B/W ... what's it all about?

[Mad Aussie]

B/W is something I've never really dabbled in or been drawn towards. Which is not to say I haven't seen some B/W shots I liked.

Back in the pre-digital days I could see the attraction more I think due to the photographer having to shoot the subject with B/W film and get everything right rather than taking a full colour digital shot and hitting the digi darkroom and creating a mono tone image.

So ... these days ... what's B/W all about?

Is it acceptable to shoot it in colour and then 'photoshop' it as B/W?

Are only certain subjects really suitable/acceptable to be shot as B/W?
I would think subjects like Portraits, Architecture and perhaps old or aged subjects. What else?

Here's one I took a couple of weeks ago and seriously invite comments so I can understand what I should be looking for.

I'm guessing B/W is ALL about the shades/tones as much as the subject itself.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/Misc/IMG_0100-bw.jpg

[Agnu]

I shoot black and white film, try and steer clear of the whole 'Digi Darkroom' thing as much as possible. For me film is a lot like playing accoustic instruments, it just has a certain natural vibe about it. This is not to say that I don't do the digi conversion thing, I do, a lot. The good thing about digital is if it looks better B&W you can just convert it, but if a B&W film shot looks better in colour, you're pretty much buggered until you go and shoot it again with colour. Still digi conversions just feel kind of fake to me.

[briancd]

I think digital photography has opened up B & W to a lot of people who would not normally shoot B & W. As Agnu indicated With digital colour you can convert to B&W but not the other way around. This has allowed people to experiment more by converting colour to B & W. There are no rules to photography only guidelines. Didital photgraphy has enabled a lot more artistic freedom than in the days of film.

I like the composition and feel. B & W , in this case, gives an old world charm to the shot and reminds us of days of old when we saw the world in B & W before either colour photography or colour TV.

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks for those thoughts people (and keep em coming if you have em) ... it's interesting to hear what people think on this.

My own thought is much as I eluded to in my first post ... I feel only certain subjects really suit B/W and I think a B/W shot should be shot with B/W in mind ... not simply converted from a colour shot that didn't work or might look good as B/W.

I would think the shot should also have clear divisions between the shades to really work also.

Having said all that ... I'm a newbie ... what the hell would I know?? :confused:

[Agnu]

Mad Aussie, in my opinion, you're spot on when you say that a B&W shot should be shot with B&W in mind, much like a colour shot must be shot with colour in mind. When I shoot B&W film I try to visualise the scene in B&W, like noting the tones, the sky and all that jazz.

[~Raven~]

Mad Aussie, I personally love B&W. If I take a shot in colour that is not quite right then I will set my camera to B&W and retake the shot to see if that works. I'd rather do it that way than converting a colour later. Quite often I'll leave my camera set to B&W just to "see" the world in that way..Some sunsets look stunning in B&W because the cloud formations really pop..I also shoot alot of portraits in B&W or I'll shoot it in colour then desaturate the image to around -70/-85 to retain a small amount of colour, which I also like.
I think that B&W is a personal thing..I know alot of people who cant see the point of b&w now that you can take pics in colour.

[Mad Aussie]

That's an interesting thought Raven ... if I take a shot in colour that doesn't ring my bell ... I could try it in B/W just in case that works too. I'll have to remember that.

A good example of that is that wagon up there ... I took that in colour with most of my focus on the angle of the shot and catching the sun the way I did. B/W wasn't in my thoughts at all ... until I saw it on the PC and thought the timber and old look might suit B/W ... so I then de-saturated it.

I'm starting to see the worth in using B/W for some specific shots.

[alexander]

A couple of (digital) things I would like to know.
1. If you set your camera to B+W, can you then convert that image to colour when you get home?
2. If your camera is a mini processor. Seeing things in colour then converting to B+W. Whats the difference between that and converting it yourself?
3. Dos your camera give you the flexibility and control that you get with your chosen software.

Shooting in colour then converting yourself would be similar to shooting in RAW then converting to Jpeg.
Shooting in B+W, would seem to give the same control as shooting in Jpeg.

Alex.

[Mad Aussie]

A couple of (digital) things I would like to know.
1. If you set your camera to B+W, can you then convert that image to colour when you get home?
You can colourise it but I don't think it's possible to re-colour it is it?
Then again I know nothing about RAW yet so prehaps the colour info is available in those files allowing true recolouring? I wouldn't know.


2. If your camera is a mini processor. Seeing things in colour then converting to B+W. Whats the difference between that and converting it yourself?
Your intentions/composition/use of available light etc before you hit the button.


3. Dos your camera give you the flexibility and control that you get with your chosen software.
Nope.


Shooting in colour then converting yourself would be similar to shooting in RAW then converting to Jpeg.
Shooting in B+W, would seem to give the same control as shooting in Jpeg.

Alex.
Limited control? Is that what you are saying?
If so I need to look more into shooting RAW images and what can be done.

[alexander]

Limited control? Is that what you are saying?
If so I need to look more into shooting RAW images and what can be done.

Look into it. I think you would be surprised. I didn't believe the hype until a guy with Sh*t loads of photoshop experience showed me how it worked. I have never shot in anything else but raw from that day.
Alex.

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks Alex ... I'll start experiementing