Photographers and B&W

I really hate it when I quote myself......... but I have such clever comments. :biglaugh:
 
Indeed you do!
 
Well that was quite revealing...

B&W can be easier and it can be harder. It's a great tool for teaching texture, shading, composition, form, and exposure.


That's my opinion anyway. ;)
 
Last edited:
Bifurcator said:
Well that was quite revealing...

B&W can be easier and it can be harder. It's a great tool for teaching texture, shading, composition, form, and exposure.


That's my opinion anyway. ;)
Click to expand...

Now that is a good reply to this thread.
 
B&W film was always so much fun to me. I used to spend endless hours just playing in my darkroom- I miss those days. I like the fact that you can do so many neat things so easily in your B&W darkroom. Here's one of my old solarized prints:

alatoonadamj.jpg
 
Bifurcator said:
Well that was quite revealing...

B&W can be easier and it can be harder. It's a great tool for teaching texture, shading, composition, form, and exposure.


That's my opinion anyway. ;)
Click to expand...

Thank you for that info. I saw the difference in lighting in the flower image. The burnt out brightness. So in black and white you can tell who knows there stuff. I looked at your last set of images but I didn't see anything bad about them... Am I suppose to?
 
I'd like to shoot more BW and even get into true monochrome. Alpha does have a point that these discussions end up going it circles but, It ain't as bad as the classic fildidgi crap :lol: I have not chased after all them links Bifurcator provided, prolly won't, so I have no Idea what's behind them but I have my own POV on the subject at hand.

Contrary to popular belief BW has a different set of rules making it both easier and harder at the same time as Bifurcator gave insight to. In my time here I have seen a number of occations (even done it my self a couple times) where some one is thinking Color Photo during composition and converting in post. More often than not these image meet with the cut copy reply of "It'd look better in color", not because of lighting or texture but the overall theme and thought process of the scene.

You really have to think about the final image in both color and BW when you lift the camera to your face. If you shoot a BW scene with color film thinking of it as a BW scene at the time of the shot, chances are likely that a conversion will work provided you have a good BW eye. That said, a skilled BW photographer can take a BW photograph with color film/settings and display it as BW with out converting it. I've done this twice almost three times (Though I have tried more than that, it ain't easy).

To answer the original question "Can you get away with bad lighting in black and white?" No. Knowing how to use lighting is equally a must for both. You can however hide bad color combinations and color compositions, but it's not a sure thing as some grey tones still clash and create unnecessary contrast drawing the eye of the viewer away from its intended destination, some scenes just need the color to truely be represented.

Here is one of my conversions. During this shot, there where several factors pointing me to the conclution I should shoot for a BW. I looked and saw that peskey neon sign in all it's pink and blue glory, unnaturally vivid color on the vehicle as well as several clashing and very distracting colors including (but not limited to) reds, greens and yellows. I sat and waited untill it just creamed BW and took the shot and then to converted to lessen the apparence of the sign and negate the color deboggle.

In reguard to the overall lighting, It was shot under mid day sun. if I had shot it under any other light this photo would have faild miserably had it been color or BW. The overall lighting did not play factor in this convertion at all.


For those of you looking to improve your conversions, forget Photoshop. Ignore the concept thet you even have it. Think BW when you shoot it, compose for BW from the get go. You will see a marked improvment in your conversions in just that alone.
 
Yemme said:
Can you get away with bad lighting in black and white?
Click to expand...

No, bad lighting makes bad photos. But I do think BW can handle a wider range of different lighting than color does. For instance high contrast lighting that might not look good with color, may look fine in BW. Fluorescent lighting sucks in color, but in BW there's no problem.

Yemme said:
Are some photographers doing B&W to camouflage their lack of skill in lighting? Or is it the other way around…
Click to expand...

Possibly. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and they use all sorts of tricks to emphasize the strengths and hide the weaknesses. In the end the photo is either good or it's not. Master photographers have made plenty of lousy photographs.

Yemme said:
Are B&W images easier …what’s your view?
Click to expand...

It's photography, how could it get any easier? Even before Eastman introduced film 120 years ago, which made it so easy anyone could be a photographer, it was considered too easy to be art. ;)

Everyone has their own tastes. Whether color or BW making a photograph that has significance is difficult for most folks, and success really has very little to do with the gear, materials, and processes used.
 
Battou said:
I'd like to shoot more BW and even get into true monochrome. Alpha does have a point that these discussions end up going it circles but, It ain't as bad as the classic fildidgi crap :lol: I have not chased after all them links Bifurcator provided, prolly won't, so I have no Idea what's behind them but I have my own POV on the subject at hand.

Contrary to popular belief BW has a different set of rules making it both easier and harder at the same time as Bifurcator gave insight to. In my time here I have seen a number of occations (even done it my self a couple times) where some one is thinking Color Photo during composition and converting in post. More often than not these image meet with the cut copy reply of "It'd look better in color", not because of lighting or texture but the overall theme and thought process of the scene.

You really have to think about the final image in both color and BW when you lift the camera to your face. If you shoot a BW scene with color film thinking of it as a BW scene at the time of the shot, chances are likely that a conversion will work provided you have a good BW eye. That said, a skilled BW photographer can take a BW photograph with color film/settings and display it as BW with out converting it. I've done this twice almost three times (Though I have tried more than that, it ain't easy).

To answer the original question "Can you get away with bad lighting in black and white?" No. Knowing how to use lighting is equally a must for both. You can however hide bad color combinations and color compositions, but it's not a sure thing as some grey tones still clash and create unnecessary contrast drawing the eye of the viewer away from its intended destination, some scenes just need the color to truely be represented.

Here is one of my conversions. During this shot, there where several factors pointing me to the conclution I should shoot for a BW. I looked and saw that peskey neon sign in all it's pink and blue glory, unnaturally vivid color on the vehicle as well as several clashing and very distracting colors including (but not limited to) reds, greens and yellows. I sat and waited untill it just creamed BW and took the shot and then to converted to lessen the apparence of the sign and negate the color deboggle.

In reguard to the overall lighting, It was shot under mid day sun. if I had shot it under any other light this photo would have faild miserably had it been color or BW. The overall lighting did not play factor in this convertion at all.


For those of you looking to improve your conversions, forget Photoshop. Ignore the concept thet you even have it. Think BW when you shoot it, compose for BW from the get go. You will see a marked improvment in your conversions in just that alone.
Click to expand...

I see what you mean in your image. That sign would have dated the image. Great image by the way. I know that in architectural photography there’s a lot of waiting for the right light. I guess that’s in every shot… Thanks.
 
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