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How to Take the Best Black & White Pictures on a Digital Nikon

Nikon digital cameras can take wonderful color photographs, but sometimes nothing is more effective than the emotional simplicity of a black-and-white print. Digital cameras have a smaller dynamic range than film, meaning their sensor is not capable of capturing as many colors as a piece of standard film. Creating rich, vibrant, black-and-white pictures on a Nikon digital camera is a matter of examining your subject and deciding which settings can be changed to provide the best dynamic range when the image is converted later.

Instructions

- 1
  Set your camera to black and white mode, if possible. Many Nikon digital cameras have a built-in black-and-white mode with options for virtual color filters. This mimics the function of a traditional film camera and allows you to highlight the color spectrum using filters. Press your Menu button, then go to Camera > Picture Controls and set the selection to Monochrome.
- 2
  Compose your image. Take note of any bright spots when you meter and take care not to overexpose your image; highlights where details become lost are difficult to recover in post-processing. Once your image is composed, take your picture.
- 3
  View your picture by pressing the Play button on the back of the camera. The LCD screen will display your monochrome image. If you want to change the areas of emphasis and add a filter to the image, press Menu and go to the Retouch Menu option. This will display in-camera editing options. Select Filter Effects, then select your chosen filter. You will be able to preview your image with the added filter effect.

Photography