Black & White = Better | At Times True | EDITING TIPS & Why | NIK Collection | Matt Irwin

#blackandwhite #howtoedit #whyblackandwhite
Timeless, classic, textural, visceral.
It has a lot going for it.
Why, when, how?
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[@JET-Photo]

To be honest, I want to make most of my photos B&W. I have always loved B&W. These over saturated, heavily edited photos are getting ridiculous. Seems like it only matters how good you can edit now, not how good the pictures actually are. Another thing we agree on 😁. BTW just got my Fuji XT-4 in today to add to my Nikons. Thought it would be a smaller footprint than my FF Z cameras but I was shocked to see how big it really was. I know….that’s what she said…😂

[@kylezeringue5673]

Man, you really hit my pet peeves in this one. Oversaturation and HDR taken to absurd levels. Dead on, Matt! I don't really miss the smells and chemicals of the darkroom. I think my last work in one was around '81. Have been doing b&w since the D2x came out. Now mostly by playing in lightroom. I'd put one in the comment but apparently that is beyond my quick attempt today.

[@MattIrwinPhotography]

I love to see one Kyle, best is if you can add a link to another site, and we can see it there :) cheers Matt

[@christopherrodriguez7223]

Great video Matt, how often we forget the beauty of black and white.

[@mozzamhosein6476]

Another excellent video. You definitely have one of the best photography channels. You have convinced me to finally purchase the Nik Collection. I have been a fan of b/w. This is definitely a great software. Thanks

[@blythewarland6688]

It possibly harks back to my first days in photography of film and developing myself and as you said magical experience. I have never lost that for me 1979, and now with digital it is so easy to look at the image in B&W and think yes much better

[@davidroberts6766]

I have taken several of my old SLRs out of the closet, and I am shooting various B&W films on the various bodies. As part of processing, they scan the images for me, for any additional post production work. Thinking in B&W is a challenge we should all undertake from time to time!

[@gabehill9817]

This is very enlightening for how black and white works. I know some of my images will be massively improved with b&w but I just haven't edited enough of my catalog yet. Thanks for hte various tips on how to get them right.

[@nelsonvazchillout]

Great, great video and insights Matt. Loved it. I also do B&W and that’s about 2-3% of my photography, usually for higher contrast images and to keep things simple when color becomes a distracting element. Actually I even have my U1 preset set to B&W as there are times when I love to shoot it straight out of the camera without even having to go through post. And you’re right: one can do endless filtering these days, it can even become a source of stress not to mention how time consuming that is, so that’s why I rely on my B&W U1 mode and try to nail it straight out of the camera.

[@ytr8989]

I’ve started using B&W mode more often. The red filter really pops things out.

[@robdlain9145]

I shoot in Black and White with my Nikon Z7. I takes like you mentioned the distraction away. Love BnW.

[@tdalton854]

Hi Matt- So I do like shooting / making black and white photos quite a bit. quite often I'll use one of the fuji film sims while shooting, may not use it but gets me going in LR or C-one. Haven't used Nik since before google bought them. LR was good enough and now C-one is even better if I'm really serious about a shot. This vid was very thoughtfully done and I really enjoyed it. The photo you spent the most time on with the lines and chairs with shadows and those clouds! Serious wow and loved looking at it while you talked. Thanks for spending the time making and posting these. - Tim

[@nickyfoulkes8476]

One great annoyance for me is "it doesn't work in colour, I will convert it to B&W". If the image didn't work in colour it will not work in B&W either. I had the free version of the now Nik & now I don't shoot Fuji with there beautiful Acros I have downloaded a trial version of Nik this weekend. Maybe I might buy it, still playing. Thanks Matt for your insight.

[@MattIrwinPhotography]

Pleasure Nicky :) Enjoy.

