I've been looking at some of the great BW shots of the people I follow, and thought I would like to take a crack at it too. So I was wondering, and forgive my ignorance, do you simply gray scale the image in your software? Or is there some sort of setting on the camera itself. I don't seem to have anything like that on my D50.
If it is the simply software, is there a tone that you prefer? Or is it simply try till you like? I've got Film types, lens filter, tone, and lightness in my DigiKam software.
Not sure about Nikons, but for Canons it's under 'Picture Style'. I often use the sepia toning effect within the monochrone detailed settings. I prefer to do b&w in camera b/c I think it does a better job than me doing it later.
@bobg Because I'm slightly crazy I am convinced that when I set my camera to take B&W it does a better job than when I post process as B&W. Since I don't have a Canon I don't know if this is an option you have. That said; if I change it to B&W with software I usually increase the contrast and saturation first then change it to B&W. In fact I might try a lot of different things then convert to B&W to see how each one looks, but an increase in contrast and saturation seems to feel comfortable to me. That landscape that you were good enough to fav was tone mapped in Photomatix before being converted to B&W.
On my gf Nikon she can change a shot to B&W after she takes the shot on her camera...but apparently you can change it to B&W as you're shooting. She just can't seem to remember how...
I prefer to shot in B&W w/ my camera. Only resorting to B&W if the colors suck after taking a picture...
I do both, in camera or post processing, depending on how lazy I'm feeling that particular day. Here's an example of one that I shot on the monochrome setting. So no editing afterwards, and if I recall correctly, I had the filter effect set to "none" and the toning effect set to "purple" (I was reading my manual and it said purple toning effect works well for portraiture:
There are many ways to convert to B&W, but IMO your best bet is to take the shot in color with your camera, and convert it to B&W with whatever software you are using. Most in-camera B&W conversions are pretty lackluster, and you'll most likely edit it after anyway. Take it in color and you always have the option to go either way. Plus, a lot of software will allow you to adjust the color settings of the original image to effect the B&W conversion.
As fas as software options - this is a huge topic with many books written on it :) Photoshop is probably the most common and powerful, but it also comes with a steep learning curve and price tag. I personally use Lightroom 3 and Nik Software's SIlver Efex Pro 2 plugin. This is an amazing combination, but also comes with a fairly steep learning curve (though I think much less so than Photoshop as Lightroom is much more intuitive for a photographer). Both of these are available on a trial basis.
I'm not familiar with the DigiKam software that you are using, but it probably has some B&W conversion options. I think you'll find that a straight convert-to-grayscale option will give you a pretty flat image. At the very least you will likely want to increase the contrast.
As you can see this is quite a large topic, but tons of fun once you dive into it. There is just so much you can do with B&W, and each color photo can become an seemingly infinite number of different B&W images. I guess the most important thing is to just experiment. That's the best way to learn.
I know the second one looks somewhat sepia, but it's actually black and white with the contrast and temperature turned waaaay up on picnik. I'll leave it to you to decide which one you think does a better job, but I do like the sharpness and clarity of in-camera B&W's
@bobg I've just checked both Nikons abd they have different labels in the camera menu...In the D40X the B&W is under the OPTIMISE IMAGE menu and in the D90 it's under the SET PICTURE CONTROL menu. Hope this helps.
depends on what I take a picture with. Ususally picasa and rarely the bw setting. If it is on my iphone I use Iris which has several bw filter options.
I always take the picture in color. You can desaturate the image in Photoshop. But if you take the image in B&W, you can never regain the color. I work with digitizing materials from our special collections in our library and the "best practice" is always to digitize in color for the master image and then manipulate it (as a copy) to adjust it to another output (B&W).
OK with the price of film today (cheap) and a great 35mm camera and lens... I say shoot BW film... NO digital camera under 10K does what 100ISO film does... now if you want to get crazy! Pick up some TechPan film... I cannot even scan the stuff... no computer monitor shows that many shades of grey!
Silver Efex is great too... $199 or so... great software if I didn't convince you to get wet in a dark room?
I never do it in camera with digital. In Photoshop I just go to "Desaturate" to make my black and white. Now with film... yes, I do it "in camera." LOL... ok, bad film snob joke... I'll move along now :P
There are two things you never want to do when creating a digital B&W photo: never use the camera's setting, and never just point-and-click a grayscale option.
Think about it: both of those methods are letting a computer tell you what to do. Are you really going to spend $900 on a digital camera and lens combo and then let a computer decide how your photos should look?
That's like checking the weather each morning before you decide whether or not to grab your umbrella: rarely works, but you're really happy when it does.
I always shoot the photo in full color so I have complete control later. And when I render in B&W, I actually use a pretty intense process. I have written action scripts in Photoshop that do about half the work for me, but I also use Selective Color and Gradient Maps to finish off some of the work.
So, anyone who is interested, I'll make you a deal: keep your eyes open for a few days, and give me time to write a tutorial. I've been meaning to write one on Digital B&W Photography for awhile now, so I'll let this thread spur me along.
