Up until this point I have been more of a film shooter for weddings. A little digital shooting but more for commercial purposes. I am in the process of switching to all digital for weddings. But I have a couple of really dumb questions.

Here is the issue: When I shoot film I shoot both Color and B/W. I have 2 cameras that I switch between. One has color film and one has b/w. As I shoot I get a visual image in my head of the shot in b/w or color. Therefore, it had already been decided for me if the image was going to be B/W or Color. With digital I see everything in color and it is hard for me to make choices in postproduction about what should be color and what should go B/W. Any thoughts on how ya'll decide? Does any one understand what I am talking about? I guess with film I know if the image is going to be color or b/w. With digital the image is in color and so the postproduction gets a little overwhelming sometimes.

At what point in the workflow process should the images be changed to B/W?

Well for us, we usually pick out our favorites from a wedding and change them to BW if that is what we think they need, or we cross/process, or whatever we think would like to do.
And all the rest we just color correct and send to Pictage, and from there the client can choose BW, Color or Sepia. Some of our clients are all artistic and love BW and others love color!! Pictage is great because we don't lock them into just color.
Also by shooting everything digi we get them in color and aren't stuck with BW if we don't want it. It also allows us to shoot 2,500 to 4,000 images a wedding w/o worrying about film running out. And that doesn't even cover the cost effectivness of digi!!!!
Tricia

I ditto Tricia

why is b/w associated with "artistic"-- I think that notion is foolish, but something the public, our consumers often hold to be true. Though I think that is a question for another post.

b/w or color, a photojournalists' perspective:
it comes down to content over form. does the color destract from the content. if so, then monochrome is your answer. Color does NOT make a photograph and similarly, because it is monochrome the picture does not all the sudden become amazing.

At the paper everything is shot color, color corrected and toned in color even though it could end up on a non-color page. The only work that I have in my portfolio that is a picture story. I had it in color for a long time, but I connected to it better in monochrome and showed it to some peers and they agreed. I think in that case the color destracted.

I'd be interested in other shooters opinion's on b/w.

my monochrome picture story, take a look:
http://public.fotki.com/spokenword/portfolio_story_2/

Hey Kerie,

Here's what I do:

As you go through your images, RELIVE all those wonderful moments - it'll help if you go through them at full screen in the order the events occurred and while your memory is still fresh from the shoot.

Put on some soothing music, grab a cup of coffee, REALLY immerse yourself into the images and feel again with your heart how you visualize that moment. Don't dwell, do it instinctively and you'll have a blast! Your work is wonderful btw!

Thankyou for all the advice. It has been really helpful. I am so ready to get this wedding from last weekend up on Pictage. I just need to learn to relax and enjoy postproduction. The problem is I don't sit still very well.

Garrett, I love b/w because I think it is so timeless and I feel like sometimes the viewer is able to focus more on the people in the photograph and what they are all about. In some shoots it allows me to feel like I am seeing into the heart of someone.

Kerie-

thanks for sharing why you connect with b/w. That's really awesome that b/w could enable you encounter their heart!

I agree with you, it does feel timeless and there is an instant nostalgia factor when you encounter monochrome work. is this because our predacessors on glass plates only had b/w? or is there more beyond the context of its origins? I bet there is and I'm sure some of you out there have a grasp on it... please share.

Kerie,

For me B&W is one of the most time consuming parts of post productions. Many photos are great in color or B&W, so I find myself debating which is best. I just post both and let the customer decide. The other factor and to me the most time consuming is there are many different ways to convert a photo to B&W. Each has it merits but what works great on one photo may not work on the next. As a result photoshop actions are out of the question and I end up having to eyeball each and every one that I convert. I think this is why I don't do more B&W.

If any has found a faster (consistant) way to output B&W I'd love to hear it.