[@JosefFoti]

I really love black and whites, I do quite a few of them from almost every photoshoot. By no means do I think I know how to do them, I'm still learning so it's always useful to see how other people make them and learn something new. I do black and whites in Lightroom, basically I apply I preset and then adjust the sliders so that I like the result. However, it's good to stop and give it some thought so this video was really useful for me

[@MattIrwinPhotography]

Ah fabulous, I don't think there is a right or wrong way, just what feels good to you, and experimentation is everything :) Cheers Matt

[@csc-photo]

Love this vid & topic - I was "raised" on b+w, and spent years in the darkroom. I've had my eye on that Nik Collection software for a while, so this is very helpful - thanks! 🙂

[@MattIrwinPhotography]

Glad it was helpful Craig. Cheers Matt

[@bioliv1]

I love black&white when I can't get away the chromatic aberrations, especially on polylines:-)

[@MattIrwinPhotography]

Black and white certainly eliminates chromatic aberration. Good call. Cheers Matt

[@rickpinelli1586]

Hi Matt, I used NIK software when it was free. I have so many programs that I pay for, I do not need another. B&W - Yes, I do B&W from time to time. Sometimes I will do a color version and a B&W version. Back in the day, 1970's, I did Tri-Color photography and add multiple exposures to create wild f/x. (The Nikon F2 Photomic had a button on the bottom to reset the shutter release without advancing the film) I always enjoyed experimenting and pushing the limits of photography. Although I never had the opportunity to do my own printing, I used to process my B&W film, and after inspecting the negatives, I would have prints made. Regards Matt, Rick

[@baljindersinghsidhu3959]

Love your work.. big fan.😇👍👌

[@JayGrapherTh]

its a great discussion, how you say a good photo will simply work in both color and black and white - that art is subjective. Added your other discussion and explanation where exactly makes a photo ruined by pushing the saturation too high. Too many times people just say blankly that pushing saturation or HDR, or too much dehaze or clarity are bad but they rarely ever SHOW where it makes it bad or why it can be bad. So I really appreciate even though it might be obvious to the more experience photographer when you pointed out that the whites in the umbrella or the grays on the concrete floor is preserved. Question: I do wonder and ill think to rewatch your video about your yearly calendar - how to create a project that features both black and white and color in the same selection. So many places the recommendation is to keep it consistent which is a very rational recommendation but I personally cant break away from that idea as much as I try.

[@ChristineWilsonPhotography]

I miss the dark room i used to love it, but I still process in b&w totally its still fun fir me. Agree oversaturated and hdr just doesn't do it for me. That absurd statement about converting to b&w if doesn't work in colour really grinds my gears. I find it very challenging. Macro in b&w absolutely. I have the Nikon software and used ut on occasion, but the majority if my work is lightroom. Great video hope to hear more from you on b&w.

[@ernyr516]

Hi Matt , couldn't agree more with everything you said . 1982 for me year 8 first darkroom , but never as a job , hobby only even darkroom at home, but that's where my love for infrared photography kodak 3200 . now i have a Canon 5d ii converted to 720 ir and use nik and dxo and photoshop and still enjoy it. i find the tones from the dark and light tones and everything in-between that works for me , as i tend to try to emulate that kodak 3200 HIS film ,not always but mostly and i tend to use the control points to dodge and burn if you like in silver efex .

[@stefannantz]

Hi Matt, great video, please done some more photographic video's as supposed to gear centrist videos, we all love gear but we are all here for finding that frame which makes our heart content.

[@christopherlofquist1]

Great video on Black and White. I remember in high school doing Black and White images and developing them! I love black and white images. Don't always do black and white. Have an older version of silver efex.

[@knechtTrivella]

For most of my black and white photography I use my Sigma DP2 Merrill.

[@creditelectric]

Agree about pushing the colours, some love it, each to their own.I photographed a welded 'art work' among the emptiness on the Sturt Highway in colour but in BW it is so different.

[@MattIrwinPhotography]

Indeed there is no right or wrong ... and black and white can give such a different result :)

[@jpdj2715]

Very nice photography and a great lecture. Shooting B&W in the 60s/70s was a different beast altogether, we have so many possibilities today.

[@MattIrwinPhotography]

Cheers JP. Yeah so much has change in the last 30-40 years ...

[@chriswardphotobooks]

I'm colourblind so B&W is always better lol. It isn't that I want to avoid colour, it's that I have more of an emotional connection to texture and contrast than I do to colours

[@MattIrwinPhotography]

Thanks so much for sharing that Geopics. :)

[@alberte58]

I don’t use NIK SW. Digital photography with DSLR en System camera’s I photograph 100% in color. But with my recent acquired Nikon SLR’s I experiment with BW film like KODAK TRI-X-400, ILFORD HP5plus, and others from Rollei, Ferrania, Kentmere, Lomography, Bergger.

