Exposing for black and white

[Robclarke]

Is there a recommended way of exposing that suits images that are intended to be black and white? I find that if I just let the camera meter and then select the monochrome picture style in the canon software I usually need to darken it a bit so that there are some proper blacks in the image. If I don't do this I find everything looks a bit boring and gray.

I have recently started to use manual mode and underexpose a bit but it is rather hit and miss.

 

[HoppyUK]

Is there a recommended way of exposing that suits images that are intended to be black and white? I find that if I just let the camera meter and then select the monochrome picture style in the canon software I usually need to darken it a bit so that there are some proper blacks in the image. If I don't do this I find everything looks a bit boring and gray.

I have recently started to use manual mode and underexpose a bit but it is rather hit and miss.

Select monochrome picture style and then adjust the in-camera contrast and saturation levels.

 

[hunnymonster]

Surely it depends on the image having a sufficiently dark bit in to make a "real" black?

 

[HMansfield]

It all depends on subject matter, and your style. I've sometimes found that sometimes a black and white image suits underexposure by as much as 2 stops to get some real grit in there.

It does bode well to underexpose if you like high contrast images, as you can ramp up the contrast aafterwards and not blow out all the detail in the lighter areas.

Do you use filters at all? I'm a sucker for red or orange filters when shooting black and white.

 

[tdodd]

Rob, it appears you are shooting in raw. If it was me I'd be looking to obtain a "good" exposure that lost me no important data either in the shadows or highlights. I would also seek to expose to the right, in general, but sometimes it is not really necessary. Once I had a good, solid raw data capture I would worry about crafting the appearance of the photograph afterwards in software. If you want deep blacks then you can have them. If you want high contrast you can have it. If you want dazzling whites they are yours to command.

But the camera can only see what you place in front of it. If you want to stretch the dynamic range of the scene that's up to you. You could set the camera up to do it for you, but not all scenes need the same treatment as they do not all have the same dynamic range and you may not have the same creative intent for each one. If you shoot to JPEG and bake in dramatic tonal adjustments there is no going back afterwards. So stick with raw, capture your data well and then you keep your options wide open for what to do with the file.

If you find yourself applying the same adjustments over and over again then create and save a recipe which you can apply at any time. If your most common adjustment is to deepen the blacks then simply drag the left hand edge of the raw histogram towards the right and your shadows will darken without affecting the top end. You have control in DPP that you will never have within the camera alone, including applying different coloured filters in post to see which effect you like most.

 

[ernesto]

Agree, and the most common change I make (even to black and white OOC jpegs) is to drag the left hand edge of the histogram across. Varies between 3 and 9%.

This turns the photo into what I feel is a 'proper' black and white image. A lot of photos will be too grey with not enough black and white and adjusting contrast is not always what is needed as that can have other effects.

 

[gwelf]

I used to do all my own monochrome developing and printing and I always exposed for the shadows and left the highlights to look after themselves.

 

[Phil V]

I used to do all my own monochrome developing and printing and I always exposed for the shadows and left the highlights to look after themselves.

That's neat with negative film, where the highlights were holding the silver. But shooting digital is like shooting slide film, where you have a much narrower latitude and blown highlights are irrecoverable.

Shooting for b&w is no different to shooting for colour, get as much detail to the right as you can without blowing highlights. Then you can get your blacks back in post.

 

[kestral]

Is there a recommended way of exposing that suits images that are intended to be black and white? I find that if I just let the camera meter and then select the monochrome picture style in the canon software I usually need to darken it a bit so that there are some proper blacks in the image. If I don't do this I find everything looks a bit boring and gray.

I have recently started to use manual mode and underexpose a bit but it is rather hit and miss.

It seems you do not understand the basics of exposure(you are not alone).The meter on your camera thinks everything is 18% grey so if you point it at a white sheet of paper it will give an exposure reading so when the image is processed it looks 18% grey.If you point your camera at a Black sheet of paper it will give an exposure reading so when the image is processed it looks 18% grey.
So what you do is use manual setting on your camera and when photographing the white sheet of paper you over expose the meter reading by about 2 or 3 stops and when photographing the black sheet of paper you under expose the meter reading by2 or 3 stops.
It is a common mistake that people think light meters show the correct exposure, they do not they are calibrated to read everything as 18% grey.The zone system is the best source of mastering exposure.

 

[Noah_]

Just a tip, you get more tonal range in Black & White photographs if you shoot in colour before converting it during Post Production. Try not to shoot in the Monochrome picture style but RAW is always best :}

 

[HoppyUK]

Just a tip, you get more tonal range in Black & White photographs if you shoot in colour before converting it during Post Production. Try not to shoot in the Monochrome picture style but RAW is always best :}

Shoot Raw and post process for the best result, but switching the pictures styles to mono does not affect the Raw file, but gives you a fairly good mono image to reference while working.