Believe me: this is no simple topic. When I first became interested in digital B&W photography I spent weeks scouring the internet for solutions. I found at least 15 different methods for rending in B&W from as easy as desaturating to as complex as a 10-minute process per photo. I will write a great tutorial that will show you all the methods, plus the one I use. You will see a difference, and once you see how the same photo looks when rendered 15 different ways you can decide for yourself which you would rather use.
I use an action in photoshop called make it snappy (by paint the moon) i find its pretty effective most of the time combined with a few other techniques :)
Constant is the overall brightness of the image, you can add and subtract from each channel to get the look you want, be warned it can get very time consuming if you let it...
Alternatively, bring the image up on your screen and scream at it, call it horrible things and keep screaming like you've been cast in to the pits of hell, it'll turn black and white...
I don't know if I've ever used the black and white setting on my camera. I would rather take the photo and decide later what I'm going to do with it. @jasonbarnetteLooking forward to seeing a b&w in lots of different ways...should be interesting!
@bobg ~ Just in case you want to use the K.I.S.S. method before turning pro, I might as well admit that I almost always take a colour version of something that I first shot in b&w. So I have the in-camera b&w version and the colour version to use if I change my mind later. Not the best method if the subject doesn't stay put though!
@swilde ~ I'm slightly crazy too. @celticmystyc ~ About the colours sucking thing...me too.
I do the conversion to B&W usually with Photoshop using the Image - adjustments - channel mixer like @killerjackalope, clicking the monochrome brush and applying usually an orange filter.
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you could add a black and white gradient to your photo and get better results than just putting it in grayscale.
I prefer to shot in B&W w/ my camera. Only resorting to B&W if the colors suck after taking a picture...
Open image in photoshop click > image> adjustment> BLACK & WHITE> Auto then click "OK"
then click image again > adjustments > levels > auto, then "OK"
then click image again > adjustment > BRIGHTNESS/ CONTRAST
As fas as software options - this is a huge topic with many books written on it :) Photoshop is probably the most common and powerful, but it also comes with a steep learning curve and price tag. I personally use Lightroom 3 and Nik Software's SIlver Efex Pro 2 plugin. This is an amazing combination, but also comes with a fairly steep learning curve (though I think much less so than Photoshop as Lightroom is much more intuitive for a photographer). Both of these are available on a trial basis.
I'm not familiar with the DigiKam software that you are using, but it probably has some B&W conversion options. I think you'll find that a straight convert-to-grayscale option will give you a pretty flat image. At the very least you will likely want to increase the contrast.
As you can see this is quite a large topic, but tons of fun once you dive into it. There is just so much you can do with B&W, and each color photo can become an seemingly infinite number of different B&W images. I guess the most important thing is to just experiment. That's the best way to learn.
I know the second one looks somewhat sepia, but it's actually black and white with the contrast and temperature turned waaaay up on picnik. I'll leave it to you to decide which one you think does a better job, but I do like the sharpness and clarity of in-camera B&W's
Silver Efex is great too... $199 or so... great software if I didn't convince you to get wet in a dark room?
Think about it: both of those methods are letting a computer tell you what to do. Are you really going to spend $900 on a digital camera and lens combo and then let a computer decide how your photos should look?
That's like checking the weather each morning before you decide whether or not to grab your umbrella: rarely works, but you're really happy when it does.
I always shoot the photo in full color so I have complete control later. And when I render in B&W, I actually use a pretty intense process. I have written action scripts in Photoshop that do about half the work for me, but I also use Selective Color and Gradient Maps to finish off some of the work.
So, anyone who is interested, I'll make you a deal: keep your eyes open for a few days, and give me time to write a tutorial. I've been meaning to write one on Digital B&W Photography for awhile now, so I'll let this thread spur me along.
Believe me: this is no simple topic. When I first became interested in digital B&W photography I spent weeks scouring the internet for solutions. I found at least 15 different methods for rending in B&W from as easy as desaturating to as complex as a 10-minute process per photo. I will write a great tutorial that will show you all the methods, plus the one I use. You will see a difference, and once you see how the same photo looks when rendered 15 different ways you can decide for yourself which you would rather use.
@jasonbarnette @hmgphotos @icywarm @smithss_27106 @brumbe @swilde @pwallis @fallingwaters @gavincci @celticmystyc @jgoldrup @sweett @preston
In photoshop that is, tick the monochrome box...
Constant is the overall brightness of the image, you can add and subtract from each channel to get the look you want, be warned it can get very time consuming if you let it...
Alternatively, bring the image up on your screen and scream at it, call it horrible things and keep screaming like you've been cast in to the pits of hell, it'll turn black and white...
@jasonbarnetteLooking forward to seeing a b&w in lots of different ways...should be interesting!
@swilde ~ I'm slightly crazy too.
@celticmystyc ~ About the colours sucking thing...me too.
Just checking in here to see if you completed your tutorial J?! Did I miss a new thread?