Monochromatic photos changing to color...

[PhotoWrangler]

I am confused as all get out. I visited New Orleans this weekend while I was home, and shot the D700 on monochromatic nearly all weekend. I'm uploading the photos into LR4 now.


They upload into the library as B&W images but as soon as I click on them they load in color.


When you shoot monochromatic, does it record in the data in color as well? Why is it loading in B&W and then changing to color?

 

[PixelRabbit]

Yep the image is recorded in colour and "filtered" to black and white preset, I often will shoot in black and white setting to make sure they are great candidates but never use the auto setting to do the actual conversion, I use Silver Effex Pro for that, you have way more control over the image that way IMHO .

 

[Dao]

Did you shoot in RAW format? The B&W in RAW may just be a selection in the photo profile that LR did not apply. (I could be wrong)

 

[PhotoWrangler]

Yes, all RAW.

 

[PixelRabbit]

Yep, it will default on the raw to colour, if you want to use LR4 to edit just choose Monochromatic and have at it!

 

[Big Mike]

A raw file isn't really even an image yet...part of processing a raw is the creating/rendering of the colors. So yes, you will always see your raw images show up in color.

And yes, converting to B&W in Lightroom is very easy, but it also gives you the ability to get about a million different looks for the converted image. So if your end goal is B&W images, it is best to shoot in raw and convert in software. I wouldn't recommend shooting B&W in jpeg, because your options would be very limited.

 

[PhotoWrangler]

So if your end goal is B&W images, it is best to shoot in raw and convert in software. I wouldn't recommend shooting B&W in jpeg, because your options would be very limited.

This is what I was afraid of. So the entire weekend, I would shoot one image in B&W and then switch the picture control to my custom color setting and shoot a color image. Both were shot in RAW. I didn't realize that once it got into LR it would be in color anyway.

This is the perfect scenario though because I can use the B&W preview in camera, and still have the benefit of color by creating a virtual copy in LR.

 

[Big Mike]

This is the perfect scenario though because I can use the B&W preview in camera, and still have the benefit of color by creating a virtual copy in LR.

That is the one benefit of shooting B&W in-camera.
In my portrait lighting class, I often recommend that students switch to monochrome (in raw) because it's usually easier to evaluate shadows with a B&W preview.