leaving B&W film as color in photoshop

[AlanKlein]

That's what I was thinking, why not shoot B&W film if you want B&W photos, and color film if you want color photos? This seems to be reinventing the wheel or something, making it more work than it needs to be.

I have shot both color (Velvia 50) and BW Tmax 100. But I have converted the Velvia to BW just to see. With colors you have a lot of tonal changes you can make. With BW film you get what the film provides. I have no preference right now. I'm not even sure I care one way or the other. Just experimenting. I'm not printing in either case. So it's only for the internet at this time. Here's are some samples. Which tonal preference do you like leaving aside the composition.

Original Velvia 50 converted to BW in Lightroom
Stumps 2 by Alan Klein, on Flickr

Original Tmax 100
Stumps by Alan Klein, on Flickr

 

[limr]

The only reason I ever converted color film to black and white was the time I forgot to take the yellow filter off of the Zorki and ended up with a roll of yellow pictures.

I am also not sure why talk turned to starting with color film, as the OP has stated that he is shooting black and white film.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

I did spend some time adjusting the colors before converting to black an white. Yes there were some differences between simply desaturating and adjusting the curves. But as often happens, when I let the project rest a couple of days, I am not so sure my creative efforts are any better than the simple curve adjustments. I do know however being creative took a lot more tail chasing.

I will be the first to admit that those who enjoy working with post processing can do remarkable things and it is a great playground for those who like to tinker.

But I like to tinker with the mechanical side of my digital camera. Framing, focus, depth of field and occasionally, with film, color glass filters. I enjoy the tactile feel of adjusting the devices as opposed to typing and mouse moving.

The beauty of todays photography is one can chose the options they like to play with.