I KEEP MAKING THIS BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY MISTAKE 

Hope your feeling better mate, always good to self critique and i agree with you when it comes to mono having a true black point and a true white point really helps, if the image is all mid tone it has no impact. All the best mate take care !

It was so reassuring watching this! I compose and shoot in monochrome, but almost every shot that I like enough to edit seems to go through two or three revisions, over a week or two, before I settle on something. It’s almost always the same ‘ringing out’ Goldilocks pattern: the first edit is either too much or not enough of something, the second edit over-compensates in the other direction, and the third edit gets it right. I’m glad it’s not just me…

First, this is the first I have viewed your work and I will be lurking around now. Second, my experience in photography is admittedly limited as it was in the military. But while working with students learning the processes I was always asked if the print was good. My answer was always "Does it look the way you wanted it to look? If so, it's good. If not change it to make it your intention of the image you wanted." The final assessment is up to the viewer or client. If they like it, It's good because the most important opinion is that of the client. If it is to suit you, you are the client. Do to the image that makes you happiest, solarization included. Experiment. Explore. Learn. Mostly, enjoy.

Glad to hear that you are feeling better Ralph. I agree with your points on this video. Bnw is a totally different mindset but I think that they are much more powerful than colour images in the right circumstances.

I wouldn’t call this a mistake but a learning opportunity so thanks for sharing you experiences. For me, switching the camera to B&W when at the site helps me work out the contrast when taking the image. As you begin to compose your scene in B&W through the camera it will become easier to NOTICE contrast in our color world. If the contrast needs a little push to get the ‘pop’ I want, I can adjust further for contrast using exposure compensation. I HATE spending hours editing on the computer, I try to get my shot in camera and then just adjust and crop as necessary after downloading them. I try not spend more than 5 minutes on an image. Using this process has improved the quality of the images I capture in B&W as well as color. Thanks for the great content, looking forward to the next one, cheers!

With monochromes it runs deeper than just converting from colour. When you shoot and print mono images using film and wet chemistry, a lot of preparation happens in camera and it’s about producing a good workable negative. Flat light would mean exposing the negative as if the film is 2/3 of a stop faster. Contrasty light expose as if the film is 2/3 of a stop slower. This effect is achieved on digital files by adjusting the tone curve away from linearity. We would use lens filters with film to decrease the sensitivity of the film to particular colours. Digitally the BW colour luminance on a number of different colours can be adjusted up and down. Then we might use several different multi-grade filters and exposures in the printing to adjust local exposure and contrast. Digitally we could use masks to create those local adjustments. That same image could be done in so many different ways because it has simple and strong leading lines. I’d love to see a high-key silvery luminance applied to it. It needs more experimentation. Desaturate the colour version.

I like the photo in colour but it 100% looks better in black and white. I see what you mean about flatness, the contrast really makes it pop. I like your subtleties but you've seen some of mine, I like the outrageous haha but 100% love love the black and white 👌 great video. Have liked 👍

Glad you're feeling better and interesting subject on black & white photography and like your process. Many thanks for sharing your work and process - look forward to your next video back outside.

Can I offer a different view? For my taste the colour and contrast in the original colour shot are a bit overheated, and I very much prefer your first attempt at the black and white version. It is so easy to end up with an ‘over-processed’ look (taken to extremes we end up with HDR shots, which mostly look awful). So I think you should have invoked the rule of halves! Just my view. But I like the style of the video.

I think, that for us who have started photographing in the film era, most of b&w images nowadays look over contrasty. It has gone stronger and stronger all the time, and I’m not shure if that it is a good thing. Shure some photos need it, but I believe that most b&w photos could have a little less.

