Starting with B&W film back in the 70's and 80's and returning to B&W a couple years ago (now digital) I like this video with a couple of comments 🙂 1. sunrise/sunset can make great B&W images, but they do require a different approach in the digital darkroom. 2. The color mixer in LR can really help separate tones on those images with very similar colors and most of time will generate very nice contrast. 3. And thanks for NOT saying this "convert a bad color image to B&W". I get so frustrated with this one, if it's a bad image...color or B&W it won't matter, you still have to have all the elements. I like B&W because it takes the "emotion" of color and removes it, relying instead on the composition, subject, and most importantly the light.
Excellent tips so thanks! One thing I took away from your photos is that even the examples of when NOT to convert to B&W still looked awesome. Looking forward to your other videos. I find that photography in the forest is the most challenging subject matter. Mine forest shots all look boring but granted, catching the forest on a foggy day is no simple task for the hobby photographer.
Great video Toma, I only convert when the colour is a distraction or detracting from the image. I do like going out and only shooting black and white square format often, I feel like it opens up more opportunities for photos if I’m not feeling very inspired.
Having a hard time with premise of this list. We choose BW because it suits our way of seeing, or our way of showing with images. Not because it maximizes or improves the scene over color somehow. A good BW image and good color image can come from the same subjects, the same scenes. These are not mutually exclusive ways of photographing the world. The one actual mistake most photographer make about BW is deciding to ‘convert’ at all. Instead they need to decide to ‘make’ a BW image up front. When you’re making BW images everything you do and see is in relation to how BW suits your vision or your story. Photogs who want to shoot great BW need to stop adopting a ‘conversion’ mindset in the first place and just go out to make BW images from the start. I realize you still need to actually convert the raw to BW in technical terms, but in practice you’ll be looking the world in BW as you compose and that makes all the difference IMO.
I agree with the whole list and think the examples are excellent. As Tom mentioned, B&W is optional and should be deliberate. This is especially true when you wait until post to make the decision. B&W should always look better. If not, refrain. Ideally, though, the decision happens way earlier in the process. You see some light and think, B&W. Then work the scene from inspiration to exposure to post as B&W. I hope in the next video Tom shares his thoughts on when to use B&W and tips for recognizing it.
@@kenshipley2417 BW should definitely be deliberate, that's part of what I was getting at. Tom seems to be saying in part, "convert to BW if the color image is not optimal, otherwise color is better". Or as you put it "B&W should always look better" (then the color image would have I assume). This misses the point of BW enterily, for me at least. When I shoot BW it’s because I want the viewer to see something different from what color shows, not something inherently better. Something color can't show or obscures. It is not a zero-sum game. BW and and color are not opposite ends of a image value scale, they are fundamentally different ways of seeing the world and they convey completely different emotions and narratives.
You have the right to have your own opinions on the subject. I, personally think that converting an image from color to BW should be made only to improve the final image. But if someone decides that all his photos will be in BW, no matter the light in front of him, then he has the right to do so. In this video I wanted to show some examples when I think that the BW version of those images is less interesting than the color version.
It's just a matter of taste. That is why photography is beautiful. We can both be right or wrong. I'm lucky enough to do this, as a job, from 2009 ... so, I guess there are a lot of other people who appreciate my photos and the way I think about photography
I thought of including more examples in the following video that has the actual tips. In this one I just wanted to point out some situations when, in my opinion, is not worth converting the image to BW
I'm definitely not a photographer, but when I see a good BW image the thought of color never even crosses my mind. That image at 3:20 for example (the forest and lake) was a great BW image for my taste. I feel that the photographer has full control of this situation, since the viewer of the photograph will never receive this "deleted" information that is in the colors. If BW is good enough to transmit emotions, then the photo is great and the information lost in color is moot. On the flipside the BW is also bringing new information in the form of more accentuated contrasts for example. TL;DR In my opinion the FOMO of color is in the photographers mind, not the viewer's.
All you used for "proof" of when not to convert were simple desaturations, hardly an honest effort to produce a good B&W. It looks more like you have a bias than actually representing this with full creativity.
