LeicaBraz Posted June 23, 2011 Share #1 Posted June 23, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) What is the recommended way to get B&W photographs from digital? Do I just shoot B&W JPGs? Or go for DNG and then desaturate or use Silver Efex (or other)? Tks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 23, 2011 Posted June 23, 2011 Hi LeicaBraz, Take a look here B&W. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
erl Posted June 23, 2011 Share #2 Posted June 23, 2011 It's a bit like, 'how do you make a cup of tea?' Should you use milk, sugar, lemon juice, etc. You will need to try the 'flavour' for yourself, but it's a good idea to favour a process that gives you control over the different channels, as opposed to an instant conversion method. Personally I favour C1's 'B&W' conversion because the variations available significantly change the output according to my mood or taste. I think PS has a similar facility but I rarely use it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted June 23, 2011 Share #3 Posted June 23, 2011 You should use .dng and then either Photoshop/Lightroom or ideally Silver Efex Pro or similar. The advantage of Silver Efex (etc) is that while the majority of the controls you get are available in Photoshop (one way or another) it is only via very long winded and complicated workflow's with multiple layers and masks. Efex makes it all very easy. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted June 23, 2011 Share #4 Posted June 23, 2011 What Steve said - though I use Alien Skin Exposure. It's about consistency and speed for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_d Posted June 23, 2011 Share #5 Posted June 23, 2011 Shooting BW JPEG will only give you an 8 bit file with little control of the image after it is taken. By shooting in DNG and converting you get a 16 bit file giving you more gray values, more control after the capture, and the option to use color if you want. Don't desaturate the color, convert to BW using software. I convert in Lightroom but there are others as mentioned. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrewer Posted June 23, 2011 Share #6 Posted June 23, 2011 I really like Alien Skin exposure as Steve pointed out above In a pinch I'll do a conversion in Photoshop from RGB to grayscale, then back; then a colorized hue/saturation layer that I adjust to whatever hue I want I've also used the USM maxed out on the grayscale layer to get some really unique halo-effects and sketch-effects at times Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted June 23, 2011 Share #7 Posted June 23, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) There are some free actions for LR and PS that aren't too bad I'll post a link when I get home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sm23221 Posted June 23, 2011 Share #8 Posted June 23, 2011 Shoot RAW, use Silver Efex Pro to convert and save as tiff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xmas Posted June 23, 2011 Share #9 Posted June 23, 2011 Shoot RAW, use Silver Efex Pro to convert and save as tiff. Naaaa buy an M2, Y0 filter and a tea shirt, 'Ive got a M9 as well' or 'My other body is an M9' use Ilford XP2 (or the Fuji or Kodak C41) Noel P.S. the Y0 is for cloud graduation Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter H Posted June 23, 2011 Share #10 Posted June 23, 2011 Whatever processing method you choose, you must start with a dng for the best results. The differences between dng and jpeg will be even more pronounced and obvious in B&W than they are with colour, in my experience. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sblitz Posted June 23, 2011 Share #11 Posted June 23, 2011 start with dng. i use capture one and usually add color saturation as well fool around with the white balance and then convert to b&w and slide the filter slides to create the desired effect. repeat with different mix as often as you would like until you get what you are looking for. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted June 23, 2011 Share #12 Posted June 23, 2011 There are some free actions for LR and PS that aren't too bad I'll post a link when I get home. Here's the link. If you look around the site there are also some toning actions, and actions for Lightroom. http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/TLRB&WConversion.htm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edmond_terakopian Posted June 25, 2011 Share #13 Posted June 25, 2011 What is the recommended way to get B&W photographs from digital? Do I just shoot B&W JPGs? Or go for DNG and then desaturate or use Silver Efex (or other)?Tks My preferred workflow is to shoot RAW, process the image in Aperture and then use Silver Efex Pro 2 for the B&W work. You may find this useful; there's a mixture of colour and B&W work: http://photothisandthat.co.uk/2011/06/14/my-workflow-using-aperture-and-nik-software-plugins/ Edmond Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Allsopp Posted June 25, 2011 Share #14 Posted June 25, 2011 Correct processing is critical and that depends on the subject matter and the mood you wish to convey. It's a long road - enjoy the journey. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKeithR Posted June 26, 2011 Share #15 Posted June 26, 2011 Or you could buy yourself a Digilux 2 and shoot in-camera B&W jpegs. Hard to find anything nicer and it's a lot easier. Most people tend to get carried away when it comes to B&W processing and unless you plan to print fairly large it's a lot of unnecessary work. Best to experiment and decide what works for you but start with the simple processes first... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted June 26, 2011 Share #16 Posted June 26, 2011 Or, for that matter, buy an M9 and shoot B&W or Sepia! (To hell with the cost ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.