Color? Black and White? Both?

jdorseydesign

Whenever I shoot digital, I shoot raw, so my photos are necessarily color by default. My question is, when you do a photoshoot for customers, how much Black and white conversion do you do? The way I see it there are four ways you could go.

1) Never do black and whites, and just become a color shooter and only do color post processing on all images

2) Selectively do black and whites based on which images you think would make good black and white images, and those images are black and white, while others are color.

3) Do color AND black and white processing on every image you shoot, doubling your workload, but giving the client the ability to pick which ones they want.

4) Do nothing but black and white processing, and so you could import everything into lightroom as black and white from the get go. Plus you get to pretend to be artsy for shooting all black and white.


I personally have been using approach #2, although I lean towards just shooting and processing color only because when I import the photos they are already color and so I'm already visualizing the final product in color....

I'd love to hear what you do in regards to black and white and/or color processing.

zoomer

I normally deliver all images in color, some I also deliver in black and white and/or some other effect.
Once in a great while I skip the color image due usually to just not being able to get the color or exposure right, out of focus, or to much grain.

Qarik

#2. I do BW if the composition/subject lends it self to it or mixed lighting

divamum

#2 in general - sometimes I'll offer up colour and BW; it all depends on the shot.

For performer headshots I always give them a bw conversion of the final shot(s) in addition to colour so they can use it for programs or any other time they are asked for a BW. I"d rather have control over the conversion than leave it to A. N. Other printer/newspaper/whoever.

Darren Troy C

There's always going to be some stuff out there that's B&W...that just shouldn't be. Subjectivity in this field is about as original as a grain of sand in the Mojave. Making the conversions work (light, angle, shadows, ambient colors, etc.) is the tough part. The easy part is clicking a button to make a photo colorless. #2 is definitely the way I lean and to add to that, I try to see the B&W before the conversion is ever made. Shooting knowing good and well that a pretty decent B&W may surface is a pretty cool feeling...when it actually happens. I have a great deal to learn in that area and will do my best to keep on keeping on.

Tim Kamppinen

#2... If I think it will be better as a black and white for whatever reason, I make it B&W and that's all the client sees. If they asked me for it specifically in color I would do it (or vice versa) but I haven't had that happen yet.