Professional Photography : black-and-white

Black-and-White Photo Printing: More Popular Than Ever

Eileen Fritsch — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:06:00 GMT

Making black-and-white prints seems to be more popular than ever before.The only difference is that instead of using a darkroom full of enlargers, negatives and chemistry, we work in digital "darkrooms" that consist of a computer, monitor, software and a digital printer.

Just how popular has black-and-white photography become? Flickr alone has over 46,000 individual groups about black-and-white images, with well into millions of images. And visit hotels and restuarants in major cities and you'll see many black-and-white photos decorating the walls.

Thanks to ongoing advances in editing software and printers, it has become increasingly easy to convert any color image into a black-and-white print and achieve stunning results. You can also scan black-and-white negatives and transparencies and manipulate curves to essentially do what film photographers once did in the darkroom with filters.

There are a variety of ways to create black-and-white images in Photoshop. You can also use some print drivers, RIP software, or third-party tools as well. Personally, I have become very fond of Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro, which operates as a Plug-In for Photoshop. The user interface is straightforward and Silver Efex will convert any digital image either into a black-and-white image or color-toned images that mimics traditional processes such as Ambrotypes or "Pinhole" effects.

Fig-1 below shows a digital image that I shot as a JPG with my Nikon D200. From there I started Silver Efex Pro as a "Filter" which brought up the user interface in Fig 2, 3, and 4.

Figs 1 and 2

Figs 3 and 4

Printing neutral black-and-white images used to be a big challenge, requiring photographers to spend countless hours trying to eliminate unwanted color casts that resulted simply from using cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks to create shades of gray and black. Today, printers such as my Designjet Z3200 can easily produce perfectly neutral even-toned black and white prints.

The HP Designjet uses a quad-black ink system with Photo Black, Matte Black, Medium Gray, and Light Gray inks and a driver that separates RGB files into the appropriate channels for neutral black-and-white printing. The only real manipulation you have to do involves tone shape and shadow-midtone-highlight detail, Achieving neutrality is left up to the firmware built into the Z3200.

In my Google search of black-and-white digital printing, I didn't get nearly as many results as I thought I would. It seems most posts where written in the past when the technology was more challenging and the results were unsatisfactory. This is a sign of great progress! It probably indicates that more photographers are using newer-model printers such as the Designjet Z3200 which have removed a lot of the frustration associated with trying to make neutral blacks with the six-color CMYKLcLm inksets used on older models such as the HP Designjet 5500 or Designjet 130.

Now that black-and-white imaging has become easier, do you think it will become even more popular than it is today? I have my own thoughts on why black-and-white images can be so powerful. But I want to hear what you think. Why do you like producing black-and-white images? What methods do you use most often to convert your color shots into black-and-white prints?

Remembering Film

Eileen Fritsch — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:08:00 GMT

By Marc Aguilera

If you've been shooting digital for awhile (or if that is all you've ever known), try shooting some film while it's still available. There is something different about shooting film that you miss if you're totally absorbed in digital.

Although film may no longer be the predominant method of image capture, the glory days of shooting and scanning film aren't that far behind us. Those of us who started out shooting film still have lots and lots of negatives and transparencies that we regard as integral parts of our archives.

I have many images on film that I would never be able to recreate digitally. One of the best characteristics of film is the texture and grain of the emulsion - how an image records on a particular brand of film. I was always partial to Ilford Pan F and Kodak Tri-X Black and White Negative Film (which happily I can still buy).

I learned about all of the subtle characteristics of different films when I worked in a pro camera shop in my younger days. We sold everything photographic, for both amateurs and professionals. Our store even sold used camera and darkroom equipment. So, I had access to many types of film and some great gear, including large-format cameras and lenses I could never afford at the time. I even shot the BW slide film from Agfa called Scala. I loved that film.

When digital imaging entered the scene, I got involved in the new process of scanning film. I worked with expensive drum scanners such as the Scanview Scanmate and the Crossfield Magnascan. Over time the prices of high-powered scanners have fallen so much that I now have my own 4800-ppi scanner that scans everything from 35 mm negs and transparencies to 8 x 10 negs and transparencies as well as flat artwork. You would think that my scanner would sit idle but actually it gets lots of use. Now that I co-own a design agency there is always a need to scan something.

When shooting film you have no instant verification of either the exposure or the composition. (I suppose you could use a Polaroid back, but it's never the same thing.) When I shot Ilford Pan F I had no idea what the neg would look like or if the capture was even in focus. Plus my beloved camera was mostly manual (I shot the rugged Nikon FM2 – a lifelong favorite) with a built in light meter that told me if the exposure was right on or over/under exposed by giving me a red led +,O, or -sign.

