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B/W to Color Change

Rcphil8Rcphil8 Registered Users Posts: 15 Big grins
edited April 17, 2008 in Finishing School
I'm really new to all this but I think this is a simple question.
Recently I had a photo shoot and the photographer changed some of the photos from color to black and white. Is it possible for me (I have PS but as stated, am really new to this) to change the photos back to color or would I need the original? Does the photo retain the color digital info of the picture or are the pixels permanetly altered to black and white after PS editing?
Also, the photographer is requesting a small fee for the color photos stating the "conversion" would take some time. I would have thought they kept an original in color but the fee is small so I do not mind. I am wondering if the original is required, then wouldn't the photographer simply be copying the files to a disk, meaning no conversion time is required? Am I being led to believe more effort is required then there actually is?
Thanks for the help!

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    RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,929 moderator
    edited April 16, 2008
    Rcphil8 wrote:
    I'm really new to all this but I think this is a simple question.
    Recently I had a photo shoot and the photographer changed some of the photos from color to black and white. Is it possible for me (I have PS but as stated, am really new to this) to change the photos back to color or would I need the original? Does the photo retain the color digital info of the picture or are the pixels permanetly altered to black and white after PS editing?
    Also, the photographer is requesting a small fee for the color photos stating the "conversion" would take some time. I would have thought they kept an original in color but the fee is small so I do not mind. I am wondering if the original is required, then wouldn't the photographer simply be copying the files to a disk, meaning no conversion time is required? Am I being led to believe more effort is required then there actually is?
    Thanks for the help!

    You can't convert a JPG from B&W to color, as all the color information is gone. They probabaly have the original color version somewhere, which is what they would be selling you. It is possible that the original may require some additional work to look good as a color print that was not required in the B&W version. Or they may just be trying to take advantage of you. In the end, you just need to ask yourself how much a color version is worth to you.
    My Pics
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    Scott_QuierScott_Quier Registered Users Posts: 6,524 Major grins
    edited April 16, 2008
    Rcphil8 wrote:
    I'm really new to all this but I think this is a simple question.
    Recently I had a photo shoot and the photographer changed some of the photos from color to black and white. Is it possible for me (I have PS but as stated, am really new to this) to change the photos back to color or would I need the original? Does the photo retain the color digital info of the picture or are the pixels permanetly altered to black and white after PS editing?
    Conversion of a photo from color to B&W usually entails, as you suspected, converting the color information to tonality/luminescence information. When that's done, the color information is discarded. This is a one-way street. Of course, you can make an RGB file where the RGB values of any given pixel is the same - thus rendering a B&W image. Even in this case, it's still a one-way street because all the edit history is lost when the file is converted to JPG.
    Rcphil8 wrote:
    Also, the photographer is requesting a small fee for the color photos stating the "conversion" would take some time. I would have thought they kept an original in color but the fee is small so I do not mind.
    I'm thinking your photographer is milking you on this one. See above for an explanation of why I think so. In addition, it is usually the case that getting a good B&W image first requires a good color image. In my B&W workflow, I first turn the cature into the best color image I can and then convert that to B&W and finish the B&W processing. And, I believe you are right - the photog surely has retained the color images.
    Rcphil8 wrote:

    I am wondering if the original is required, then wouldn't the photographer simply be copying the files to a disk, meaning no conversion time is required? Am I being led to believe more effort is required then there actually is?
    Thanks for the help!
    Yep! I think you have a good read on the situation.
    Scott
    My Photos
    Thoughts on photographing a wedding, How to post a picture, AF Microadjustments?, Light Scoop
    Equipment List - Check my profile
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    Rcphil8Rcphil8 Registered Users Posts: 15 Big grins
    edited April 16, 2008
    Thanks guys! - I had suspected as much.
    Given the photographer knew I had some minimal experience with photos and printing I am unsure why they would not have just said the fee was to copy the files to a disk. We all know it is negligible time to copy (about 20) files to a disk but, as this is a business and the photographer is not a personal friend or the like, I can appreciate the desire for some compensation and have no problem with that. Oh well...

    In any event I hope to one day soon start posting my pictures on the forum for c/c. In the meantime, here's my page. http://jenralphmira.smugmug.com/
    Nothing to critique here, just some family photos!
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    kwcrowkwcrow Registered Users Posts: 132 Major grins
    edited April 17, 2008
    In defense of the photographer, If he does any post processing and he was told to go to black and white in the first place. He may have to re-post process the picture for color. I know my B&W workflow is different from my color, that would be the only justification that I can think of.
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    mwgricemwgrice Registered Users Posts: 383 Major grins
    edited April 17, 2008
    kwcrow wrote:
    In defense of the photographer, If he does any post processing and he was told to go to black and white in the first place. He may have to re-post process the picture for color. I know my B&W workflow is different from my color, that would be the only justification that I can think of.

    I was thinking this too. If I convert to black and white, for instance, I really don't worry about whether or not there's a color cast in the image. I might even add one prior to the conversion.

    Also, one possible workflow is to do the black and white conversion in Camera Raw. In which case you really would need to redo the image for color.
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