & W

[al_col]

Hi,

I`m a new photographer with a home studio. I`ve been using VPS

film, with a hasselblad camera. I need to know if anyone can tell me

how to shoot b&w. I have a customer that wants her 2 children in b&w.

I`ve never done anything in b&w. I`m wondering, should I take it in

color and have it processed b&w, or is that not the same as taking it

with the b&w film? If I do go with b&w film is there any special way

I should adjust the light, F-stop? Can you recomend a film? I would

really appreciate any help. Thank You,

Al

[levin_haegele]

hello, al. b&w is actually not too difficult. you don't hae to worry about what kind of light (natural/tungsten/whatever) as much as you would with colour. i would keep everything the same as your colour setup and just shoot with a lower ASA b&w film (i.e. Delta 100) and see what you can come up with. i really like black and white for portraits and i think that you'll be pleasantly surprised. hope that helps a bit...

 

levin

[Bill C]

Hi AL,

 

One quick comment here. I don�t know how you normally light your subjects (ie, ratio), but if you are using flat lighting, color usually works well because you can get a lot of "snap" just from the variety of colors. In B&W, that same lighting is typically just less interesting. So with the loss of the color contrast effect, you would typically want to use your lighting to create more interest; ie, higher ratio, maybe use of a hair light and or "kicker" if you�re not already using them.

 

PS; if you want to PRINT B&W from color negs, special papers (for Kodak, it used to be "Panalure"; I�m not sure if still available) are needed for "correct" reproductions. This is because the color negative attenuates "red light" for red lips, etc, but most B&W papers are not sensitive to red. Those "special papers" are also sensitive to "red light", but at the same time give you problems in safelight selection.

[gene_crumpler6]

Delta 100 or t-max 100 should be a good place to start as labs are use to these. Start with lighting ratios of 1:4. You will find that really good B&W prints are hard to come by from many labs. Most of us serious B&W photogs print our own work for max quality and creative control. Lots of people really get off on well done B&W prints these days!

[steve_vancosin]

Here you go:

http://www.photo.net/photo/film.html

[richard jepsen]

Al, suggest you try Tri-X. It produces great skin tones and does not suffer from tab films temperment for highlights to block up. Tri-X grain is not an issue with MF at 8x10.

[zhengs photos]

Al:

 

Making a good B&W negative might not be a big challenge for you, considering your experience with lighting and color photography. BUT, making a good B&W print is very hard indeed. So if there are only a handful of customers asking for B&W and you don't have much personal interest in B&W printing, you might try the C-41 B&W films such as Ilford XP2 super and Kodak TMAX-CN and get printed in a pro-lab.

 

For some inspiration on B&W portraiture, the recent "Black & White" magazine has a "The masters" special edition featuring work of Anne Leibwitz, Herb Ritz and etc.

 

//Bruce

[colm boran]

Al,

 

Like you I'm not a pro and I shoot a Hasselblad in my home "studio" occasionally. I usually shoot portraits my friend's children. One friend of mine loves B&W photography and I usually shoot it for her when she asks, but I also always shoot some color film. I do this because I haven't been able to find a local lab which produces the results I'm looking for on B&W paper.

 

Some of the comments above are right on ... you really should increase the ratio of highlight-to-shadow to about 4:1, instead of a 2:1 or 3:1 for color film. This is because the B&W paper can show more detail in the highlights and shadows than color paper. Most people would agree that good B&W prints should cover the total range of the paper, so that you get some rich blacks along with the highlights. That's the biggest problem I've found ... most local labs give me prints which are various shades of gray, despite my increasing the lighting ratio.

If I ever get more serious about B&W, I would certainly buy the equipment to do it myself.

[herman_woerner]

Al: have been shooting both black & white and color for some year. No matter how much I may like color I will never stop shooting black & white. It is a whole other world capable of making strong, beautiful images. ( Don't think of it as an inferior medium to color. ) Some of the greatest images of the the twentieth century were done in black & white. It will always be with us. Your client asking for black & white should tell us something. Sugest you read Zone VI Workshop by Fred Picker (You can order from Calumet at 1-800-225-8638 ). It is a quick, direct but thoroughly complete introduction to B & W technique. After you get into it, The Print and The Negative by Ansel Adams are two excellent texts. Best of success and enjoyment in your new endeavor. Herman Woerner

[victor_lioce]

Al:

 

I have had great success using Panalure Paper with color negs. However, I find that higher speed films, processed in "soft" developers, (i.e. Tri-X pan [not Tri-X pan pro] in Microdol-X at a temperature of 75 degrees Farenheit 1:3 dillution) will produce excellent enlargments up to 11 x 14.

 

The slower development time "grows" the grain crystals more slowly and keeps them from appearing like large clumps. Also, since you generally want a "softer" image for a portrait, a developer like Microdol-X will do that as well.

 

If you are not currently processing and printing your own B&W, then now would be a good time to start. Since you already know what your camera and lighting are capable of, you just need to zero in on processing and printing.

 

Also, if you send me an e-mail, I will send you steps on the "9 negative ring-around." You can use this testing procedure even if you are using a commercial lab to process your B&W. You may even surprise the lab with the results you get from them.