Nice video Ralph, and you are right about the contrast in the photos in fact I checked some of my old captures in black and white and increased the contrast which made all the difference to the image. So thank you for that and I hope you are feeling better. 👌

Great video I must go back and review my B&W and see how a bit more contrast will look , thanks for sharing . Pete Western Australia

A good video and explanations. The second mono works so much better than the first… I suppose the answer is to get Leica or Hasselblad to sponsor you to the tune of a Leica M 10 Monochrome and an M10 or Hasselblad X2D with two backs ( and a set for me please!), one colour and the other the mono. That way you can expose for each style up front and not have to think about converting the images. Maybe the cheaper option is to convert both individually from Raw, making any necessary adjustments along the way. Seeing in B&W - yes if you can it helps… I was fortunate being brought up on film and then at the School of Photography you only did B&W for the first year - no matter your expertise, and the head of the school when I arrived believed colour was only for snapshots (but he did modernise by getting three ordinary Rolleiflexes, plus one tele and one wide, a Hasselblad Superwide plus a Leica M3 sw kit and a Pentax Spotmatic to go with the vast number of Sinar 9x12s). One digital bonus is that applying colour filters can be achieved in processing and you no longer have to carry these around with you.

Interesting Ralph, yes i agree with you b&w works better with high contrast and gentle adjustments work better in colour but you need to be careful either way. Please dont rush to get your vlogs out as we respect you as a photographer that we look up to and learn from, have a great week and get better soon

I wrestle with this all the time. Should a bnw image have the full range of tones from black through the greys to white? Or, should it be a more polarized image like your second edit where there is strong contrast and mostly black and white standing out to the eye. I think it depends upon the subject and the goal for the image. But, it's usually pretty obvious which is nicer to the eye. Thanks for the video. Have a great weekend.

Hi Ralph, yes I think you are right, black and white dose need a little more contrast as you are only working with shades of grey, interesting to see what you have done, hope are starting to feel better. Have a good week.

Great advice for sure ! I really like the adjusted image ! It has more impact too

I enjoyed your video and your comments about the errors you made with your b&w. As photographers I think at times we aren't as introspective with our work as we should be. Yes photography as well as any art form is subjective. But being introspective with our own work helps us to grow as artists and to learn new techniques. Thank you again, you've given my much to think about. Which is always a good thing.

Thank you for your thoughtful, introspectively honest commentary! Subscribed.

Hi Ralph i hope you are feeling better. i enjoyed this reflective video. As you say black and white can take more contrast. I tend to use a zone system plugin in photoshop to tweak the individual tones as well. the plugin I use is based on the Ansel Adams zone system. I also do my black and white conversion using silver Efex.

Your comments struck a chord with me. You have kindly commented on some of my monochrome images on fb. Thank you. I used to over saturate my colour images but am now producing much more subtle edits of landscapes. However, when processing for monochrome, I often go much more aggressive with contrast, colour contrast and saturation before making the conversion to monochrome. IMO the key to successful mono images is separation. Colour images have natural separation (usually) but mono images lack this 'channel of information'. When you get down to it, a photograph stands or falls on the amount of information it communicates. This is why large format images have such appeal. So crafting a monochrome image means taking much more care over visualising the image when composing and understanding how you can get separation and contrast in your editing skills. Many photographers don't understand this and I often see 'monochrome' images without any true blacks or whites which for me just don't appeal. I have followed an Spanish photographer for some time who produces some beautiful monochromes often with large areas of very dark silhouette. He loves to shoot in foggy or very rainy weather in the flattest light you can imagine but his processing is beautiful. One technique I have copied is how he applies vignettes and graduated shading to draw the eye into the image. The example image you show is much stronger in monochrome and I prefer the higher contrast. I would have been tempted to apply a vignette but that's just my style. I think I have a few years advantage on you and cut my teeth on monochrome film. I think many who take up this passion would do well to concentrate on monochrome to begin with. I have waffled long enough. Glad to hear you are on the mend and can get back to making vlogs. Thank you.

Interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to more of your content.

Hi Ralph - love your processing vids - way beyond my skills so I learn from them and you get some awesome images.

Nice work mate, I'm a heavy contrast fan be it colour or mono. Black and white definitely benefits from harder contrast. I've just started a bit of infrared I know it's not to every ones taste but I can't get enough of it, at my advancing years I'm like a pup with a new ball. Get well soon mate get the vitamin D topped up.

Colour to Back and White ... just hit the sliders hard! Or if the image is not right hit the HDR....that's a good confession Ralph, it looked OK to me. I think I a had better check some of my black n whites out! Thank you Ralph that's give me something to think about...

Have you thought about making a 'Preset' then adjusting from that for the finer details?

Great video Ralph. 👍👍