Balancing Black and White & Color Shooting?

[Sirius Glass]

I switch back and forth effortlessly because I use the same speed film for both unless I am shooting waterfalls.
I have two Nikon SLRs, one for C-41 and one for black & white.
Four film backs for the Hasselblads , two for C-41 and two for black & white.
Multiples film holders and Grafmatic 45s for C-41 and black & white, each clearly labeled.

I did not mean to imply that the exposure for a black & white and a C-41 will necessarily be the same. The light meter will be set the same, but the same subject may be exposed differently depending on the shadow detail as well as other factors including filter usage.

 

[benjiboy]

I did not mean to imply that the exposure for a black & white and a C-41 will necessarily be the same. The light meter will be set the same, but the same subject may be exposed differently depending on the shadow detail as well as other factors including filter usage.

I think it has little anything to do with exposure Steve, but more about what makes a successful monochrome picture isn't the same as a colour picture, and I for one find it very hard to "think" in both at the same time, it's like trying to translate in two languages at once.

 

[perkeleellinen]

I find the hardest part is balancing B&W and colour printing. In one you're aiming for the best colour balance and in the other you're aiming for the best contrast. It also feels really weird printing in B&W with a safelight after being in total darkness with RA4 for a long time.

 

[BetterSense]

My solution is simple: just shoot black and white.

I don't think color is going to catch on anyway.

 

[brian steinberger]

My solution is simple: just shoot black and white.

I don't think color is going to catch on anyway.

Explain?

 

[markbarendt]

I think it has little anything to do with exposure Steve, but more about what makes a successful monochrome picture isn't the same as a colour picture, and I for one find it very hard to "think" in both at the same time, it's like trying to translate in two languages at once.

One of the things I started playing with when I got my RB was simply taking one shot B&W and switching backs to shoot exactly the same shot at exactly the same placement with an incident meter at box speed.

What I found is that my best shots normally work well in either black or color. In fact for me it's been hard to find a nice B&W composition that won't work well in color.

 

[Worker 11811]

Explain?

I think that was supposed to be sarcasm.

 

[blockend]

If you look at the work of a photographer like William Eggleston it's almost exclusively 'about' colour. It simply wouldn't have the same impact in B&W, although Eggleston did shoot monochrome in his earlier years. By contrast Ansel Adams' landscapes rely on texture and tone for impact. Some subjects are less clear, a good street photograph can be enhanced by the colours in it, or lessened. Martin Parr's shots work in colour, Tony Ray-Jones covered similar subjects successfully in black and white.

Digital photographers don't have the same problem, they simply desaturate a colour photograph. My response is to shoot black and white but carry a colour body for images that clearly need it. That works out about one roll of C41 or E6 for every four B&W. Others may have an opposite ratio, whatever, I feel a little naked if I don't have colour stock somewhere on me, even if it's in a compact camera.

 

[MDR]

Use C41 color film

and choose the color or lack thereof at the printing stage, Print the color negative on R4 paper for color and on classic B/W paper for B/W. Or use a camera with exchangeable backs Rollei 3003, Zeiss Contarex , the last model Contaflex for 35mm and Hassy, Bronica, Mamiya for Medium format.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Because color can make a composition work that would not work for black & white, I find that switching back and forth between the two when working on a subject forces me to make better compositions in color and push myself to make better compositions in black & white.