Black and White

Shot with PX600 Silver Shade

I just spent a couple of weeks in England, and the gloomy, short days, really got me in the mood for shooting black and white. After some practice, I decided to put together a list of the five top things I learned while shooting b&w:

1.When shooting black and white, the shapes in your scene are very important, because in high contrast, they will tend to stand out. Watch for diagonal lines (and/or other opportunities) to build drama and guide the viewer's eye. Keep an eye on textures, shadows and highlights ~ use them to your advantage whenever possible, and avoid them when they might be too distracting.

2.Watch also for the negative space (white) and try to create a nice balance between shape x negative space, foreground x background, black x white.

3.Grays can be pure magic. Achieving beautiful grays is part of working out a good exposure setting. If you overexpose your shot, for example, you will get more whites and loose a lot of the detail in your grays. Try also to find a good balance of blacks, whites and grays, to avoid creating a flat image (with too much gray and no high points).

4.Gloomy days are great for dreamy, soft, B&W images, because they are low in contrast and allow you to get a better range of tones.

5.Nostalgia, sadness, loneliness and all sort of deep emotions are really emphasized in b&w. Use that to your advantage in the creative process. Push the mood with your medium.

How about you? Any b&w tips you would like to share today? How about some b&w images? We'd love to see.

Comments

[Marcie]

Here's one that's not exactly black and white...but very monochrome. And - what you say about contrast and range of grey tones is most applicable and important here:
http://marciescudderstudios.squarespace.com/home/2011/12/15/she-flies.html

Love your dreamy image - by the way!

[Caryn]

Thank you for sharing such great tips and insights regarding the art of b&w. A recent favorite of mine: http://instamaticgratification.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/396/

[ibkc]

B&W is great for shooting double exposures ( if you're a filmie ). The best way to do this is to underexpose what you want to dememphasize and expose normally what you want to stand out. Flickr user Mark Entwhisle is an absolute master of traditional film double exposures.

Then there's Photoshop layer blending but I can't get as excited about that. It's nice but ...........

[Ana Eugenio]

I've started loving black and white when I added a little bit of sepia to make those pictures look older. your photo is so cool :)

[Sherry]

Lately I've taken more black & white shots - just for their simplicity and when too much color can be distracting. Of course the trick of leaving a little color sometimes works as well. Just a few of my black & white photos (one HDR black & white too - different result)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42677352@N03/sets/72157628112749703/

[Gotta Run]

oh my goodness, this is such an extremely helpful article which I will refer to time and time again. I am excited on exploring more b&w photography. here's one that i think highlights the shadows and shapes you refer to - i turned into somewhat of an abstract, http://www.flickr.com/photos/gottarun2009/6510455627/in/set-72157627680207920/lightbox/

[lucy]

i am always amazed by the range of tones and power in black and white photography. love your dreamy canal scene, which harkens back to an earlier time. here's my latest:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucyloomis/6510371969

[Veronica]

I have a big love for polaroids and especially black and white. I have not worked with the B&W polaroid film yet, but I'm going to soon. I''m sharing a photo I created this summer. Thanks for the post. I definately agree, the moodiness of a day or a place can really inspire you to shoot some very creative black and whites.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32368901@N02/5848927196/

[Spyros Heniadis]

Wonderful tips.

Though I don't shoot much black and white, I've found clouds make beautiful subjects for black and white photos.

Here is one of my favorites http://www.flickr.com/photos/spyros/6060860898/in/set-72157627348826723

[koreen]

Black and white can be so soft and dreamy and romantic. I love the softer tones and how the light looks as much as color... just a different feeling. If I can, I put each photo through black and white, just to see what it emphasizes, and it can be so beautiful.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/koreenphotography/5970616464/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/koreenphotography/6079624849/

[Christian @ Modobject at Home]

Typically, I love to catch real life moments in black and white, but this still life from this week spoke to me...

http://www.modobjectathome.com/2011/12/745-am-morning-bedside.html

[leaca]

I love shooting portraits in b*w but have a difficult time shooting anything else so I really liked your tips on the matter.

I love shooting high key b*w with really young children (their eyes are my favorite) and when you have someone older with them in the photo you can see the effect it can produce.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leacayoung/6335682888/in/photostream

babies high key are my favorite.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leacayoung/3634766108/in/set-72157603612977770

here are a few of my favorite b*w portraits...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leacayoung/2749617923/in/set-72157603612977770/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leacayoung/4180269155/in/set-72157603612977770

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leacayoung/2628872869/in/set-72157603612977770

[Holly {Soupatraveler}]

I sometimes find when shooting documentary style images, converting to black and white puts more emphasis on the action of a shot that color would take away from. here's one from a street festival i shot back in october: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soupatraveler/6463712729/

[beatsby]

http://www.snowboots100.com/
http://www.chiflatiron4u.com/
http://www.chiironusa4u.com/
http://www.beatsbydreusa4u.com/
http://www.monsterbeatsusa4u.com/
http://www.monsterbeatsbydreheadphone.com/

[Uggs on sale]

http://www.uggbootssalea.co.uk/
http://www.uggbootsclearance.uk.com/
http://www.uggbootsclearance.uk.com/ugg-jimmy-choo-boots
http://www.uggbootsclearance.uk.com/ugg-boots-metallic-classic-short
http://www.uggbootssaleu.uk.com/
http://www.uggbootssaleu.uk.com/ugg-boots-bailey-button
http://www.uggbootssaleu.uk.com/ugg-boots-classic-tall