Black and white

Black and white photography was the norm up until the introduction of colour film in 1960s and 1970s.  However, with the birth of digital photography and the endless possibilities that can be created in digital software, black and white has made a comeback recently.

The main difference between shooting in black and white film and digitally is that the eye has to translate the colour scene in front of it to black and white.  This had to happen at the moment of shooting or preparing for a shoot when using film.

Digital images are shot in colour and converted to black and white in post using software like Photoshop or Lightroom.  This leaves modern digital shooters with the problem of having to visually train themselves to be able to 'think' in black and white.  I have found this easy for some scenes but those high contrast and those with a busy composition are harder to see.

To convert images to black and white, software enables you to manipulate the RGB channels to fine tune the tones.

Why choose black and white?
Without colour the eye has to focus on the other qualities in the image.  These qualities can be referred to as the language of black and white photography and include the graphic qualities of proportion, texture, lines and form.

In looking at images that would be suitable for a black and white conversion we look for lines, shape and volume.  In Stephen Shore's book The Nature of Photographs he writes about colour and how it expands a photo's palette and adds a new descriptive level.  It also brings what he calls transparency to the image as colour is what we see with our eyes, not black and white.

So without colour images are dominated by tones and Ansel Adams Zone System sets out the 10 tonal zones for the ideal image.  Many photographers believe his system to be outdated in this digital age but I believe it still has relevance to today.  I have been reading Adams' book The Negative and I have found it very useful when considering black and white imagery.

This is the checklist that was provided in my course notes and I think it is very useful to have to hand when thinking about the differences in colour to black and white.

Black and white
Contrast
Key
Geometry
Volume
Texture
Colour into tone

Colour
Colour effect of exposure
Colour style
Colour relationship
Colour intensity

Exercise: Interpretative processing

This exercise looks at personal taste instead of simply focussing on getting the image'right'.  Getting your image correct is a means of optimising the image whereby the image has no clipping in the highlights or the shadows and has a full range of contrast.  However this is not a rule and sometimes you can look at personal taste and how you would like your image to look.

This exercise focuses on processing an image to give different interpretations of the original shot - interpretations that are instinctively yours.  

This is the image I chose in its original state. I chose this image as I felt the subject matter and composition would offer interesting possibilities when it came to interpretations.  

Original

I experimented a lot with the presets in Lightroom and did some soft focus effects in Photoshop.  

These are the best images:

Creamtone

High Contrast

Duotone

Slightly bleached colour

Soft focus

My favourite images are creamtone, Duotone and the Slightly bleached colour.Creamtone and Duotone make the subject more prominent in the shot.  

Exercise: Managing colour

The aim of this exercise is to learn how to correct colour casts.  I had to find a couple of images that have a significant colour cast and correct it for both JPEG sand Raw.  One of these images has to include a surface that is known to be grey.  This can be a pavement, concrete, steel, clouds etc.

I will use Lightroom for this exercise.

Image with a grey object

Original image taken on a platform at Canary Wharf tube station.  There is significant colour cast from the fluorescent lighting.

JPEG

I adjusted the exposure in this image to open up the dark areas and used the grey dropper in Lightroom to sample the grey.  I chose an are of steel above the doorways to the trains.  I think a more realistic colour balance has been achieved as the original image had a yellow tinge to it.  

Raw

I adjusted the exposure in this image too and reduced the blacks.  I simply changed the preset to Fluorescent to adjust the white balance.  The yellowish hue has been reduced.  And the colour looks realistic.

Image 2: 

There is a blue hue in this image that make it look unrealistic and unnatural.  There is also very little grey.  

JPEG

I adjusted the exposure for this shot to brighten up the detail in the towers.  

I used the grey dropper to alter the white balance which I used gangway in the left under the tower.  The overall bluish hue has been reduced and the image looks more natural. 

Raw

I adjusted the exposure for this shot and used the grey dropper to adjust the white balance.  I played around with the presets but I didn't feel any of the looked natural.  I think it is best to custom your own white balance either by adjusting the sliders or using the grey dropper when the presets don't give the desired results. 

Exercise: Managing tone

This exercise looks at managing the tone in an image by setting the black and white points, adjusting midtones/brightness/contrast and any other local adjustments.

