Copenhagenliving Posted November 5, 2009 Share #1 Posted November 5, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'm new in digital black and white photography What is the best solution for black and white images? Using the camera's (M8) black / white settings, or by creating them in Aperture from a normal DNG "file"? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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cocker Posted November 5, 2009 Share #2 Posted November 5, 2009 I'm new in digital black and white photography What is the best solution for black and white images? Using the camera's (M8) black / white settings, or by creating them in Aperture from a normal DNG "file"? At least the latter. I would recommend Photoshop or Lightroom/Aperture Plug in from Alien skin or Nik Silver effex Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
viramati Posted November 5, 2009 Share #3 Posted November 5, 2009 I use Adobe LR 2.5 in conjunction with 'Silverefex pro'. I shoot in RAW and convert to B&W afterwards The Power of Black and White ----------------------- David Sampson Photography Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Printmaker Posted November 5, 2009 Share #4 Posted November 5, 2009 The M8 in camera B&W gives surprisingly good results. However, making your own conversions from the RAW files will give you much better control over the final image. While I've tried several black and white, the best of them being NIK's Silver Efex Pro, I settled on Camera Raw 5.0 with final tweaks in Photoshop CS4. It is a bit more work than clicking a button or two in Silver Efex, but I like having as much control over the image as possible. Of course everyone has their own style and preferences. The only way to know what will work best for you is to try a few free downloads and then buy the best. Tom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted November 6, 2009 Share #5 Posted November 6, 2009 Always RAW and convert for me (in LR). And, while it's obvious, to get results approaching my bw film/darkroom days, the entire workflow chain is critical...including proper use and choice of printer/driver/inks/papers and so forth. As others said, RAW preserves the most information to maximize the downstream processes. That said, results also depend on how big you print, or if you print at all. Best thing to do is experiment and decide what works for you. There are a lot of variables and choices...just like in the film days. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbarker13 Posted November 6, 2009 Share #6 Posted November 6, 2009 Huge fan of Silver Efex Pro. Do all my serious conversions with that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
4X5B&W Posted November 6, 2009 Share #7 Posted November 6, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Seems to me that the amount of adjustment from RAW changes from image to image, not to mention the mood the photographer is trying to create varies as well. For those reasons I suspect that using a B&W conversion program to get the look you want, might give a generic result. I personally prefer to individually adjust each image.......sort of like working in a darkroom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artorius Posted November 6, 2009 Share #8 Posted November 6, 2009 Seems to me that the amount of adjustment from RAW changes from image to image, not to mention the mood the photographer is trying to create varies as well. For those reasons I suspect that using a B&W conversion program to get the look you want, might give a generic result. I personally prefer to individually adjust each image.......sort of like working in a darkroom You can personalize any settings in SE-P. You can baseline a few B&W films and adjust to what you want, and save the settings you adjusted. The possibilities are limitless. You can't go wrong with this program for digital conversions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copenhagenliving Posted November 6, 2009 Author Share #9 Posted November 6, 2009 Thanks for the quick reply! I will download a demo version of Silver Efex Pro. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted November 6, 2009 Share #10 Posted November 6, 2009 You can personalize any settings in SE-P. You can baseline a few B&W films and adjust to what you want, and save the settings you adjusted. The possibilities are limitless. Exactly the same with Alien Skin Exposure. If you want to play around with toning in Photoshop, there's an excellent set of actions that can be downloaded for free here... Digital Darkroom @ The Light's Right Studio There's also an equivalent set of presets for Lightroom. There are a set of black and white conversion actions here... Digital Darkroom @ The Light's Right Studio You can see the full list of TLR actions here... http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/photoshop-tools.htm The list of Lightroom presets is here... http://www.thelightsright.com/view/LRPresets Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marquinius Posted November 