While both camera and monitor manufacturers are consistently developing to bring us better colour images, the modest black-and-white photograph is just as popular as ever before. Often regarded as the purest form of photography, it focuses attention on the fundamentals of a great photo: texture, contrast, shape and - of course - great lighting.Converting your images to black-and-white is a pretty simple process, but if you’re really keen on getting the best results from your black-and-white photography, these simple-to-follow tips will help you get more out of your camera....
1 Graphic shapes and contrast
Simple and graphic shapes are always very effective subjects for black-and-white images. You should look out for high-contrast subjects, which contain strong blacks and bright highlights that will provide maximum impact.
2 Detail and texture
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Both of these elements can produce subtle images that maintain the viewer’s interest. Soft, diffuse light in shady or cloudy conditions will allow you to capture the maximum amount of detail in the subject, while harsh, high-contrast light (such as direct sunlight) will reveal more texture.
3 Simple and strong composition
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As there are no colours to help add impact, black and white photography is often more successful if you use simple compositional elements such as leading lines or foreground objects in your images. Also look out for scenes with a strong focal point, but remember that its impact will rely on contrast, rather than colour.
4 Contrast is Your Friend!
Traditionally, black and white
photography has been a contrasty medium. In color photography, big contrast is
often discouraged. In the days of film, we often would attach a red filter when
shooting black and white, just to increase the contrast. In this example,
because of the large boulder, the bald skies of Alabama Hills go very dark,
thus making the boulder visibly pop. Looking under the boulder, you can see the
heavy shadow, telling you it’s a contrasty condition.
5 Flat
Light has Lots to Offer
6 Black
Makes White Brighter
7 Gotta
Have a Clean White and a Clean Black
If there is one thing you need in a
B&W photo, if nothing else, it is a clean white and a clean black. Is this
a rule? No, it is merely a starting point in your thinking, capturing and
finishing a photo. Without a clean black and a clean white, you have what is
called a “muddy” image. This means you simply have a bunch of shades of gray.
In this photo of the Bodie Lighthouse, the only clean white is the post of
light (and that was created in post), and the only clean black is the roof. But
that’s enough for you to notice all of the texture in the image. If your
B&W images just don’t seem to have real zing, it could simply be a case of
no clean blacks and no clean whites.
8 Exposure
is Your Friend
In the game of black and white
photography, filters still make a world of difference! The polarizer can be
used, unconventionally, to darken the sky, which in B&W creates big-time
black drama. The split grad can be used for the same purpose, as you see in
this photo of Ausable Chasm in NY. The mist from the falls was the photo, but
to bring this out, its brightness needed to be set against something dark. By
using a .9 (3 stop) split grad turned severely to the left, darkening the left
corner, the mist could visually pop. There is no doubt that you have to think
B&W when you do this, because you wouldn’t have taken the photo if the end
results were to be in color. How do you develop an eye to see this? You do it a
lot, and learn from you successes as well as your failures. If you don’t have
failures, you know you’re not trying!
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