How to master Black and White photography

[@The2soaringhearts]

This is an excellent primer to B&W processing! I had not known of Alistair before finding the video, but I'm now a subscriber and a fan.

[@stevehayward1854]

Excellent video Alister. I try to be less extravagant in my processing but it usually takes a few days returning to them to tone them down. I am also a serial reprocessor, it drives me nuts, so I am glad I am no different than the great Ansel Adams, by the way I do not compare myself to Ansel in the slightest Every year I go back over my catalogue and find my self ashamed by my previous efforts.

[@Alister_Benn]

Many thanks, I appreciate the feedback

[@ThroughJoesLens]

Good tutorial on using the NIK B&W plugin. I often use NIK with Photoshop. 👍🏻

[@ashvarma2486]

Great video. Many thanks for sharing. Love B&W. Always enjoy your processing videos.

[@martinoberstein8431]

Thank you ever so much , Alister!

[@esanford]

Great video…. Nice touch up on approaching black & white. You are so right about the contrasty images in social media. I have significantly reduced time looking at images that are out there for show…. I am all booked now for Morroco. Heading for a cruise next week that will touch down in Iceland and Greenland. It’s really a chance for Velvet and I to get away from the intense heat here in the southeast. Only carrying a body and 2 lenses just to say I have a camera 😅

[@Alister_Benn]

I can imagine what summer must be like down your way. We've had the coldest and windiest summer in a generation here on the island! It's been brilliant!! Can't wait to meet you in Marakhesh.

[@nickshepherd8377]

Great video. Your Luminosity and Contrast ebook was probably the best and most useful book on photography that I have read!

[@TheAjbarron]

Thanks for this video it has reinforced some things I do and suggested some new ones.

[@klaus_s]

Thank you for this interesting video. It is an excellent representation of b/w processing. Also, the editing with SilverEfex was very helpful as I haven‘‘t worked with the Zone tool before. So it‘s always worth watching your videos😉. Looking forward to the following ones.🤓👏👏🙏

[@Alister_Benn]

Much appreciated!

[@seanhancocks4743]

Great video and certainly agree re social media and the amount of contrasty images, especially in urban/street photography. A bit of restraint goes a long way.

[@Alister_Benn]

Well said! You gather I very much agree!

[@GJuve1]

Some brilliant tips, thank you and have a great weekend!

[@Alister_Benn]

Thank you! You too!

[@Ruscombephotos]

A great video Alister! It’s great to see the thought and creative process of your black and white work. As a follow up video, as it is about mastering black & white, I wondered if you could make a video about the conception of a black and white photograph out in the field, when you decide it is going to be black and white, all the way from shooting to processing and printing. A few years ago, I changed my black and white workflow to making the choice at the time and never after the event. I hated that dilemma of whether something looks better in colour or black and white, or if it failed in colour to try and salvage it in black and white. By deciding the intention at the time, that dilemma is gone. Once I make the choice, I stick with it. It may be restrictive, but I have found it liberating. It is similar to the film experience, when I had empty camera bodies and decided at the scene to either load black & white or colour. Sometimes I had two bodies, one with colour film and one with black and white. Once those choices were made, there was no going back.

[@ianclark2722]

Hi Alister, I,ve been doing a lot more Black & White lately so this video has been really helpful, the emphasis you put on the Mid Tones is something I need to look at a lot more, really interesting, so thanks a lot for the idea, regards Ian

[@Alister_Benn]

That's great, delighted to hear that, thank you

[@jefftrapp5407]

good one Alister!

[@robert_skonblad]

Interesting stuff! I should do more black and white …

[@Alister_Benn]

I’ve really fallen back in love with it ❤️

[@georgemason2472]

Very informative!

[@Alister_Benn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ASMPHOTO]

Thank You - I needed this to push me. Greatly appreciated!

[@trishf29]

Thanks for this video, Alister, and for explaining Silver Efex. I have it, but realised I wasn’t using half of it! Although I’ve been creating B&W images for a while now, your video came at the right time, as I have a BW exercise to complete! Can now make improvements😊

[@Alister_Benn]

I only really scratched the surface of it, I'll do a deeper dive into it sometime as well. It is so powerful now.

[@trishf29]

@@Alister_Benn Would love that, Alister. Take care!🇦🇺

[@lesladbrook4508]

I really enjoyed this tutorial thank you Alister, it really opened my eyes to how Silver Effects works and I will be investigating it on my images, I didn't realise the power it had. I had already purchased it but was struggling a bit. Thanks again :-)

[@iaincphotography6051]

Very enjoyable Alister, cheers.

[@swissheartydogs]

“a gentle touch is usually going to give you the best results”, also a leadership lesson, full of Human Intelligence. Many thanks Alister!

[@1958zed]

Informative video. Do you normally stick with global adjustments as you did in this video, or do you also do local adjustments with masks in your B&W processing?

[@Alister_Benn]

No, I usually use a lot of local adjustments, but in this video I liked to stick to global to get across the importance of a few of the key variables rather than further confusing the issue with local.

[@scottsoutter7271]

Excellent to see you walk through the choices you make processing the photo. Thank you.

[@Alister_Benn]

My pleasure! Many thanks

[@tomniblick7365]

Thanks for your insights. We think and approach black and white in a similar manner. While I appreciate some of the modern ‘crush the blacks’ style, my roots go back to large format zone system and find that tonality far more satisfying.

[@danevarkevisser4670]

Thanks Alister for an informative and well presented video. This is one of those images that works well in both colour and monochrome. It reminded me of just how stunningly beautiful the Himalaya region is. Takes me back to many great walks there and in the Karakoram. What surprises me is that we see so little landscape photography from that part of the world and yet when it comes to mountains and landscapes there is not much that compares to it.

[@Alister_Benn]

Glad you enjoyed it Yeah, I lived in Tibet for 7 years and never tired of those huge mountains, even though half the time you're exausted and feel a bit crap! I need to dig out a lot more of my archive from there, I gave a lot!!

[@danevarkevisser4670]

@@Alister_Benn Yes, speaking from experience, the effects of altitude sickness is not a lot of fun. But if you can get past that, by god, what stunning scenery!

[@julianpaxton5750]

Thanks . Nice video.

[@AndrewCooperPhotography]

Nice explantation of how to convert and make an expressive photograph rather than follow the herd. I can whole heartdly endorse the series of books, opened my eyes to processing my images.

[@Alister_Benn]

Awesome, thank you so much

[@RT039]

Thanks for the video. Doesn't the 9 zones refer to the Ansel Adams zones?

[@280bunny]

Close call between the B&W and the original colour image, whilst I love B&W, for me on this occasion I would rather have the colour version on my wall!

[@Narsuitus]

Two computer upgraded ago, I lost my Silver Efex software. Based on your video, your Silver Efex has useful features that were not available in my older version. I will have to find an updated version.

[@Alister_Benn]

Since DXO bought it from Google they have been revamping it extensively.

[@JeffUnderwoodUK]

Yes, the book is very good.

[@Alister_Benn]

Thank you ❤️

[@swissheartydogs]

Sometimes a warmer voice is perfect to highlight the shapes refined by Black & White 😉

[@TimvanderLeeuw]

In this day and age, the choice to shoot with black and white film (or sensor) is itself a creative choice. It’s a conscious creative choice to pick the medium that has this limitation, rather than it being a limitation inherent to the medium.

[@Alister_Benn]

Yes, that is a huge distinction. It is akin to choosing to have a black and white tv instead of a 60" flat screen! :-)