I read this trick in one of the photography magazines, and it's a great idea!
There's always a debate on whether it's better to shoot in color and convert to black and white in post-processing, or to shoot in black and white in camera.
Both reasons make sense:
Converting in post allows you to fine tune the process, adjust levels that sort of thing. While the in camera conversions have gotten a lot better, most folks would probably conceed that doing the conversion in Photoshop or some other program gives you better control.
Shooting in black and white has its own advantages. It's hard to visualize what a color scene will look like in black and white. You can have two distinctly different colors, such as red and green, which have similiar luminance and thus almost blend together in grey scale. Unless you've got lots of experience, spotting those problems while shooting is tough. So you're better off shooting in greyscale so you can see the results.
So, which one should you choose?
How about "Option 'C' - All of the above".
Yes, you can shoot in both black and white and color, at least with many advanced DSLRs. How do you do that? You set the camera to save both RAW files and high quality jpgs. Most cameras offer the option of saving both a raw file and a jpg. You can also choose the resolution of the jpg file, from a small file best suited to preview, to a larger, full resolution image.
Now, here's the part that most folks never think about. When you shoot with RAW + jpg, the raw file will always be in color. Even if you have the camera set to shoot in jpg, the raw file is still in color. (That's the whole definition of 'raw', it simply records those pixels, it doesn't do anything to them...)
So, you set the camera to shoot in greyscale, and your jpgs will be greyscale, as will the previews you see. You'll have a great idea of what you're getting when you shoot, and can have instant feedback on what your image will look like in black and white. Also, you no longer have to do any post-processing to get B&W images, they're already done.
See an image that you wish was in color, or one that needs just that extra bit of tweaking in Photoshop? No problem, load up the raw image and all the color data is there. You can do whatever you need to do with the raw file.
So, now you can shoot both color and black and white at the same time!
There's always a debate on whether it's better to shoot in color and convert to black and white in post-processing, or to shoot in black and white in camera.
Both reasons make sense:
Converting in post allows you to fine tune the process, adjust levels that sort of thing. While the in camera conversions have gotten a lot better, most folks would probably conceed that doing the conversion in Photoshop or some other program gives you better control.
Shooting in black and white has its own advantages. It's hard to visualize what a color scene will look like in black and white. You can have two distinctly different colors, such as red and green, which have similiar luminance and thus almost blend together in grey scale. Unless you've got lots of experience, spotting those problems while shooting is tough. So you're better off shooting in greyscale so you can see the results.
So, which one should you choose?
How about "Option 'C' - All of the above".
Yes, you can shoot in both black and white and color, at least with many advanced DSLRs. How do you do that? You set the camera to save both RAW files and high quality jpgs. Most cameras offer the option of saving both a raw file and a jpg. You can also choose the resolution of the jpg file, from a small file best suited to preview, to a larger, full resolution image.
Now, here's the part that most folks never think about. When you shoot with RAW + jpg, the raw file will always be in color. Even if you have the camera set to shoot in jpg, the raw file is still in color. (That's the whole definition of 'raw', it simply records those pixels, it doesn't do anything to them...)
So, you set the camera to shoot in greyscale, and your jpgs will be greyscale, as will the previews you see. You'll have a great idea of what you're getting when you shoot, and can have instant feedback on what your image will look like in black and white. Also, you no longer have to do any post-processing to get B&W images, they're already done.
See an image that you wish was in color, or one that needs just that extra bit of tweaking in Photoshop? No problem, load up the raw image and all the color data is there. You can do whatever you need to do with the raw file.
So, now you can shoot both color and black and white at the same time!
