As I stated in my last post, when color is not the primary feature of your image it can distract your eye from seeing the story and can actually keep your eye from seeing the detail of the image. If only there was a way that we could view our images in black and white to allow us to more clearly see the composition.
Wait, there is a way!
Camera settings:
- Set your file type to RAW (This is a must!)
- Set White Balance as you would for capturing a color image.
- Set your Picture Control (Nikon) or Picture Styles (Canon) to Monochrome
- Set your exposure with whichever method you normally use
- Turn on your Live View
The image on the your LCD will be in Black and White, but you camera will still capture all the color imformation as usual. (I have tested this method on Nikon and Canon, I’m not sure about other brands.)
Use the black and white preview in Live View on your LCD to compose your image, paying special attention to the entire image for forms, lines, shapes and textures.
When you import your RAW files into your image editor (such as Lightroom, which is what I use) it will have all the color information, which is important even if you are going to convert to Black and white.
This method can vary from camera to camera, so it is best to do a test, so you will see how it works on your camera model.
So keep shooting and become color blind.
Bruce Wunderlich Photography 
Bruce, I saw a photograph you had in digital photography school that was in the same order as Ansel Adams. It was of a church steeple with a dramatically dark sky and white washed boards. Do you have any prints of that black and white image?
yes Cheri, yeah I love that image also. I can order prints or canvas prints of that mage. send me an email at baw26@yahoo.com and I will give you pricing. Thanks for reading my post. 🙂