There was always a bit of mystery until I developed the film and printed a proof sheet. Watching the images appear in the darkroom was a magical process that I really enjoyed. Now, I am so grateful to have had "my time in the darkroom." Looking through my proof sheets today I feel a real sense of nostalgia that I miss with digital images. There is something about the material aspect of a proof sheet that I like.

All of the images shown below were shot on black-and-white negative film then scanned on my desktop scanner. Of course, I have used Nik Software to do some tonal editing, but we'll leave that for another post.

For now, if it's been awhile since you've shot film, I urge you to go ahead, buy some film, unpack that old film SLR (or borrow one!) and start shooting! You will be glad you did. (Let me know how it goes. I would be interested to hear more about your experiences!)

Previewing Black-and-White Conversions

BlogArchive — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:19:00 GMT

By David Saffir

Deep down, I’m in love with the look and feel of black-and-white prints. When I was 11 years old or so, I dove into photography in a big way. And because it was less expensive, black-and-white was my medium of choice.

The wonder of watching prints magically appear in the darkroom has never left me. I still experience many of the same feelings when watching a print I’ve worked on come off the inkjet printer. Perhaps it’s a bit less mysterious, but it’s always a thrill.

So now the puzzle: What’s the best way to make high-quality black-and-white images using digital technology? I’ve tried using the presets offered in some cameras, but the trade-offs in image quality are even worse than the ones involved in shooting JPEG instead of the RAW format. It just dumps too much image information to be really useful.

That means the best choice is to shoot in color, and convert the image to black and white later.

What’s the best way to do this?

One way is to use image-editing software such as Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom®. Lightroom comes with a number of presets that let you replicate traditional darkroom processes for toning, contrast, and special effects. These presets are remarkably easy, quick, and fun to use. And the previews are a snap! Simply roll your mouse pointer over the preset, and voila! The thumbnail shows you a preview (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

If the range of presets that Adobe provides isn’t sufficient, you can download other presets that have been created by individual photographers.

Or, you can try some of the conversion presets included with the black-and-white adjustment layer in Adobe Photoshop CS3. These presets are very useful, and many correspond to film-based techniques (i.e., they simulate the use of a colored filter to increase contrast, etc.)

One thing that has always troubled me when testing options for black-and-white conversions is the “before and after” issue. What’s the best way to visually compare the converted image to your original?

I’ve tried using duplicate windows, layer comps, and other techniques, but the pace was too slow. Recently I came up with another idea (which may not be new to many of you). The method is illustrated in Fig. 2, and involves six steps in Photoshop CS3.

Make a selection in the image.
Create an adjustment layer from the selection.
Experiment with different conversion settings.

Fig. 2

Working this way lets you see the changes side-by-side with the original, in real time. I have found that I prefer this method over other viewing options in Photoshop. And the new dialog box in CS3 includes six channels, up from three available in the Channel Mixer dialog.

Save the combined settings you’ve developed as a preset by clicking on the tool in the Photoshop dialog box in Fig. 3.
Delete the partial adjustment layer.
Create a new adjustment layer, and load your saved preset.

Fig. 3

Your image is now a custom-tuned black-and-white masterpiece!

The Power of Black and White

BlogArchive — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:53:00 GMT

By Jon Canfield

I find it ironic that black and white imagery seems more popular than ever in the digital age. There’s just something about a strong monochromatic image that is more compelling than anything you can create with color. But obtaining a quality black and white from an inkjet printer has been frustrating, with many prints showing a color cast or significant bronzing.

While monochrome inksets are available from vendors such as MediaStreet, Jon Cone’s Inkjet Mall, and Lyson (yes, there are others, but these three have been the top-quality inks in my experience), new printers such the HP Designjet Z3100 have reduced or eliminated the need to go with a pure black and white printer. Obviously, not having a dedicated black and white printer saves money and space, but is the quality from the HP Designjet Z3100 really that good?

To find out, I made some comparison prints using this black-and-white image. For neutral tones, the HP printer was a clear winner with better tonal gradation and more neutral grays. Only when I went to a toned print did the dedicated inks show any advantage at all.

One area in which the other printers and inks couldn’t compete was the use of the gloss enhancer available on the Z3100. When printing to fiber or gloss media, the addition of gloss enhancer made a dramatic improvement, eliminating bronzing from the final print.

Part of the reason for HP’s high quality is that you’re essentially printing to a quadtone printer when using fine art media. The Z3100 uses both photo black and matte black along with the two grays. By not using any of the color inks, you eliminate any color cast that may otherwise be present. The only way to accomplish this with other printers is to replace the inkset with a dedicated monochrome inkset. This is costly and impractical when you also want to print color because you need to flush the ink lines with every cartridge change.