Digital BW, The Print

jackperk wrote:

> All,
>
> I was told once that a useful workflow is to shoot color film to
> produce B&W prints . . . that that procedure offers more control than
> shooting B&W originally.

Depends on how you define control...

It will force you to shoot in a narrower tonal range, that is for certain..

You may also find decreased contrast and increased speckling...

On the other hand.. It gives you more options v\ufffds color to tone 
mapping.. i.e. you can choose the Red, Green, Blue Channel, or some 
composite.. Kinda like using a colored filter when shooting B&W...


>
> Two questions:
>
> 1. Do you agree? What is your experience with such workflow?

No, I prefer shooting B&W film for B&W scans..

>
> 2. What do you then find the best way to translate the color to B&W? 

Depends on the image...

Sometimes drop the color info or desaturate..

Sometimes choose one channel..

Sometimes scan a color image as a B&W scan.. (which actually averages 
the RGB values in my Polaroid film scanners)

I also have one or two very good plug-ins that offer controlled conversion..

I will be very interested to see the opinions of others as well..

I still shoot a good volume of Kodak High Speed Infrared emulsion, so 
that may bias me somewhat..

Keith