I have to do this to the JPEG image and the raw image and compare the two.

JPEG

I set he black and white points and then adjusted the midtones slightly.  I adjusted the exposure by -0.30.  I also cropped the image to remove distracting objects in the corners of the image.

Raw

With the raw image I set the black and white points, I adjusted the contrast to +30 (+5) and the brightness to +43 (-7).
I cropped the image to remove distracting objects in the corners and made local adjustments using the brush tool to the jackets the people were wearing to bring out more of the detail.

I experimented with the tone curve and found that any adjustments made the contrast using this tool would have to be very subtle.

From this exercise, I learnt how to optimise and make adjustments to JPEGs.  I usually only do this level of adjustments to raw files.

I think that the raw conversion is slightly better than the JPEG but this may not be down to the file format and the conversion alone but also to the fact that I am more comfortable working with Raw images.

Monitor calibration

I recently bought a new monitor as the one I had was too small and wasn't suitable for editing images.

In addition to purchasing the monitor I invested in a ColorMunki (Display) in order to calibrate my monitor more effectively.  

It is pretty straightforward to use once you install the software you simply follow the instructions on screen, measure the ambient light in the room and hang the Colormunki over your screen and it does the rest.  

I have to say I wasn't pleased with the results initially and after doing some research on Google I discovered that I needed to make some adjustments to the screen that I hadn't already done like changing the mode to AdobeRGB instead of leaving it as standard.  

When I ran the procedure again there was a vast improvement.  

I have noticed that the brightness of the screen is darker.  However the colours are clearer and more realistic.  However, I would have to say that I haven't noticed a huge difference like some users report.  Maybe that is because my monitor is new.  

The ColorMunki is set to measure the ambient light in the room every 60mins and adjust the monitor accordingly.  

I will be getting some prints of the images I will be submitting for my next assignment and I am hoping that that will give me a better idea of how beneficial the ColorMunki is.  

Optimising tone and colour

When we optimise tone and colour we make basic adjustments to our images.  These adjustments are usually quite small but they can make a big difference to the end result.

Looking at an image you shot on your computer screen opens your eyes to little problem areas that you may not have seen on the back of your camera when you took the shot.  For starters it is difficult to see any real colour cast on the LCD screen on your camera when in direct sunlight.  It is also hard to see the true effect of the shadow area in an image.

When you look at your images on your computer screen using software like Lightroom or Photoshop you can also use their tools to measure brightness, contrast and colour.

You should optimise your images as part of your editing workflow.  I started optimising my images a few years back when I started shooting in raw.  However, I found it a steep learning curve in knowing what minor adjustments to make.  For example, until I started this course I rarely considered adjusting the white balance.
I tended to focus on exposure, contrast and clarity to add some punch to my images.  Occasionally I would add some fill light or adjust the blacks slider.

My course notes suggest the following as a workflow for optimisation:

• Set the contrast range
• Adjust the brightness
• Remove any overall unwanted colour cast
• Make sure that whites and blacks are not tinged with colour

It is also important that your monitor is calibrated when looking at your images.  

Exercise: Raw

For this exercise I had to look at the advantages of processing raw images.  To do this I needed to compare the raw images I would convert to what the camera would produce using its own processor.  I set my camera to capture both Raw and JPEG (highest quality) and took 3 images.  I usually shoot Raw and JPEG (basic).

Daylight

JPEG file

When shooting the image I set the white balance to Daylight and shot in aperture mode.  I did not need to adjust the exposure.  

Raw file

I made the following adjustments to the raw file

• I under-exposed by -0.41 to bring out more colour in the sky and the water
• I adjusted the brightness slider to +29
• I adjusted the tone curve by +9 for the highlights and +8 for the Darks. 
• I added a sharpening overlay and set the camera mode to Camera Standard

Artificial light

Raw file

I made the following adjustments to the raw file

• I increased exposure by +0.5
• I adjusted the Blacks slider to 3
• I altered the white balance to get a more realistic lighting for the interior
• I altered the tone curve by +17 for highlights, +16 for lights and -15 for darks. 

JPEG file

I shot using Auto white balance but I further adjusted the colour in Lightroom using the grey dropper.