Black and White photography?

Question

I have a camera and I take photos quite often, although it is possibly too advanced for my level of skill. My photos are nothing stunning, and the few rare good snaps I do get are probably flukes. That being said, I am far from incompetent and am trying to learn as much as I can.
My question is; I have been told that there is a special 'knack' to black and white photography (as there is to macro photography, and I assume, most photographic methods), anyway...
I was told that the key to black and white photography is to have pure black and pure white and all the shades inbetween, so, essentially, it needs tone. Many monochrome photos are beautiful, and I think even mine are quite nice. Theres just something about black and white! *But* apparently they are not quite 'right'.
So, I would like to learn how to improve my black and white photography. Any tips for achieving the aforementioned effect?
Thanks!! :)

Answer 1

You can achieved black and white with your camera just fine. You could either changed the mode to black and white, or changed the color later in your computer into black and white. Fluke is fine, as long as you learn from it - what you did right and what you did wrong. Writing down notes on how you took the picture, when, and all the info that you think is useful write it down - unless, you have good memories and able to remember what you did. Sometimes I have to write it down myself, but since I have a bit of a good memory and experiences, I seldom do, but I do remember what I did.



Without samples of what you have done, can't really comment on how you can improve or what went correctly. Since you have a DSLR, you can go on a shooting assignments. When taking pictures you need to developed skill so that you can mentally see things in tones of black and white and gray. Most photographers have that skills, as well as able to see composition in their head.



Composition, composition, composition... without it, images just suck. If you can get a hold on photography books (libraries should have them), try to get them. You can learn by looking at good examples.



Your assignment - shoot around where ever you can - look for light and shadows. Here are some good examples of it:

Feet and Chair, Teresa #2, #3, Julia with guitar



http://www.paulpolitis.com/bwgallery/people/



Shadows and light: (A good example of ABSTRACT - "Kitchen Sink")



http://www.paulpolitis.com/bwgallery/objects/



Playground at Night, Regal



http://www.paulpolitis.com/bwgallery/night/



Abstraction



http://www.paulpolitis.com/bwgallery/nudes/



[ADDITION:



http://www.paulpolitis.com/bwgallery/objects/default.asp?p=2&f1=&f2=



"Longing" is NOT a good example of light and shadows, just want to clarify that not all things with shadows is in reference to the "light and shadows" I'm talking about. "Windowsill" is a GOOD example, though. ]





Look at those images and see why they are working. You have compositions, light and shadows, a bit of abstracts. With those in mind, go take a lot of pictures and think of those 3 things and a lot of with the abstract. With abstract, you are looking for shapes, lines, shadows and light...

Composition - think of not including unnecessary background, think of not just putting everything in the middle (more interesting if they are not so balance), more details by getting really close can be interesting.

It's digital, so, it's wouldn't cost you to take a lot of pictures. Then you can edit it in your computer. But you want to barely change the picture where it becomes not the real picture. Make notes till you don't need to anymore. Look at the actual image and how it appears in black and white.



After you learned those techniques, you could start learning about shutter speeds, ISO, aperture, and among other things. One step at a time, and soon you'll learn all you want.

Answer 2

With black and white photography, you need high contrast. Green is a neutral color and shows up as middle grey. Don't take a lot of photos with landscapes unless there is a lot a light shining on the scenery or light colored objects such as flowers or buildings in your frame.



You may also want to get a hold of a book of photos by Ansel Adams and study his work. His photographs are stunning and have a lot of contrast. You can see how he uses light.



You can also try to adjust your exposure. bump it 0.5-1.5 notches if you need more light or down if you need less light.



Get a good photography program for you computer and do any final touching up that you need then. I'm fairly new to computers and my digital camera, but I still use 35ml black and white film since I feel I have more control in my own darkroom. I get great results with infrared photography and I don't know if it can do that on my digital camera yet. With infrared, living things are warmer, such as trees, flowers and people.



You might want to take a 3 credit introductory to digital photography or B & W phtography course at your local community college. That's what I plan on doing this fall.



Good luck! I love B & W photography more than color. But then that may change when I learn more about digital photography.

Answer 3

You need to increase the contrast at the time of capture. One way photographers do this is through exposure, and another way is through filters. There is a book you can read that will help you better understand filters it's called "The Photographer's Guide to Filters". Anyways, in black and white photography color filters are used to help increase contrast. Each color filter does 2 things, it lightens it's own color and darkens the opposite color. If you are photographing a scene with the sky in it and want the clouds to "pop" you can use either a red or yellow filter. Red will give you a more dramatic effect and make the sky darker so the clouds stand out more, but you have to be careful because it will also cause any other blues in the image to also be extremely dark. As with anything in photography knowing what to use and when to use it takes time and practice. If you don't already have a set of colored filters, I would recommend going and getting a couple.

Answer 4

One thing I did that I felt improved my B&W photography was to sit down with some B&W movies, and deconstruct every scene as the movie progressed. It took several hours for each movie, but I looked at how the scene was apparently lit, what props made the scene work (or not) what tones showed the best, and what showed the worst. I do the same with B&W mags. I don't just look at pretty pictures, I deconstruct them, and see what makes them visually appealing, or why not. Personally I tend to prefer a higher contrast than average, and a good tonal range from black to white is a must. Composition becomes even more critical when you take away color. Experiment with different papers and developers, and even try alternative techniques like lith developer, sepia tone, cyanotype etc. and you still can get some really interesting images

Answer 5

If you learn to think in black and white though it can be instinctive and easy. Some of the best scenes are ones with interesting textures, shapes, forms, and ones with interest to them (even if it’s completely simple like a stick or some rocks). You don’t need to be in an epic location either. Even your back yard could contain objects that show a great deal of interest in black and white, like the rust of a worn out garden tool, the texture of some scattered rocks, or the shape of a flower. Experiment with close ups and peculiar angles in these situations, as they can exaggerate the lines or shape you wish to show.



