How many times have you read your camera’s manual? Backwards, forward, inside out, but you probably missed one of the key tools in your camera, Monochrome mode. Many people under estimate the power of shooting in B&W in your camera. Shoot it first in B&W and you will be ahead of the game before even importing the photos into photoshop!
The difference between seeing in B&W, and pressing a conversion button..
The instant you press your “Monochrome” mode in your user settings, your world changes. You enter the world of black and white. Black and white consists of shadows, mid tones, and highlights. The tonality of your image can make or break it. When shooting in B&W on your camera, it enables you to visually see the gradual change of your tones right before your eyes. You’re able to see when your shadows are too dark, or your highlights are too bright. When lighting a subject, it shows what that light is doing, and is it creating a smooth gradation between your shadows, mid-tones, and highlights, ALL before even editing it.
For most of us, the B&W conversion comes after we had an entire shoot in color, and the idea suddenly pops into our heads “Oh wow, this would look good in black and white!” That person has no previous knowledge of what the tonality will be doing, or if the light was falling into the right places, their pretty much “winging” it. When you start it right in camera, you have a vast understanding of what the end result will look like. When you look at the end result, you can say, “This is exactly what i saw in the camera!”
How do i get to “Monochrome” mode on my camera?
I know all cameras are different, but almost all of them have a place where you can change your user settings, and customize them.
To get to “Monochrome” mode:
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Go to “Manual” mode on your camera. (M on your dial)
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Press “User Settings” and change that to the “M” again (Monochrome)
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Next, press your file size, and change it to RAW mode. (This will give you a color copy of your image)
And your good to go…!
How do i expose my shot in B&W?
You want your images looking properly exposed, so when your lighting, make sure you have a nice gradation from your darks to your lights, which means NOT blowing out any of your shadows, or highlights. (Your highlights are not too bright, and your shadows are not too dark) thus making the exposure neutral. These techniques will give you optimal control when editing.
Why is shooting in RAW so important to the process?
When shooting on monochrome raw on your camera, when imported into Lightroom, it will give you a color copy..because the software can not read B&W tones.. when you convert it back to B&W, its exactly what you saw on your camera!
I hope this was helpful to you, and hope that this will become part of your everyday workflow’s!
Try it out for yourself, go out and shoot, and have fun!
If you create any images, feel free to tag me in your posts on facebook, i would love to see!
To see some more tips and tricks head over to my Facebook page, my youtube channel, or if you want to learn face to face i offer 1 on 1 mentoring sessions.
Have a good week!