One thing some photographers and filmakers talk about is ’seeing in black and white.’

Whether they are shooting in black and white or colour, seeing in B&W is a useful skill to learn. If you can ignore the colour, you can tell whether an image will work or not when converted (or taken) in B&W. Also, what makes a B&W image good can also improve a colour image (contrast, use of light, shapes, form etc.)

So what happens if you can’t see in B&W?

Well, for some photographers, you don’t need to, you can let your camera do it for you. I discovered this while playing with my Canon 20D a few weeks back and love it. I shoot in RAW all the time, so any changes I make to the camera’s parameters: sharpness, contrast, saturation etc don’t affect the RAW file. Neither does the B&W setting!

It DOES affect the preview you get on the LCD screen, so you will see your photo in B&W immediately after taking the shot, but the RAW file will still have all of the colour information. So you can instantly tell if the shot will work in B&W but also still have the option of keeping it in colour.

This tip was submitted by DPS reader Neil Smith from Pic a Day.

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