Also be on the look out for moods and feelings. If taken correctly, these can be some of the most interesting and powerful photos you’ll ever take. In a cold scene for instance, black and white can be perfect to portray a sad or depressing mood. Due to the lack of colour and detail, mystery can also be shown nicely in black and white. And of course, love and romance can be show with great passion thanks to its simple nature. The first image, titled ‘fly away with me’ combines both mystery and romance. Not only is the scene unique and timelessly romantic, but also the silhouetted nature suggests an untold story, and also has the potential to be anyone.



The key to a successful black and white photo is the overall feel. It can be difficult at first but soon enough you’ll see potential black and white shots all over the place. If you do see a great mono shot, get into the habit of shooting both a colour and black and white photo of it, so if it doesn’t look as good on the screen as it did through your eyes you also have a colour one as fallback. Also remember that just about every photo editing program has the ability to change your photo to black and white. It’s always great to experiment with any colour photos that you think have black and white potential.

Answer 6

Your much better off converting from a colour picture to B&W in Photoshop, all the information for any style of conversion is there in the clour pictures file.



Shoot in Raw and open in 16bit files then you can really pull these files around without going beyond the data.



Some contributers talk about using red, green or blue filters which is very 'old school' (which is how I was taught over 40 years ago), but it is uneccessary as any colour picture is a composite of 3 B&W one shot through a red filter, one through the blue and one through the green, these are combined to give the colour image. The individual red, green and blue pictures are available in the Channels Pallette, these can form the start of you B&W conversion.



This PDF give a few of the more usual B&W conversions in Photoshop there are dozens of ways;-



http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/pdfs/phs8bwconversion.pdf



It doesnt stop with the basic conversion though if you work in 16bit mode, you can use the Lasoo Tool to select an area, say the sky, feather lots, and then use a Levels Adjustment Layer to darken or lighten the sky to bring out cloud detail everything from a dark and moody 'Gothic' style to a light and Airy High Key style and everything in between, the tool will just work on your selection. You can then go on to do the same with other parts of your image. In other words you can control the effect in all parts of you image separately to get just the effect you want.



This video shows the basic technique for a high contrast B&W, but it can work for low key just as easily.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jykn0b6Etk



Chris

Answer 7

Good things: They offer the challenge to test the photographer's habilities. B&W is a different language than Color Wheneve ryou supress color, the observer's attention focus on real details therefore the photography "must" provide a better quality for the technique about playing with lights and shadows. Althought you may pass from color to B&W by using Photoshop, there is still the challenge to reach for a high quality B&W photo.

Answer 8

Perhaps a film camera in the near future?

Used Yashica Mat G 120 camera and learning how to develop film?

Look at the masters of this, Adams to start with.



Now I will have to see how my digitals do monochorme..

To much fun doing things in the darkroom with film so have not tried the digital world for it yet.

Answer 9

Two things:



I do not advise anyone to capture black and white directly when using a digital camera as usually.. its not good. The best bet is to capture in RAW and use photoshop to convert it (manually) to black and white.



Last things:



Black and white film are quite a good medium when doing black and white [hotography

Answer 10

There is no short cut to photography it is just hard work and perseverance. There is no one single method to hone your skill set.

You can start of with any thing and try and get it perfect Once you feel the perfection is come in thats when you need to explore new things and experiment.

Answer 11

i find it easier to get darker tones with an ordinary camera and develop the film yourself...when putting it on paper you can let it soak in developer for longer or shorter and changes the darkness of blacks and whites etc..

with a digital camera, maybe change the brightness or focus it so its just a tiny bit out so itss not so sharp. i'm no pro so don't use it against me

Answer 12

To get a feel for the tonal range of B&W film, take one of your converted color/digital shots and see if you can find 10 shades of grey, that's 2^10 or 1024 discrete levels of brightness.

Answer 13

a digital camera is not effective in b&w photography. best cameras to use are "old school" nikon F/F2 for b&w. you have to match everything manually & get the right DEPTH. also, develop your own photos so you can dodge them so that you can get full contrasts between dark and lighter tones

Answer 14

I too like to shoot in B&W as you have described.

I am on http://www.redbubble.com/ which apart from being totally free, has helped me a lot.



You can then join groups like this one.

http://www.redbubble.com/groups/a-group-with-no-color



Shooting in RAW is a MUST.

Also, shoot in colour, THEN convert to B&W in your programme, not in camera.



Below is a link to a tutorial, which I hope you will find useful.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/melinda/journal/2937518-a-tutorial-on-how-i-convert-my-colour-to-bandw



Hope this helps, and if you join redbubble, message me and I will send you a link to my profile on there.

Answer 15

getting a pure black is the key....dont need pure white....just pure black....play around with red, green, blue, yellow etc filters!...read up about the filters and the effects that they have on a b&w print...

like this site...

http://www.photography101.org/basics/lens_filters_explained.html

hope this helps!