B&W with the M8

OK, I have three digital cameras, and I spent too much time trying to get a B&W image out of them. BUT when I was doing it, after 12 different methods that I tried, this is what I came up with:

Down load 'Photo-Plugins.com' B&W converter (free on the WWW) .

Use it to get your images as good as you want.

Then convert to B&W.

Check levels.

Use unsharp mask at 20-50-0 to pop the image a little, (as all digital images have a linear H-D curve, so you have to add something to make them not look like s........)

Now save and spend the next hour tweaking it.

OR use film.
 
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here's a recent one from yesterday.
leica m8
canon 0.95
processed in aperture.
enjoy.
the dj's name is daedalus.
Wicker Park Festival.
Chicago, IL
 
kuzano said:
A good friend, art history professor retired and SW photographer in large format (4X5) reluctantly took up Digital to supplement his work a couple of years ago.

We got into a discussion about Black and White capture. For years he has shot black and white on film and developed his art by hand tinting with pastels.

I asked him (since he has used b&w film for so many years), whether he shoots his Canon digital SLR in black and white. His answer.... "why would I drive to a site, set up, shoot, pack up and drive home with less information than was visible in the viewfinder of the camera?"

He has never considered black and white capture with his digital, after all those years of shooting Black and White film.

And another part of the story... he was delighted with the digital process for a while, but has shelved the Canon and is now back shooting medium and large format film.
Click to expand...
Did his viewfinder show B&W when he shot film then?😕🙄
 
well, i think we "look through a difference lens" when we want to shoot b&w...

i'm surviving on PS b&w conversion of my raw images. but having seen gabriel's pics, i think i should really think about investing in the B&W Convert Pro plug-in...
 
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I'll put in a vote for Nik Silver Efex Pro. This example from Saturday:

U1632I1217200665.SEQ.0.jpg


Evil Sony A350 Minolta 70-210 F4 (aka Beercan).

The key advantages of the Nik converter are (i) highlight and shadow protection, and (ii) extremely simple and intuitive dodging and burning, including contrast and 'clarity' adjustments (called 'structure' by Nik).

Best I have found so far for BW conversions.

Cheers,
Kirk
 
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this shot was converted to b&w in PS, i would be interested to download the silver efex pro trail to see how the turns out from that.
 
I use photoshop convert to black and white layer, then adjust contrast to suit, dodge and burn a little using curves and layer overlays, and voila, a black and white image. I really look forward to the day I can do this all in a darkroom.
 
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