Clip or not to clip?

[thefonz78]

I've read some conflicting advice regarding black and white converting. Should i clip the shadows and highlights slightly so you have pure black and pure white in the image? I'm entering images digitally to camera club comps but don't want to be marked down for clipping. I think they do look better clipped when in black and white. What does everyone here think?

[Markulous]

I think most shots benefit from having a White Point and a Black Point but that pre-supposes a balance of luminance and colour

[MattUK]

I feel that clipping is a slightly misunderstood attribute of a photograph. A lot of people think that if a histogram shows clipping, the image isn't right. However the point of avoiding clipping is to avoid loss of detail in areas where you want detail to be retained.

If an area is pure white or pure black and it doesn't contain detail that's important to the shot, then clip that bad boy like a sheep-shearer on speed.

[Cutter]

Originally Posted by MattUK

I feel that clipping is a slightly misunderstood attribute of a photograph. A lot of people think that if a histogram shows clipping, the image isn't right. However the point of avoiding clipping is to avoid loss of detail in areas where you want detail to be retained.

If an area is pure white or pure black and it doesn't contain detail that's important to the shot, then clip that bad boy like a sheep-shearer on speed.

Spot on Matt, my thoughts entirely.

Check the levels on this pic

[thefonz78]

Thanks guys.