I need help with B/W

Kavika

I shoot schools, so my galleries are large. Some customers want to see B/W. If I add B/W versions with the color, the galleries get too big to handle. If I make a dupe B/W gallery, there's the confusion of the customer going back and forth to compare images. Even so, I'm tempted to try this second option, if just on a trial basis for a school or two.

Question is, what's the best way to convert to B/W to get the best result from Smugmug's printer EZPrints? I use PS Elements, so I can hit 'remove color', but maybe some of you have better ideas. Remember, this is for hundreds of images so simplicity is paramount.

Thanks y'all !!!

pathfinder

Kavika,

If I had to shoot hundreds of portraits for school, I would not consider doing a B&W conversion in PS at all. I would set my camera to shoot RAW AND a B&W jpg at the same time.

No fiddling in Photoshop at all - straight from the camera B&W jpgs + a RAW file for your color image. B&W jpgs from digital cmaera can be very nice these days, hard to beat with PS, unless you are willing to devote 10-15minutes per frame in editing time.

Kavika

May I borrow your camera then?
My Nikon D50 doesn't offer that option. I was actually thinking of using Smugmug's online tools - first dupe the whole gallery, then optimize it, then convert to BW - but Andy says there are better ways in terms of quality and suggested I ask this group.

pathfinder wrote:

Kavika,

If I had to shoot hundreds of portraits for school, I would not consider doing a B&W conversion in PS at all. I would set my camera to shoot RAW AND a B&W jpg at the same time.

No fiddling in Photoshop at all - straight from the camera B&W jpgs + a RAW file for your color image. B&W jpgs from digital cmaera can be very nice these days, hard to beat with PS, unless you are willing to devote 10-15minutes per frame in editing time.

arodney

I'd shot Raw. I'd make a virtual copy of files I want in B&W and color, make a version of each in Lightroom. You could convert 1000 files in minutes this way once you find the conversion recipe you like on one. You could export a set to size and format in B&W and turn around and do the same in color. This would take forever doing it in Photoshop. Its super easy in Lightroom, a bit less so using Bridge and Camera Raw but again, way faster than Photoshop.

Travis

arodney wrote:

I'd shot Raw. I'd make a virtual copy of files I want in B&W and color, make a version of each in Lightroom. You could convert 1000 files in minutes this way once you find the conversion recipe you like on one. You could export a set to size and format in B&W and turn around and do the same in color. This would take forever doing it in Photoshop. Its super easy in Lightroom, a bit less so using Bridge and Camera Raw but again, way faster than Photoshop.

I agree! If you are referring to school protraits, then all them should be close in exposure and detail. Lightroom will allow you to take the time needed to make one image into a near perfect b&W conversion (read: not just a straight grayscale desaturation) and then sync the rest of the files. I prefer doing my fine B&W work in PS when I'm only working on a couple of images but I would settle for the Lightroom solution for hundreds of images.

Also keep in mind that if you have "proof" setup as part of the order, you will be given the opportunity to rework the final image before the customer gets it. That way you don't have to have the highest quality B&W conversionfor the display but still be able to perform touchups for the paying customers if necessary.

arodney

If you're doing any B&W conversions in Lightroom, read Martin Evenings new tutorial. Its a winner!

http://lightroom-news.com/2007/08/24/tips-for-better-black-and-white-conversions/