Digital Darkrooms: Color vs. B&W

Posted by Hans Rupert on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 in Behind-The-Scenes | 0 comments

Okay, so I just got a gibe about how if one does capture in color with a digital camera, that it still cannot match the quality, tonal range or beauty of B&W film. Once again, I say poppycock! Let’s have a look.

My friend Jim Moore needed a quick shot after hours for a FOID card that he was renewing. As it was too late to go to one of the photo stores’ passport photo setups, he gave me a call, and I obliged. Now, Jim doesn’t like mussing about, so I got to squeeze off exactly two frames before he was bored, and luckily I got not only a pleasant shot he could use for his FOID card, but this one as well. I think he actually likes this one more, as it makes him look tougher than even Clint Eastwood. The problem with that of course, is it doesn’t look nearly as intimidating in color as it does in B&W, so in less than 5 minutes in Lightroom, and I had this result:

A side-by-side comparison of the original in both color and B&W as seen in the Develop module of Lightroom.

The shot setup was as simple as it can get for a 5 minute prep time in the studio: Our stock Thunder Grey seamless, a single Bowens QuaDX head with 15″ Bowens Softlite reflector (a beauty dish + counter reflector) on a Bowens QuaDX 3000 power pack. The exposure was metered at f/11 for ISO100.

Many people ask me just how I get such rich results from Lightroom for my B&W conversions. I won’t be modest here, but 25 years’ experience in the darkroom really helps. I guess I’m lucky to have learned the old way before it was too late, but there are few experiences in the world that compare to pulling prints on graded paper under a cold light in a traditional wet darkroom. After years and years of having to be patient overnight just to see one’s dry-down results, and after awhile you get a knack for it. But just in case you’re wondering where I start, I’ve saved the little recipe I used here for you to play with in Lightroom on your own:

B&W – Grade 3 LR Preset

And, here is a more detailed result of the above preset:

Detailed output of the Lightroom settings described above.

All the posts here in the “Behind The Scenes” section are provided as an insight into the world of the working professional photographer. I try to share these insights to help improve the industry. Sure, there are some tricks to the trade, but there really are no secrets. There is nothing new under the sun. And, I can teach you or anyone all the techniques that I’ve learned from giants that came before me. But, what I can’t teach you is the skill you alone possess: vision.