[@marcusbraun8889]

Agree, Niks is great, be it for B&W or local adjustments in Viveza, using the U-Points - which go back all the way to Nikon Capture NX2, my favorite software for my D3 at the time. As for B&W and colour, there's another key element I agree with - the basic image has to be solid. In my opinion, there are too many people who fall into the trap of taking any kind of image, then over-process it (be it B&W, colour, HDR) and declare it art. That's 'art' to make up for deficiencies (like unwanted motion blur, missed focus, etc), and it shouldn't be that way. Get the basics right first. When it comes to colour or B&W I look back at a similar experience than you, Matt, but mine was in colour. Maybe it's about Asia, with all those blue skies, turquoise waters, saturated jungle greens and colourful clothes (yes, it really strikes you how dark and toned down - and quiet - Europe is if you get back after a long absence), it seemed screaming for the saturated colours of Fuji Velvia and Provia slide film, which I used for more than 20 years. And yes, it was a great moment looking at those slides on a light table with that little Nikon loupe somewhere in a lab in Asia, seeing the results with all those punchy colours. And yes, the digital darkroom opened new possibilities there, loving it, never would want to go back. As more of a colour person I do like images where shadows turn blue. Well, I do like blue hour shots to begin with. Emphasizing such colour just enough that it doesn't get ridiculous can create interesting colour contrast, oftentimes in combination with slight hue adjustments. I think the key is not over-doing it, and that's the same for B&W, HDR and what not. Your 'Cafe' shot is a great sample, there's quite a bit HDR in it, too, getting the most out of the foreground with the tables and chairs, but it is done in a pleasing way, looking realistic. Over-processing, be it colour done the wrong way, or HDR with all those halos around contours, or adding vignetting and high contrast to every B&W image, is what I personally don't like, in terms of technique. Good video, an opportunity to think about the different approaches, like it.

[@johnhjic2]

Hello Matt, it's me once more, back in the day I printed colour and b&w. Black and white was more difficult as there are far more thing to do. That's why I love digital it'd so nice to process in the light. Yes I am sorry but I use CC Photoshop, I can spend hours on one image but I just fave fun editing.

[@bfs5113]

Yeah, liked painting the town red, instead of the 'chemical smell and sweat' in the wet darkroom printing B&W and Color, especially with early chemicals. But since I already earned an IT degree before my photography journey some four decades ago, digital was both fun and easy at the beginning to replace the good old days. Also, I like shooting in color more, such as with Kodachrome, because it was relatively new back then, with more to discover and learn.

[@marcusbraun8889]

@@bfs5113 Agree. I was on Fujichromes, but I did like the 'set-in-stone' approach of the slide film. There you had it, the outcome of your photography. Brutal and honest. I think it made me rethink my photography more than when shooting B&W or negs. Further development would be optional, not a necessity.

[@_systemd]

been using b&w for mountain bike photos for example, where often the environment is not optimal, colors may be messy (bikes, clothing, tapes, surroundings) introducing distractions. however I am still just experimenting with figuring out how I like those black and whites to be edited.

[@theofinger7577]

I love nik I spent years in the Darkroom

[@gerryphilpott9766]

Sounds like lockdown estimates are as good as Nikon shipping estimates? I digress. I didn't plan it this way, but the more i've gotten used to Lightroom and the Efex tools, I've been converting more and more images to black & white. Loved them with my F3 and now easier without the stress......thanks again.

[@ShaneBaker]

Hi Matt. I couldn't agree more about the "magic" of the latent image appearing in a wet darkroom - but I don't miss the wet darkroom itself. :-) Regarding Nik: I used to use Silver Efex Pro quite a bit, but of late, I've relied on C1 to convert to B&W. I haven't upgraded to Nik v3, and I'm glad I haven't because bizarrely, it seems to be hostile to any software that isn't Adobe!

