Monochrome/Black and White JPGs

zorbo

zorbo

Messages
280
Name
john
Edit My Images
Yes
Just wondering if there are many photographers like me with same interest in shooting soley B+W images .
Although i have been taking photographs for many years with breaks in between ,i have never got the hang of all the image editing on the puter.
Years ago i got the latest versions of editing software as they came out and tried most of them,but i was never happy sitting in front of a puter manipulating an image and the price nowdays does not justify itself to my way of photography.Bluntly they are way too expensive and too much manipulation and to me that is not enjoyment.
I have now gone over to MFT and come to the decision of shooting almost all of the time in B+W and in JPGs. I still ocasionally use an old PS 5 programme and Nik software and thats it.
This is not to start a drawn out thread on software issues ,but interested in any of the methods used in B+W photography. Thank you
 
The vast majority of my photography is B+W. When using a digital camera I use RAW and convert in PS because I can and don't mind.

If I didn't want to convert I would be very happy with the jpegs from my Fuji.
 
If you only let the camera desaturate the color jpgs your results will be much less than they could be if you created them in post from the original color data (more generic/flat). The same is generally true of using any "once click" type of conversion/edit.
 
In the good old days, there were two approaches to photography. My father used Kodacolor, took the films to Boots for developing and was happy with the 6 x 4 results. I used bulk film, developed my own films and had a dismantleable darkroom in my bedroom and printed my own. I also was happy with the 10 x 8 results.

In the bad new days, there are two approaches to photography. Bestbeloved uses her phone to take Jpegs and looks at them on the phone screen and is happy with the results. I use a dedicated camera, take Raw photos, process them on the computer and print them on A3 paper. I also am happy with the results.

If you are happy with the results of whatever it is you do, then that is an excellent process. I have always been a technical person and enjoy technical processes for their own sake, most people are not (and do not).


To add to the above, I also use my old film cameras and all the faffing that entails. I enjoy the cameras, the developing and the results. Mostly in monochrome.
 
In the days when I shot B&W film I used filters all the time to "improve" the picture. Yellow, Red, Green and occasionally Orange, however I had to wait for the print to see the result. Nowadays I can shoot in colour, de-saturate on the computer and choose whatever colour filter I want.
It is your choice but it is possible to do software editing whilst only using a couple of adjustments, you do not have to use all of them.
 
I cannot comment on film shooting ,never having done any. But i have always loved the old type photographs and as said many times they are timeless.
Having just moved to MFT from canon FF i am trying to sort of replicate the older style of photographs that i like. It is a steep learning curve ,for me anyway but very enjoyable.
With my new Olympus there are scores of different functions to learn and am now shooting in monochrome JPGs and find the quality excellent. So any help or tips would be great .
I am mainly trying to focus on landscapes/seascapes and not really tried any street or archtecture but i do like old derelict buildings. Thank you for commenting.
 
zorbo said:
I cannot comment on film shooting ,never having done any. But i have always loved the old type photographs and as said many times they are timeless.
Having just moved to MFT from canon FF i am trying to sort of replicate the older style of photographs that i like. It is a steep learning curve ,for me anyway but very enjoyable.
With my new Olympus there are scores of different functions to learn and am now shooting in monochrome JPGs and find the quality excellent. So any help or tips would be great .
I am mainly trying to focus on landscapes/seascapes and not really tried any street or archtecture but i do like old derelict buildings. Thank you for commenting.
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Although I shoot digitally in colour, my output is predominantly black and white. I know that my camera will save both a raw file and a black and white JPEG if I want it to - and I’ve tried it - but I don’t see the point personally as for me the raw file is the starting point for work in Lightroom / Photoshop / etc, in the same way that a negative was in the darkroom. I want to see and interpret the scene that was captured my way, and not the cameras way as that doesn’t know how I want the scene to look. If you like black and whites of derelict buildings then have a look at my website www.mechanicallandscapes.com as that’s what I do a lot of!
 
Just had a quick peek of your website and i will definatly be looking at it in depth this next couple of days..At first glance i love your type of work. Thank you.
 
I love B & W too. Use RAW and Nik software. Use to have a Oly and loved some of the filters in camera. I do like the moody, grainy type stuff particularly around street photos and architecture
 
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viewfromthenorth said:
Although I shoot digitally in colour, my output is predominantly black and white. I know that my camera will save both a raw file and a black and white JPEG if I want it to - and I’ve tried it - but I don’t see the point personally as for me the raw file is the starting point for work in Lightroom / Photoshop / etc, in the same way that a negative was in the darkroom. I want to see and interpret the scene that was captured my way, and not the cameras way as that doesn’t know how I want the scene to look. If you like black and whites of derelict buildings then have a look at my website www.mechanicallandscapes.com as that’s what I do a lot of!
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This, really, though I don't have the excellent body of work that VFTN does.

Very few classic images were ever straight out of camera, and likely most had extensive work in the darkroom by highly skilled workers who followed the photographer's instructions. It's really worth the effort and discipline of post processing, especially mono that requires more intelligent and purposeful input than colour often does.
 
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