Why do you shoot B&W??

Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:59 am

This is more aimed at the digital shooters out there...

I'm guilty of this myself, but B&W images seem to be more and more popular. It kind of amazes me, considering the colour renditioning of todays cameras, that so many people opt to "shoot" monochrome images. So my question is this, why do you shoot B&W?

To answer my own question, it's because I started my SLR photography after doing a tutorial on the Zone VII system. I learned about exposure in terms of light/dark and that's heavily influenced my photography up until this very day. As such, when I look at a scene, I'm usually colour blind - I'm just looking at tones all the way from light through to dark.

So, what about you?

Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 28 Location: New York, NY

Although I love color, I believe that a b&w photo shows the real emotion in a photo. Color can be very distracting sometimes. Strip some images from color and what you have is the very essence of it.

I just bought my first DSLR, so I am still playing with it. I can't wait to start working with b&w again.

Great topic. Let's see what others have to say about it.

Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 3:45 pm

On a conscious level, I shoot b&w whenever I think that there are details that would be masked by colour. For example, I think stained glass windows look amazing in b&w, perhaps even better than in colour.

In some scenes, vibrant colour (blue sky, green grass) can dominate a scene to the extent that some other details (textures, contours, shapes) are drowned out.

And consider this: we have both colour and b&w (sort of) vision receptors- rods and cones. I think our brains associate monochrome with low light, low acuity, and wide / peripheral vision, and all the various circumstances that this implies. So I think there is a trained psychological response that we have to b&w or desaturated imagery. I think there is a very real psychological issue at play here- our brains aren't used to seeing vibrant colour in low light situations. So if we see a monochrome image, perhaps the brain associates the scene very literally with a dreamy, low-light environment.

Another more mundane reason why I like to shoot b&w: I can work with the film from cradle to grave in a few simple steps. I especially like being able to make my own b&w enlargements the traditional way on fiber.

And a technical reason to shoot b&w: effective images even at really high ISO. Somehow the grain seems less an issue in b&w; perhaps this is again related to the psychological issue I mentioned.

:) keithwms

Premium Member Joined: 29 Oct 2004 Posts: 5758

Why is it an either/or? They are a different aesthetic. It's like arranging a piece for string quartet as opposed to full orchestra. You notice and exploit different things.

I think B+W allows you to show off shape and texture in a way that's lost in color, and by exploiting the tension between black and white you can really add drama to a picture.

That said, a rainbow will usually be more successful in color. The sun setting over the red slickrock of the desert southwest is something that is just majestic in color. There are scenes whose importance simply could never be conveyed with out color.

Premium Member Joined: 17 May 2005 Posts: 950

ciaranwhyte wrote:

It kind of amazes me, considering the colour renditioning of todays cameras, that so many people opt to "shoot" monochrome images.

Is this true??? . . . or are more people posting conversions. As I see it, most people "with digital" are shooting in color and converting to B&W. If it looks good then they post that version.

Joined: 12 Jun 2006 Posts: 27 Location: New York City

I see and live my life in color.
I figured why not give it a rest when it comes to photography?
I have color images I'm proud of, but I do my best to devote my eyes to a colorless world. If I can find beauty, feelings, and shapes in B&W images, then that's all my eyes really need.

I enjoy looking at any image. Color or no color.

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:46 pm

OblivionBlue69 wrote:

I enjoy looking at any image. Color or no color.

Well then, welcome to the forum!

:) keithwms

Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:21 am

DannL wrote:

Is this true??? . . . or are more people posting conversions. As I see it, most people "with digital" are shooting in color and converting to B&W. If it looks good then they post that version.

I find that there are a group of true B&W shooters like myself who enjoy it for the art it is but at the same time I do believe that to most people B&W is a quick fix. Too many people “convert” because their picture didn't look good so they thought lets try B&W. To really shoot in black and white you need to “see” in b&w, you need to see the tones before hand, you need to see how the composition and tones will interplay.

Why do I shoot B&W? Easy, the print! Nothing looks better to me then a well printed B&W photograph. I have very little interest in shooting color (except for clients work) in fact I subscribe to magazines that are only about B&W.

Joined: 12 Jun 2006 Posts: 27 Location: New York City

I agree that you can't use B&W as a quick fix.
If that's the case, it will become a cheap effect in the hands of people who don't understand "Why Black and White."

I stay away from that frame of mind by taking all of my pictures in B&W.
If my eyes fail me, I try it again until I see some form of expression. Some form of art.

If I'm supposed to take pictures of my friends, they always tell me "No B&W, Rob." That doesn't offend me. They just take colorless images for granted.

Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 62 Location: 70802

While we're on the topic, do dslr cameras have a black and white mode, or do you just desaturate the image once it's in Photoshop?

Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 6:11 pm

trey138 wrote:

While we're on the topic, do dslr cameras have a black and white mode, or do you just desaturate the image once it's in Photoshop?

A lot of dslr's come now with a B&W mode when shooting JPG. But my guess is most people, including myself, convert to B&W in Photoshop. However, I'd strongly recommend other methods than simply desaturate. A forum member here, drpablo has given a very good tutorial on B&W conversion using the channel mixer. It can be found here

http://phototakers.com/forum/ftopic37649.html&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

There are other methods, but channel mixer is probably one of the more popular effective ones.

Joined: 09 Sep 2006 Posts: 114 Location: Boston, MA

this is the formula I use when converting color to Black and white.

http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/pdfs/phs8bwconversion.pdf#search=%22black%20and%20white%20conversion%22

I normally shoot 2.25 and 4x5 black and white film..but occasionally I shoot my digital files with the purpose of converting.

Some things just need to be shown in tones of grey, just as some things...like a sunset need to be shown in color.

Color can be very emotional so I think the comment earlier that color doesnt show emotion as well is off. My work is very dark, very primal....black and white lends itself to my personal work in showing the grit and grime of my private world better than color does.. though I do shoot Both color and B/W for personal projects.

Joined: 15 Sep 2005 Posts: 109 Location: Womelsdorf, Pa

No computer screen turning on will ever match the moment when an image appears in the developer. To hold a fiber based print made entirely by you has such satisfaction, that no manner of digital technology could take away.

....that and the fact that my girlfriend says I smell like pickles when I come home from developing. (she likes pickles)

(edit-spelling)

Joined: 27 Aug 2005 Posts: 389 Location: Sydney, Australia

I'm colour blind - pretty much the original reason. I like BW because I see what everyone else sees plus I think colour is a distraction. From then on I just learned about it so began to like it more.

Really want to build a darkroom somehow but I'll have to wait till I leave home.