[@jennifergow6524]

Like you, I haves pent more time as a photographer where the darkroom was integral t my work . I still remember the magic of developing my first roll of film and of course the magic of seeing the image emerging from a blank piece of paper in the developing tray. However my darkroom experience also extended to working in colour again developing film and printing with a colour enlarger with its dichroic filter head and working with a colour analyser. It was all together a more exact and very scientific process. When changed careers and no longer had access to a darkroom I mostly lost interest in photography. With the emergence of digital imaging from the 2000s on my interest returned in retirement and I very much appreciate the opportunities offered by digital editing both of still and video materials. My computer loaded with Affinity Photo is my digital darkroom and initially i appreciated the way that I could adjust the colour rendition of my images in a way that in the past I did with a colour enlarger and colour analyser. Of course I could now also control saturation which in the past I could only achieve with the choice of filmstock. The only prints that could approach the vibrancy and saturation of colour transparencies was Cibachrome. I do now choose to render some of my images in black and white. In my case I appreciate the way that Affinity allows me to use colour sliders at times to simulate the the way that I used coloured filters when I worked with black and white film -- for instance by boosting yellow or red or dropping blue or cyan to intensify skies . Experimentation here has been very interesting. I would like to briefly comment on the restaurant photo you worked on . I loved to subject, lighting, viewpoint and framing and I did appreciate what you achieved in the black and white version. However I still found myself preferring your colour edit. I do like colour images with a muted palette where the circumstances call for this, and this was certainly the case here. In this case although the palette was muted there was still a lovely contrast between the warm tones of the foreground and the obviously cooler background. The black and white image still had the foreground - background contrast but some of the warm versus cool was lost to me.

[@marcusbraun8889]

Cibachrome brings memories back! Never was a darkroom person myself really, but of boy, those colours (and prices!). I have a friend, who spend ages in the darkroom back in the days, he shot negs, on some Fuji paper, which were excellent - in fact the first time I went to a pro lab with his samples and asked them 'can you do this' they said 'oh , that's Cibachrome', to be puzzled about what it really was. Agree on the colour contrast of the 'Cafe' images, albeit I would likely prefer a slightly stronger saturation/hue/lightness of the colours. I often lighten the colours one by one a tad, add a bit of saturation, and adjust hue slightly if desired regarding the other colours. Of course the other way can work, too, with colours being more subtle. At the end of the day it's all about the mood, which depends on the image and/or on the preference of the editor/viewer.

[@jennifergow6524]

@@marcusbraun8889 The key features of Cibachrome was that it was based on diazo dyes which produced much more saturated and stable images compared to the colour coupler dues that were used in transparency films such as Ektachrome or colour negative films. Of course Kodachrome based on a distinctive and proprietary developing process used more intense and stable dyes as well but not as amazing as the diazo dyes. The other feature of Cibachrome was that it was a positive to positive process so images had to be captured as transparencies. I never learned to work with is process so when I worked for a commercial photographer this work was sent out and yes it was seriously expensive . I still have a few Cibachome prints of my own work. The vibrance is still there.

[@rbweston]

I certainly don't miss the smell, from the years I spent in the Darkroom, though I sometimes think I should go back to shooting film ocassionally so I don't lose all my old skills.

[@bfs5113]

Yeah, the 'chemical smell and sweat' days, especially with color printing in total darkness were a PITA with early chemicals. Although they are good topics to impress the newcomers with those old days stories. 🙂

[@solomonessix6909]

Recently, I been pondering on the thought of Nikon developing a Nikon Monocrome product from its Z-line of cameras. Converting all of the color pixels into light detecting pixels for B&W will increase image sharpness even on the 24mp FX sensors.

[@MattIrwinPhotography]

Yep I would be excited by that idea too Solomon :)

[@RobertTeague]

I no longer do black and white. Just don't care for it in digital. Like you I spent many years in the darkroom, starting in B&W, then moving onto Cibachrome (which I loved more than B&W, but was really hard to do). I used to love Efke PL100 processed in Pyrocat HD on 5x4.

[@scothowe539]

Most of my photography experience has been over the past 7 years so I have no darkroom experience. I do edit a small percentage of the photos I take as black and white. My edits are mostly done in LR and PS. I’ve looked at the Nik plug ins but it’s just a hobby to me so it’s hard to justify that expense.

