Today I want to share some tips on shooting the best possible black and white photos as possible. There are some important things you should know, that I will discuss here.
Let’s begin with the first good tip: Shoot in RAW
Im aware of that many readers of DPS are unable to shoot in RAW (simply because their camera doesn’t support it). It could of course also be because they just don’t know how to, or even like it for that matter. The reason why you should shoot in RAW is the fact that is that it offers you the most control in the post production phase, when you are about to convert your photos from color to black and white. If your camera does support RAW, then flick it on please. Of course it will work if you shoot normal JPEG`s as well, but like I said, there are some advantages to RAW, so please give it a try, you will be surprised with the results I think.
If there no other option available: shoot in Color
Shoot in Color if you can’t use RAW, and then just do the conversion later on your computer. If you’re good on photo editing, it can still turn out pretty good.
Cameras that offer you to shoot straight into black and white is fine, but you should shoot color first. It gives you more control over your end results if you have the color data to begin with, and then let your computer do your conversion job. Besides isn’t it logical that your computer will do a better job for this?
Next tip up is to use a low ISO!
Turn down your ISO settings to the lowest possible. Many of you hobby photographers are maybe familiar with this practice already, from when you shoot your normal color pictures. This is in fact especially important to do, when you want to have black and white photos.
Because black and white images can create a lot of noise in your picture created by ISO, so if you turn down your ISO, then this noise will be less obvious. If you want a picture with some noise or grain, than you can always add this later in post production, using a photo editing program like for instance Photoshop. Whatever you do here, remember that its always harder to go the other way, and take noise out.
When to shoot?
People with a little experience with digital photography, will prefer to shoot images for black and white, in low contrast situations. A perfect opportunity can therefore be to shoot on a dark or overcast day. One humours thing about this, is that this is usually when you would complain about poor lighting, when you take you’re normal color photos. Wait on some dark or gloomy days, and take some excellent black and white pictures!
Light and shadow are of course important
Light and shadows is really everything a black and white photograph consists of. Needless to say that it is important to take good advantage of these things. Experiment with different qualities of light and shadow. A good tip is to take pictures of the same scene at different times of the day, and watch for how the lighting changes, and adds or subtracts mood into the pictures. For example, take a picture of a fence on a bright day, and take another picture of the same fence on a foggy day.
The Background
Make sure the background does not distract from your subject, I take great caution in this myself. Try moving your subject a few feet to the right or left is usually all that you need to eliminate unnecessary elements from your photograph. If that doesn’t work, then you could try taking the picture from a different angle.
Composition
Most of the general tips on how to compose or frame a good shot apply just as well to black and white photography as they do when shooting in color. However there are some main obvious differences that you should be aware of. Remember that you’re unable to use color to lead the eye into or around your shot. What this means, is that you need to need to train yourself to look at shapes, tones and textures in your frame as points of interest. Pay particularly attention to shadows and highlights which will become a feature of your shot.
Subject
Choose your subject carefully, and with some thought. One common error is to pick a subject, and find out that some subjects that look interesting in color look dull in black-and-white. On the other hand, black-and-white can create an unexpectedly intimate portrait or transform a simple scene into a dramatic moment.
A popular black and white type of subject is people. Photographs of people look especially good in black-and-white. More and more people are actually having their wedding pictures taken in black-and-white, because it makes the photographs look timeless and therefore more romantic. When you’re in a festive or exciting place, your first instinct might be to take color pictures, but if you’ve ever seen a black-and-white photograph of a man kissing a woman on a beach, you know how much more compelling a black-and-white photograph can be. Black-and-white photographs of children and babies are also very beautiful and sentimental.
When you’re taking black-and-white photographs of people, be careful about how they are dressed. They should be dressed simply and in solid colors, not in prints. The fewer the elements in a black-and-white photograph, the more dreamy or dramatic it will be.
Buildings, landscapes, and other scenes are also valuable subjects in black-and-white photography. Keep an eye out for the unexpected. The way the light falls on a table, the shadow of a bicycle on the ground, or the swaying of a tree in the wind could be the subject of your next black-and-white masterpiece.
Photo by: Dave Beckerman
