Color filters for for black and white digital.

Grandpa Ron · Jun 15, 2019

Recently I was reading and article about adding color filters to Black and White photos.

Without going to the cost of buying a filter kit, one could get a good idea of the filter effect in post processing. There were many examples of various filter effect which tweaked my interest.

Except for adjusting for exposure I am not fan of post processing, though I sometime think my "as shot" thinking, clouds my view. So I took a previously posted photo of a milk weed against a brick wall and added blue filtering to increase the contrast.

I have posted the original color photo, the black and white photo and the blue filtered photo. I am curious which of theses the you folks prefer. Like most photographic works there no right answer just reasoned opinions.

Color

B&W

Blue Flt.

Fred von den Berg · Jun 15, 2019

Of the two B&W I prefer the one without the filter. However, the colour photo is the nicest of the three to my eye.

480sparky · Jun 15, 2019

If you're shooting digital (especially raw), you don't need physical glass filters. The same effect colored glass filters had on monochrome film emulsions can be done in post.

vintagesnaps · Jun 15, 2019

The blue to me seems to have more contrast in the white against the brick which I like but the leaves and ground look a little odd (loss of detail? almost a yellowish tint to the lighter leaves?).

Shooting B&W film I sometimes use yellow or red filters but don't use them that often.I think if the blue filter blocks blue light rays then it's enhancing the reds and yellows; so with B&W film there would be no color and you probably wouldn't get a hint of almost yellow but would probably get different dark and light gray areas.

edit - I don't do much post either and don't find it limiting. Being a longtime film photographer I learned how to frame shots and get proper exposures etc. because you had to learn that and get good at it to not waste film. I don't need to do much 'post' with darkroom work either, depends on what it is. I usually shoot to get what I want in the picture.

Derrel · Jun 15, 2019

B&W _film_ (panchromatic) looks better in many situations with yellow, red, or orange filter over the taking lens.

"A filter tends to lighten its own color."

webestang64 · Jun 15, 2019

Derrel said:
B&W _film_ (panchromatic) looks better in many situations with yellow, red, or orange filter over the taking lens.

https://hoyafilterusa.com/how-filters-for-black-white-photography-work/

OldManJim · Jun 16, 2019

it's obvious to me that the 2 black and white shots are different. Not saying one is better than the other, just different. You might want to try a yellow, orange, or red filter and compare those results to what you can get with post processing. Might be challenging.

black pepper · Jun 16, 2019

there's a technique i often use to get b&w images from my raw files. i'll set the saturation slider to -100 and adjust the white balance until i get the tones i want. then give it some minor tweaks to the highlights, shadows, etc..

dxqcanada · Jun 16, 2019

I don't think you are trying to simulate colour filters with B&W film shooting, but I thought I would add this anyway ...

When dealing with filters on camera (FoC ... I just made that up) you need to look at their spectral transmission properties to see what wavelengths (colours) will be affected. If doing this in PP, you will need to adjust multiple colours to simulate the filter.
http://www.leefilters.com/images/pdf/Art_of_light_spectral_curves.pdf

Grandpa Ron · Jun 17, 2019

I must admit that my preferences are a bit old school, coupled with the question " What can I do with all these camera features I paid good money for. :1251:

More often than not I have made various "enhancements" to a photo only discard them in favor of my original "as shot" version a few days later.

Filters however seem to be a bit more intriguing and with digital post processing, offer a lot of room for tinkering. I suspect that like many especially things, less is more.

Thanks for the comments and information.

Soocom1 · Jun 17, 2019

Having played with the color filter settings in various cameras, i am still of the filter on lens crowd.

I know all this stuff over electronic mimicking, but you have to remember that B&W films were made differently and with diff. development times could pop or slop contrast.

Yes you can play with PS and do similar, but IMO analog is my fav. way to do things.

smoke665 · Jun 17, 2019

Lightroom's addition of "Profiles" made adding filters post as easy as scrolling over the effect, watching the image change and clicking on the one you want, then adjusting the opacity of the effect to suit. Lr came with several B&W Profiles but there's a ton of other free and paid ones out there you can download. Nice thing about Profiles is that unlike presets they have no effect on the sliders in the develop module.