Shooting B&W

Invicta

Invicta

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Kevin
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Being a newbie and still finding that B&W seem to draw me in I wondered is it best just to shoot as normal and then convert to b&w , also any other tips to enhance the images would be great.

Kevin
 
Always found it best to shoot in colour and then convert in post, that way you're in control of the process rather than the camera. One thing I do is to shoot in raw but set the camera settings to B&W. This gives you the B&W image on the LCD screen on the back of your camera but you still have the colour image to convert your self when you upload them to your computer.
 
Invicta said:
Being a newbie and still finding that B&W seem to draw me in I wondered is it best just to shoot as normal and then convert to b&w , also any other tips to enhance the images would be great.

Kevin
Click to expand...

I would say always shoot in colour, and then convert to black and white later if you want. With all the processing tools available these days this really is the best way.
 
If you shoot in Raw it makes no difference. You can change the scene mode/creative style later.

I do use my cameras B&W style, as I find it handy to see a rough approximation in-cam whilst shooting. When processing in DxO, it reverts to the standard style, but I can re-select the cameras own styles, or use those of other cameras if I wish.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I was along the lines of shooting in colour but was curious to what others did.
 
Shoot in colour, always aim for the method that gives the most flexibility.
 
on my D7000 i choose B+W mode in camera, they appear in black and white on the camera but as soon as i import them to lightroom they're in colour :lol: :thinking:
 
andy1868 said:
on my D7000 i choose B+W mode in camera, they appear in black and white on the camera but as soon as i import them to lightroom they're in colour :lol: :thinking:
Click to expand...

As far as I'm aware if you're shooting RAW, the RAW image will always be saved as colour even if shooting in B&W. If you were shooting jpeg the image in Light Room would be B&W.
 
danprice said:
As far as I'm aware if you're shooting RAW, the RAW image will always be saved as colour even if shooting in B&W. If you were shooting jpeg the image in Light Room would be B&W.
Click to expand...

That's right. What you see on the back of your camera is a jpeg, whether you are shooting in raw or not. The raw file, by it's very nature, contains all the information and will always be in colour.
 
Shoot Raw and JPEG.

There is actually a lot of control for adjusting b&w JPEG images in-camera - filter effects, contrast, toning - see handbook. They will give you an excellent working reference, perhaps good enough for final output.

Or you can do anything you like with the Raw.

Edit: you can also use coloured filters with digital in the same way as with film, and in theory you should get better results that way. The difference being, when you attach a filter, you increase the exposure to compensate but if you recreate the effect in processing you have to compensate the exposure by increasing gain, and that runs the risk of noise. However, it impacts the Raw too!
 
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