7, 2009 Share #11 Posted November 7, 2009 All tools and presets will point you toward possible solutions, but in the end the real trick lays in understanding what is important to achieve that stunning result. I suggest you invest in one or two books. In any case shoot DNG (so full color) and never do it "in camera". If you're using Aperture, go to Amazon (or any other online bookstore) and look around for books combining Aperture and B&W processing. We've all been along this road and tried to do it without the books. But there is no instant superb B&W preset. Some will come close, but from good to great asks for some extra (virtual) sweat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest malland Posted November 7, 2009 Share #12 Posted November 7, 2009 ...I suggest you invest in one or two books. In any case shoot DNG (so full color) and never do it "in camera". If you're using Aperture, go to Amazon (or any other online bookstore) and look around for books combining Aperture and B&W processing. We've all been along this road and tried to do it without the books. But there is no instant superb B&W preset. Some will come close, but from good to great asks for some extra (virtual) sweat. Books were fine for darkroom printing but are usually out-of-date for computer software, including photo software. As other's have stated, Silver Efex Pro, a plugin that can be used with Aperture, Lightroom, and Photoshop, is in my view, the best way to go got B&W conversions. Look at the Silver Efex Pro training videos on the product website. But here's one hint: when you want to use Control Points for burning and dodging and the Control Point that you put down affects an area that you want to keep unchanged put down another Control Point in the latter area, and it will keep it from changing. The book that I would recommend for B&W printing is a book on darkroom printing: Amazon.com: Black & White: Photographic Printing Workshop (9781883403393): Larry Bartlett, Jon Tarrant: Books This book shows a series of straight work prints, and then shows step-by-step the contrast changes and burning and dodging that turns these into fine prints. This is highly relevant for either darkroom or digital printing. —Mitch/Pranburi Walks in Bangkok (GRD3) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbuckley Posted November 8, 2009 Share #13 Posted November 8, 2009 Here's a book/CD ROM on Silver Efex Pro dated 2009: Amazon.com: The Photographer's Guide to Silver Efex Pro - Digital Black and White Conversion Made Easy (eBook on CD-ROM) (9781615841448): Jason P. Odell Ph.D: Books And as others have said, Silver Efex Pro, which can work as a Lightroom plug-in, is easy to use and excellent. JB Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
epand56 Posted November 11, 2009 Share #14 Posted November 11, 2009 To convert my colour pictures to B&W I use the Gorman conversion method that works very good for me and leave me a great control over the image. You can find it here: Gorman-Holbert Conversion Method It is a method you have to perform on Photoshop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
digger1914 Posted November 11, 2009 Share #15 Posted November 11, 2009 Yet another vote for Silver Efex Pro here. Worth every cent! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
microview Posted November 11, 2009 Share #16 Posted November 11, 2009 To convert my colour pictures to B&W I use the Gorman conversion method. I was tempted to set this out but the OP was an Aperture user. The method is rather nice, unless you really want all those spurious 'film grain' overlays at which SilverEfex excels. As you said, 'It is a method you have to perform in Photoshop'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psamson Posted November 11, 2009 Share #17 Posted November 11, 2009 John B, have you purchased or seen the book on Silver Efex Pro? If yes, any comments on it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptarmigan Posted November 17, 2009 Share #18 Posted November 17, 2009 I like SilverEFX also but I am currently using a number of trick recommended by Scott Kelby with PS CS4: Try using the B&W conversion in Camera Raw and tweak the sliders Try using: image|calculations - try different blending options and filter combinations - soft light can be good Try Gradiant Map adjustment layers Try B&W adjustment layer I find no one means of conversion works in all circumstances nor with all images. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_R Posted November 17, 2009 Share #19 Posted November 17, 2009 Has anybody tried TrueGrain. I just looked at there website, it looks interesting. Cheers Chris R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted November 17, 2009 Share #20 Posted November 17, 2009 John, I just ordered the Odell "book." Thanks for the tip. I have silver FX-pro and like what it does, but there's some stuff in there that I'd like to learn about and their docs aren't what I need. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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