b&w vs good b&w

[HaiBurner]

I am learning about black and white photography and would like to learn how to take good photos. It would help if you take a look at the following album and tell me which is the best photo and why. black and white - The Photography Network - PictureSocial
Thanks. Hopefully I will be able to lend a helping hand myself some day.

 

[Josh66]

Please post pictures... I went to your link, and no pictures are showing for me. I don't know if it's my computer or your gallery...

edit
I see them now...

 

[clanthar]

Hi,

All of your b&w photos are technically weak. They have one or another problem related to tone response. For example, here's the histogram for the photo you titled "wall."

It indicates severe tone compression. Since the graph does not reach the left corner or the right corner your photo then does not contain either black or white. That's generally considered a fault for b&w photos.

Your photos are listed as not OK to edit so I can't show you how to fix one. I can however show you what a good b&w photo looks like:

Take Care,
Joe

 

[ann]

how are you converting to black and white?

The images are very flat with neither white or black which has been discussed in the above response.

 

[KmH]

Which brings up the notion that with digital cameras, the image is initally made in full glorious color and then converted to B&W in post processing.

With film, B&W photos were pre-processed by adding colored filters to the lens, carefully choosing which film, choosing which chemicals to use to develope the negatives, the time, temperature, negative development canister agitation method, and finally choosing which paper to use for printing (as a control of contrast).

During print making, various techniques like dodging, and burning were used to fine tune the photo's density. Un-Sharp Mask, or USM, was also a darkroom technique.

Almost all of the film pre and post processing techniques are now done using image editing software.

Using the in-camera B&W mode doesn't offer enough control. Control of density and contrast is the 'holy grail' of B&W images.

Here is a B&W I made, followed by the original. Notice I used a blue gel on my light to make the photo I intended to convert to B&W. Using the blue gel ultimately gave me more control of the final image.

 

[timethief]

Thanks for sharing Keith.