There has been a dialogue, ever since the first colour movie canister rolled off the manufacturing line, about whether or not black and white is extra timeless than colour. If you requested me that 10 years in the past, once I was knee-deep in a number of of the greatest Nikon cameras of the time, solely taking pictures colour, I might have mentioned: “Of course not, we all see in color.”
However, now I’m a bit older – and possibly wiser? I’ve fallen in love with black and white photography for that “timeless look” and it appears to be like like one thing totally different in a world filled with colour. I now shoot 95% of my work in black and white. Because of the course of, it helped save my greatest DSLR in my package, the Nikon D800 from the scrap heap and grew to become a digicam that I actually get pleasure from utilizing once more.
Panoramic of a quarry in Cornwall, UK (Image credit score: Future / Sebastian Oakley)
Now earlier than anybody begins, I perceive this isn’t a “true” monochrome taking pictures expertise, which might see a digicam have its Bayer filter eliminated. My black and white settings are only a jpeg preset – however with a twist!
I’ve at all times been a giant advocate of utilizing Kelvin white steadiness settings to get the sharpest pictures attainable, however I’ve at all times set my personal picture profile settings to in digicam. – and these two mixed give me a glance I actually wished for my black and white photography.
I perceive these are simply jpeg settings, however in the event you get it proper in-camera then you haven’t any modifying to do later. That’s a win-win in my e-book. It additionally made me take this now 12-year-old digicam again out of retirement, reasonably than ending up on the scrap heap, or worse the dreaded show shelf! Sorry to my first Nikon D2H that is at present on the mentioned shelf all battered and bruised as a show trophy of my photography profession.
Heart of stone by Sebastian Oakley (Image credit score: Future / Sebastian Oakley)
Since shifting to the Leica M-system, my trusty Nikon D800 that travelled the world with me hadn’t been picked up in over two years.
While I say it’s saved from the scrap heap, I’ve had a behavior of maintaining all my outdated cameras till they do not activate anymore. Like the Nikon D1 I’ve. Yes, I nonetheless have the very first Nikon digital digicam ever made. I am unable to even use it as I’ve no battery charger to cost the battery anymore. It’s 25 years outdated and I nonetheless have not thrown it away but!
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But switching my D800 right into a B&W picture preset of my personal making (adjusting distinction, grain, saturation, and sharpness from the authentic Mochochrome setting constructed into the Nikon D800) made me wish to decide up this clunky DSLR extra. Now I’m happy to say that it is in a continuing rotation of cameras I’m going out to make use of on a weekly foundation.
Old trade by Sebastian Oakley (Image credit score: Future / Sebastian Oakley)
So let this be a lesson to all, if in case you have cameras of yester-year mendacity round why not take them out of retirement and use them for one thing you by no means used to shoot them for, or just begin taking pictures in black and white as I did – it is a very surreal expertise, having fun with tools that you simply had lengthy forgotten about and discovering new use for it.
I extremely advocate it. It has stored my Nikon D800 alive 12 years on, and sparked a brand new curiosity in my photography, profitable throughout in my e-book, and better of all it did not price me a single penny to do!
