Black and White photography provides us with a new way to see the world. But because we see life in color, tapping into this new world can be a bit tricky.
To make it more accessible, I have my camera set up in a way so I can see the preview in monochrome. Technology can be useful even when shooting film, as we can use our smartphone to get an idea of what the image will look like.
In any case, I believe we must think in Black and White from the beginning, and not use it as a last resort to fix a dull color photo.
These are some things I pay attention to when making Black and White images:
Light — this is key in all photography, but even more so in Black and White. We can’t fight light, as we’ll always lose. Go with it instead, embrace whatever conditions you have, and find the images that do work in them.
Contrast — also figure to ground. Subjects that stand out in the frame will always make for much better images. In color photography, we can use color to achieve this, but in a monochrome world, it’s all about the contrast between the whites and the blacks. Prioritize clear subjects over more beautiful but obscure ones.
Mystery — removing colors creates some ambiguity in the image. Images that make you stop and think about what you are looking at are some of my favorites. This can be done in color, but the absence of that information makes it much more effective, as the brain tries to figure the image out.
Deep blacks and bright whites — I try to include something very dark, to the point of almost pure black, and something very bright, almost pure white. Cloudy days are great for this, as I can use the white, bright sky on the top, and the black, dark ground on the bottom. The subject will be somewhere in the middle, a sandwich of grays between the white and the black parts of the frame.
Editability — black and white lets us be more extreme in our treatment of the image: we can crush the blacks and clip the highlights; we can use grain to add texture; we can overexpose and underexpose the negative and still have a compelling image. Very few of these would work well in color photography. Embrace this and look for those images that are hiding behind an unedited layer.
Low light — either at night, or early in the morning. Shooting in these conditions usually means using higher iso values, which are going to add a lot of noise. That noise can ruin a photo in color, but it can work just fine in black and white. Not just that, but it can create very gritty and moody images. Embracing the darkness also comes with a loss of details in the dark areas, which can make the other parts of the frame more visible and clear (see contrast).
Abstraction — make your photos more abstract, more surreal, add some blur, even areas out of focus; all of this works well in Black and White. The lack of color only emphasizes the abstraction, making it more powerful.
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Flying the light is the latest addition to my print series Image of the Month.
I was recently on the Photography Daily Podcast talking to Neil, you can listen to our conversation here: https://www.photographydaily.show/episodes/adrian-vila-photowalk
That’s all for now. Thank you so much for being there, talk to you soon!
Adrian