How to spot a fake B&W?

[rfosness88]

I noticed flea77 called out bluemary in the thread "http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photography-beginners-forum-photo-gallery/161828-constructive-criticism-my-photography-style.html". flea77 spotted bluemary's B&W photos as fakes assuming that means they were shot in color and converted to B&W during post.

How do can you tell/whats the advantage of shooting in B&W?



Thanks

 

[ann]

you would have to ask the poster about fake b&w.

perhaps they like black and white film better than a digital conversion.

some cameras will allow one to use a black and white function, but they tend to be too flat and there are "better " ways to convert the color to black and white with post processing.

 

[Dwig]

There is no such thing as a "fake" B&W image. The world is in color and we perceive it in color, so in a sense any B&W image is a conversion from color, whether digital or film. There is no "real" vs. "fake" method of conversion in the film world, the digital world, or in hybrid systems.

With digital, there is no way to shoot a B&W image with any general purpose camera. If a digital camera can shoot color it can only shoot color, period. Any B&W images taken with digtal cameras are conversions from the original sensor's RAW color data. Cameras that offer a B&W "shooting mode" are merely offering to do the color-to-B&W conversion in their inbuilt RAW-to-JPEG conversion before saving or simple to do the conversion on the fly for previewing and tagging the saved RAW file so that the manufactures computer based RAW convert will default to a B&W conversion.

 

[Marc Kurth]

As if it matters.

 

[AlexColeman]

There is no such thing as fake black and whites.

 

[Sherman Banks]

As if it matters.

Exactly! It's more of a photosnob remark acting as if digital black and whites are inferior to film. In the end, who cares what it was taken with, a good photo is a good photo.

 

[rfosness88]

oh ok, was flea77 referring to a digital B&W as fake, compared to a film B&W?

 

[rufus5150]

As if it matters.

+1

Reminds me of those people who think the need to examine the exif to determine the artistic merit of a photo.

 

[BTilson]

Well depending on how you look at it, ALL black and whites are fake, since the world we live in is in color. Again, not that it matters though.

 

[Marc Kurth]

.

 

[MikeBcos]

+1

Reminds me of those people who think the need to examine the exif to determine the artistic merit of a photo.

Yes, those who see the word "auto" anywhere in the exif and proceed to tear the image and photographer apart.

Black and white is black and white, I shoot B&W film but I'll also happily convert a colour digital image, the end result is all that matters.

 

[TheMightyGoat]

Exactly! It's more of a photosnob remark acting as if digital black and whites are inferior to film. In the end, who cares what it was taken with, a good photo is a good photo.

This is true.

 

[Torus34]

Actually, color film has always existed but the world itself was, until recently, just b&w. At one point in time the world changed from b&w to color. That, curiously, coincided precisely with Kodak introducing a film with the name of Kodachrome(r). Films from that time on showed the world in color because then it was in color, excepting only those films which were changed to produce a b&w instead of a color print. That change also occurred when the world changed from b&w to color. The change was made to accomodate those people who were used to looking at a b&w world and wanted to continue to do so. ;-))

 

[abraxas]

Actually, color film has always existed but the world itself was, until recently, just b&w. At one point in time the world changed from b&w to color. That, curiously, coincided precisely with Kodak introducing a film with the name of Kodachrome(r). Films from that time on showed the world in color because then it was in color, excepting only those films which were changed to produce a b&w instead of a color print. That change also occurred when the world changed from b&w to color. The change was made to accomodate those people who were used to looking at a b&w world and wanted to continue to do so. ;-))

And apparently your Momma can take it all away...

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the worlds a sunny day, oh yeah
I got a nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama dont take my kodachrome away

 

[DavidElliot]

Actually, color film has always existed but the world itself was, until recently, just b&w. At one point in time the world changed from b&w to color. That, curiously, coincided precisely with Kodak introducing a film with the name of Kodachrome(r). Films from that time on showed the world in color because then it was in color, excepting only those films which were changed to produce a b&w instead of a color print. That change also occurred when the world changed from b&w to color. The change was made to accomodate those people who were used to looking at a b&w world and wanted to continue to do so. ;-))

this reminds me of a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip where the dad explains it in a similar fashion. sort of.