Seeing in Black and White

[ravncat]

Here`s a trick I learned for seeing the world in black and white;
Set your camera to black and white mode - but shoot in raw.

May sound obvious at first - but for many people, shooting in black and white mode can give sub-par results, as can simply following the command to de-saturate or convert a color image into black and white.

By setting the JPG settings of a camera to black and white mode - and then changing the captured file type to RAW - we can have a black and white preview on our camera screen - but still capture the full raw file. In live view, we even get a black and white real time display of the world. Seeing in black and white can be a benefit for black and white compositions which are, different from those of color in my opinion.

The benefit of this, is that we can have a very strong idea of what a scene will look like in black and white, and even a guide as to how to convert our image from raw. The black and white image shouldn`t be considered the proper or correct final, but a strong visual aide, while preserving a full raw file to work with for conversion - giving us stronger flexibility than if we had simply shot the jpg in black and white mode.

It`s a great technique, and I hope it can help those of you shooting raw and converting to black and white.

[sk66]

Great Tip....I have a pretty strong sense of B&W from shooting it in film days, but I don't generally "see in B&W"...takes effort and I make mistakes...

[BryanC]

Yes, a great tip. I picked this up along the way from someone else and it's how I have been doing it. Also, it seems that if you do it enough, it does help you visualize a scene in b&w a little better even before seeing the preview. I'll add to this tip by saying...don't be dissuaded of doing things like this by the "anti-chimping" people. Do whatever you need to do to learn and get those images that you want. Screw them.

[KevPeden]

Originally Posted by BryanC

Yes, a great tip. I picked this up along the way from someone else and it's how I have been doing it. Also, it seems that if you do it enough, it does help you visualize a scene in b&w a little better even before seeing the preview. I'll add to this tip by saying...don't be dissuaded of doing things like this by the "anti-chimping" people. Do whatever you need to do to learn and get those images that you want. Screw them.

The Phrase "chimping" is one that I have not heard before and can only assume its from the phrase " I can teach a chimp to do that" (let me know if I'm wrong) when trying to explain how a task is performed. As a young engineer working for Royal Mail processing engineers (keeping the mail sorting machines working), we had a problem with one of the machines that had just been installed and we were having trouble finding the fault, which led to lost time. Our engineering manager came storming into the workshop, ranting and raving about how he could teach chimps to do our job. We immediately paid a visit to the MTW and borrowed a large number of old tyres, hung them from the girders in our workshop along with a load of over ripe Banana's from a local fruit shop and then left site for the afternoon, leaving a note with a contact name (Mr C.Lion) and a phone number (London zoo). He was not happy, we almost got sacked, but in the end he apologised for the remarks and got us some help from the manufacturer.

When we are given tools to achieve the results required, then we should use them, and that incudes all the functions that digital cameras have to help us achieve such results, even if that means checking the LCD screen on the back of Digital cameras for every exposure we make, a tool that we did not have the luxury of with film cameras, how many disappointing exposures were made, even by the pro's, because of the lack of such a tool?

Yes, these snobs annoy me to, as most are hypochrites, as when I go to air shows, there are thousands of photographers there and I would say a large percentage are of the "anti chimping" fraternity, but every time an aircraft does something they hope they have captured correctly, you can see ALL the lenses suddenly point towards the ground as they check their screens.

Sorry for the waffle
Kev

[RecurrentNerve]

Not quite Kev. Some say it comes from CHeck IMage Preview, others that it's just down to the hunched stance and 'ooo, ooo, aaah' sounds of the average chimper.

[autofocus]

If I'm not mistaken, shooting in camera B/W you will lose the color channels which are very useful in making really good black and white conversions. (I've never shot in B/W, always did the conversions afterward) Now I may be wrong on tihs assumption, but if I am correct you can go ahead and call me a "chimp," as I think this is the way to make the best black and whites.

[RecurrentNerve]

I'm afraid you are mistaken, but only in the sense that you have forgotten that the OP mentioned setting the camera to take RAW, which retains all the information the sensor gets for each shot, including of course the colour. The black and white is just an effect applied to the preview image.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by RecurrentNerve

I'm afraid you are mistaken, but only in the sense that you have forgotten that the OP mentioned setting the camera to take RAW, which retains all the information the sensor gets for each shot, including of course the colour. The black and white is just an effect applied to the preview image.

thanks for the correction..as I stated, I was not sure if that would be the case...however, if shot in JPEG, can I assume it would be?

[RecurrentNerve]

Not sure of the technical aspects in terms of losing the colour channels, but you often get very flat results with in-camera B&W modes. However, before I switched to RAW I took plenty of shots that way and was usually succesful in making them better in PP; but yes, you do have better control converting from colour.