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Camera & Lens Camera Basics Should I Shoot In B&W Mode?
A decade ago digital cameras did not have all the bells and whistles that they have now. Pretty much any digital camera you buy these days will give you the option to shoot in color, black & white and even sepia. I started out shooting in the 80’s. Photography was much more expensive back then and black & white development was much more affordable. Because of this I spent my first decade shooting exclusively in black and white. Needless to say, black and white photography holds a very special place for me. So, should I shoot in black and white mode or convert my color images into black and white later?
Photo by MizzChievouz
I personally do not recommend shooting in black and white or sepia modes. My reason is simple. Why would you want to limit yourself? Some images look better in color and some do not. If I always shoot in color then I have the option to later play around in Photoshop and create a black and white or a toned image. If I let the camera do this for me then I’m forever limited to a colorless image. Some will argue that shooting in black and white mode saves them time. If you’re not very picky with your images this is an option. I come from the chemical darkroom era where we walked into a darkroom and came out 6 hours later with 1 good print and thought we had managed out time well. Spending a few moments converting an image in Photoshop is nothing.
You also have to consider quality. How well do digital cameras shoot in black and white mode? Not very good in my opinion. Even with a pro level Nikon or Canon, you will still want to tweak the image out. If you are going to be doing this anyway then there is no point in limiting yourself.
So, should you shoot in B&W mode? I say no. Instead take some time to study different black and white conversion methods in Photoshop. There are many ways to do this. Photoshop gives you the option of simply clicking once to convert to a black and white but there are far better ways to do this and achieve more professional results. Take the time to play around and find your own style.
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