| » Forum Index » Problems and solutions » Topic: Black and white versus desaturated colour photos? |
|
Posted on 13/07/06 9:17:30 PM |
|
ben
* Posts: 18 Reply  |
Black and white versus desaturated colour photos?
Hi all, wondering if anyone has any advice on this. If you taka colour photo with a digital camera, then desaturate it (or make greyscale), do you end up with the equivalent as if you'd taken the photo in black and white on the camera? The reason I ask is I'm wondering if taking in black and white adds anything (i.e. improved contrast) I can't achieve through manipulating a colour photo in Photoshop. The coloured photos have more digital information alone due to the need to store RGB info, but anything added to the B&W luminance-wise? Thanks. Sorry if not relevant to the forum! |
Posted on 14/07/06 04:52:20 AM |
|
PHOTOSLOPPER
* Posts: 25 Reply |
Re: Black and white versus desaturated colour photos?
Ben, I can't quote you any "facts" about anything being "added to the B&W luminance-wise" when you take photos in RGB as opposed to taking them in black-and-white...but I can give you my opinion on what I think you're asking about: First, how good a job your camera might do taking a photo in black-and-white as opposed to taking the same shot in RGB would depend upon the capabilities of the particular camera model you own. Some cameras would do a better job on this than others. But that doesn't really matter. I would recommend you forget about the "black-and-white" mode on your camera and shoot everything in RGB. You want to collect as much data as possible while shooting your photos...and shooting in a "black-and-white" mode means lots of data will be ignored by your camera. Not a good thing. I say you should get as much data as you can, shooting in RGB *and* in RAW mode if possible, and then get your shot into Photoshop where the photos in RGB have far better chances of being manipulated into a beautiful black-and-white photograph than any picture shot using a camera's "black-and-white" mode. Then...and I don't know if you're just using the term "desaturate" loosely, but...when you want to convert your RGB shot into a black-and-white shot, do *not* use the "Desaturate" command. And don't convert using the "Grayscale" choice (Image > Mode > Grayscale). These methods are fast, but usually don't give the best black-and-white conversion. Better to use the Channel Mixer (Image > Adjustments > Channel Mixer), or tinker with an individual RGB channel, or an LAB channel...then convert to grayscale mode, and make more adjustments. Just as they say, you can never be too rich or too thin, I think you can never have too much data. You can always toss out what you don't need while you're making your conversions, and that's a far better choice than letting the camera toss out what it thinks is unnecessary before you even get started. Plus...what if some day you wish you had color versions of those shots you took in black-and-white? Outta luck... *PHOTOSLOPPER* _________________ Proud owner of "The Book." |
Posted on 14/07/06 06:17:26 AM |
|
Wayne
Printer’s Devil Posts: 312 Reply  |
Re: Black and white versus desaturated colour photos?
I would agree with everything Photoslopper says. I would also add, when converting to b+w using the channel mixer, use a channel mixer adjustment layer so you can alter the settings time and time again without destroying any of your original pixels. The channel mixer may take some practice. Wayne |
Posted on 14/07/06 08:52:05 AM |
|
Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7047 Reply  |
Re: Black and white versus desaturated colour photos?
Personally, I favour a different method: set the foreground and background colours to the default black and white, then make a new Gradient Map adjustment layer. This gives a good strong greyscale effect, without changing the mode of the image. |
Posted on 14/07/06 09:41:05 AM |
|
ben
* Posts: 18 Reply |
Re: Black and white versus desaturated colour photos?
Thanks everyone! |
Posted on 14/07/06 2:53:33 PM |
|
Wayne
Printer’s Devil Posts: 312 Reply |
Re: Black and white versus desaturated colour photos?
Steve, I've never come across any mention of that method. I'll put that to one side for future reference, thanks. |
Posted on 15/07/06 02:09:06 AM |
|
PHOTOSLOPPER
* Posts: 25 Reply |
Re: Black and white versus desaturated colour photos?
Steve, Did you make that one up? Looks like a *great* method. I just tried it out and looking forward to using it on some real stuff! Thanks... *PHOTOSLOPPER* _________________ Photoshop: Proving every day that real work can also be real fun. |