[@daviddye7743]

Matt do you have any suggestions on how to get the deep rich blacks with that hint of blue like in the old Ilford mat BW papers, or even the old Kodak F 3 paper. I use silver effects, have never found a preset that works for me and it has become extremely frustrating leading me to leave and come back and try it again. I too sometimes miss the chemistry, the smell of fixer, working the film development and print to create the rich images using Ansel's zone system but it's all digital for me now, thanks ahead of time for any guidance or suggestions

[@FrancescoBorsotti]

I do love Silver FX and the Nik collection. But it is a shame that the latest version of Silver FX does not allow to “Edit with…” in Capture One as the previous versions. The only trick at the moment is to open Silver FX BEFORE opening Capture One, and then “Edit with…” from Capture One. This way the picture edited in Silver FX will be bounced back in CO. I really hope they are going to fix it.

[@berthaduniverse]

Good afternoon Matt, sorry I'm a bit late to the piece, but its great. Have you ever considered an IR/UV/Full Spectrum conversion on one of your older cameras?

[@robdlain9145]

The City That Finally Sleeps by Mark Seliger is a beautiful BnW book about NYC during the pandemic lockdown. You might like it. Check it out. His story bechind it is on B&H.

[@ytr8989]

What are your thoughts on shooting in b&w mode RAW file, and then adding colors later when editing?

[@JohnLamjohnlsl]

I Normally only Move the Black and White when Color will not works and become a distraction for a Photo, or there is some part the color is very dull And for high dynamic Color Photo, i think the Problem most people have is they did not correctly suppress the Saturation Shift of every color when they are processing the photo I also don't like the idea of shooting B&W Photo with a B&W only camera the problem is with the Color Filter use in B&W Photographic is you cannot Fine-tune the depth of the Color Filter for this Part NIK Silver Efex has Very powerful Color Filter tools build into the software Make a video of NIK black and white edit without talking about these tools is like cooking Egg and bacon without putting the bacon in

[@Mr09260]

Dont worry in S Africa we have had lockdown in various forms continiously from March last year !!

[@MattIrwinPhotography]

OMG I am very sorry to hear that, we have had some form of restrictions since then, but not always locked at home ...

[@jackyleecs]

I still shoot Tri-X! :)

[@mrz1342]

Great video :) it seems you are the right expert to ask this: (1) in digital version of b&w photography, do you think film simulation feature in Fujifilm cameras are sufficient to gain true monochrome photos without trying basting time for manipulation in post? (2) or it’s quite possible to shoot with any camera (DSLR or mirrorless) in raw file and use conversion to b&w in Nic Collection software to reach to the film-like characteristic result? Thank you

[@marcusbraun8889]

I'm not an expert, but what Fuji calls film simulation is called picture control in the Nikon system. You can add custom picture controls to you Nikon camera, with film names, if you wish. There's a site called nikonpc.com (not associated with Nikon) which has such (film-)profiles. I prefer to shoot RAW and appply any such modifications afterwards. For one it allows me to change it later on - even years later, when my own preferences might have changed - plus it allows for faster shooting. One less thing to think about while shooting. Oftentimes the moment would be gone until you decided/changed settings for what works best in a particular situation.

[@pauldhoff]

With mirrorless you can have your viewer set to B&W.

[@MattIrwinPhotography]

I did not know that, will have to check it out. :) Thanks Paul.

[@Mr09260]

I may be an Artistic Zombie as I cant see the Beauty in B&W Guess I love the big outdoors and see in full Colour < my life experience of 70 years has been in God given Colour>> I am just not wired that way > I find B&W so Sombre and sad compared to happy colours

[@Mr09260]

I am not a Fan of shooting in Standard or Vivid Profile > I basically use Flat and Neutral..Love Autumn shades and the dry African Bush Rather than Alpine ultra white Ski Slopes and Bright over powering Blue Skies

[@MattIrwinPhotography]

Yep I understand, my best friend in high school always asked me why I was taking all of these depressing black and white images in the fog ... and all I saw was drama, texture, depth, story, mood, popping off a flat piece of paper. We are all different and that is a beautiful thing :)

[@marcusbraun8889]

@Peter Betts - same here. I see colours, and I love them. However, I'm more of standard +1 saturation, I feel it suits my environment best. Colourful Asia. That said it's horses for courses, toned down colours work better in certain situations. Or all three approaches might work at the same time. I can imagine great fog images in B&W, with toned down colours, or striking colours (perhaps a bit of blue sky somewhere, or the warm late afternoon sun pushing through). Same goes for portraits, sometimes it's B&W, sometimes it's fine colours, sometimes a strong hue.