Why Black and White Photography?

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Why Black and White Photography? 256 SHADES OF GREY BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO GRAPHY Table of Contents Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 4 Why Black and White Photography? ............................................................. 5 Photo Journalism ................................................................................................................ 6 Travel ............................................................................................................................................ 6 Subjects for black and White Photography .......................................... 6 Street ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Landscapes .............................................................................................................................. 7 Architecture ............................................................................................................................. 8 Portraits ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Nudes ........................................................................................................................................... 9 Still Life ........................................................................................................................................ 9 High Key ..................................................................................................................................... 9 Low Key ................................................................................................................................... 10 Silhouettes ........................................................................................................................... 10 Camera Settings ................................................................................................................ 11 Exposure ................................................................................................................................ 11 Aperture ................................................................................................................................. 11 ISO ............................................................................................................................................... 11 File Format ............................................................................................................................ 12 Mono Picture Style ......................................................................................................... 12 Use Lens Filters .................................................................................................................. 12 Polarizing Filter ............................................................................................................... 12 Graduated Neutral Density Filter ............................................................................ 12 Add Selective Colour .................................................................................................... 13 Composition ........................................................................................................................ 14 2 • 256 Shades of Grey Elements of Black and White Photography ....................................... 14 Tone ........................................................................................................................................... 15 Contrast .................................................................................................................................. 16 Shape & Form ..................................................................................................................... 16 Symmetry .............................................................................................................................. 17 Patterns ................................................................................................................................... 18 Texture ..................................................................................................................................... 18 Atmosphere ......................................................................................................................... 19 Detail ........................................................................................................................................ 19 Dark and Gloomy Days ................................................................................................ 20 Low Light Conditions ................................................................................................... 20 Photo Editing ....................................................................................................................... 21 Colour to Black and White Conversion ............................................................ 21 Destructive Conversion ............................................................................................... 21 Non-destructive Conversion ..................................................................................... 23 Corrective Enhancements ......................................................................................... 25 Dodge/Burn ...................................................................................................................... 25 Brightness/Contrast ...................................................................................................... 25 Threshold .......................................................................................................................... 26 Hue/Saturation/Lightness .......................................................................................... 26 Blur/Sharpen .................................................................................................................... 27 Cloning ............................................................................................................................... 28 Healing ............................................................................................................................... 28 Graining ............................................................................................................................. 28 Selective Colour .............................................................................................................. 29 3 • 256 Shades of Grey Introduction If you only have a single hue in your photo, as opposed to all of the colours that the subject of your photo is actually composed of, you will have produced a monochrome photo. You will often see monochrome photos in sepia that try and depict the early types of photography. Monochrome photography also includes black and white photography with all the 256 shades of grey between black and white. 4 • 256 Shades of Grey Why Black and White Photography? So why would you want to take black and white photographs when colour photography is so rich and natural looking? There are several reasons, one of which is that without colour there are fewer distractions, enabling you and the viewer to concentrate on the subject in your photo. If there is a dominant colour somewhere in the photo for your eyes to focus on, you will not necessarily see what the photographer wanted you to see. The subtlety of tones in a black and white photograph can express atmosphere, mood and give your photo “soul”, something which is not so easy to portray in colour. One of the ways to improve your compositional skills is to take black and white photos and study critically as to whether the composition is appealing. Good composition follows the rule of thirds, has leading lines, diagonals and patterns. It’s much easier to see these compositional factors in black and white, without the added confusion of colours. In a studio, shooting in black and white lets you more easily see where the highlights and shadows fall on your subject from the studio lighting. This can allow you to reposition your lighting for a better effect and which can often look classical. Black and white photography is certainly a change from colour photography as nearly everyone these days produces high definition colour images. Specialising in black and white photography can make your work stand (Photograph by http://www.123rf.com/ out and be more instantly recognizable. photo_12637925_retro-style-image-smoking-lady-in- the-bar.html) Of course, there is down side to black and white photography too. Opponents of this type of photography say that the images can lack life, look pretty much the same and often portray only a negative mood, and never a positive one. 5 • 256 Shades of Grey Subjects for black and White Photography Bearing the reasons in mind for black and white photography, what kind of subjects would benefit from being shot in black and white? Photo Journalism Without a doubt, number one in the list of black and white photography subjects has to be photo journalism. It is ideal for portraying atmosphere, drama and mood (Photograph by http://www.123rf.com/photo_22434135_hong- while allowing you to focus on the subject that is being kong-democracy-parade.html) photographed, without being distracted by colour. Sometimes tragic images are so confronting
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