Digital Photography

Have you ever noticed how some black and white photos just stand out? And when you go to try and take the same kind of photo it just doesn’t do the same thing?

There are a couple of starting pointers that I want to share with you about black and white photography with a digital camera. The first thing I can tell you is that to make a good black and white photo you must have good texture. Texture, or what something is made of, seems to be enhanced with grey scale.

Certain textures, such as natural textures seem to respond well in black and white. Black and white is all about capturing a sense of the dramatic, so if your subject has texture that is naturally dramatic, then you have the first step to a good b&w photo. Textures such as wood grain, stark metal, repeated patterns in nature such as waves or spirals seem to work well in black and white.

With black and white, try to keep some symmetry in your texture. Its easier to create stunning black and white photos when you have symmetry in your texture because it can sometimes be lost in color. Symmetrical textures in black and white are consistently beautiful and offer something the eye cannot capture as well when working in color.

Grey scale is not just the absence of color, or everything taken in shades of grey. To understand and master black and white photography with your digital you must understand the concept of grey scale.

Grey scale is a spectrum of black, lots of grey and white, like the colours of a rainbow but in a series of black and white and grey tones. You see a black and white photo is not really only black and white; it is actually lots of different shades and different depths of grey. So when we talk about grey scale it just means the way we measure tones of grey. Included in the grey scale is of course black and white.

This sounds odd to say, but when finding what looks good in black and white you can start with high contrasting colors in your every day subjects at home. Stark colours such as red, deep purples and bright yellows can make a really good starting point. With bold colours such as these, your camera will interpret them differently. It’s almost as if the camera leaves out what the eye distinguishes as that particular color and keeps the intensity there. I won’t go into the technical jargon now, but for now, just try experimenting on those colors. If you can’t find these colors around your home, try going out into the garden and taking flowers that have these colors, or go to a nursery, plant store or public gardens.

You see black and white is not just ‘no colour’. Its so much more, so much deeper then that. The purpose of black and white nowadays (as opposed to when it was the standard and people had no choice) is that it creates a sense of stillness in time, and with the right perspective, a great story.

Best wishes,

Amy Renfrey

• Start with raw, natural materials, like rocks, metal to give you an understanding of form and texture.
• Pay close attention to form, shading, pattern and tone.
• Take note of how the contrast creates shapes, such as lines. These lines then create a feeling by either staying straight or bending or going away from view.
• Feel the impact of the shapes make a pattern.
• See how the texture of the subject creates the feeling and how shape with this texture gives the subject a new presence on your photo.
• Look at the different shades of light work in with each other, and the relationship they have with each other, some against, some with, and how the dark aspects of light can work to enhance the photos feel.

There are a lot of photographers that prefer black and white because the world changes when it is in black and white. If you really want to define a subject’s form, then switching to black and white to take that photo will emphasize all the details you miss in colour. When there is a distinct contrast, with dark shades and bright light you’ll be able to see things you didn’t really see before.

Black and white is particularly good if you like working with abstract. The black and white medium lends itself to abstract forms because it removes colour and in doing so shows the graphic elements of the photograph. This then gives us the opportunity to explore the subject a lot more closely and in depth.

Best wishes,

Amy Renfrey

Taking photos of landscapes in black and white can look superb, especially deserted landscapes, or with clouds. Rain clouds in black and white over a mountain would look fabulous. You will see this when you examine closely how nature looks in black and white. A great way to do this is to start looking at the shade of the blue in the sky and switch the mode to black and white; take this shot then take another in colour. Compare the two and see how that shade of blue looks in black and white. This will give you an idea of how natural colour turn into black and white, from nature. This may also give you a photo which captures more of the intensity of being there, than colour can.

I don’t see many landscape pictures done in black and white and I’m not sure why this is because black and white softens a picture anyway, and can have the same effect on your landscape shots. Many people prefer colour when taking nature shots, and this is fine, but I do urge you to experiment with this medium too. It just gives you another creative edge and a way to break outside our comfort zones as photographers and become artists.

A great way to get out of this comfort zone and embrace black and white when doing landscapes is to find your preferences while taking the shots. Compare a colour landscape photo to a black and white landscape photo and just see what feelings are generated. You will notice that you don’t always loose something as our minds would have us believe, we can actually gain a new insight into this scene.

To start, take two shots, one in colour and one in black and white. This is the only way you really truly learn about black and whites beauty and get away from colour all the time. Vivid colour is definitely incredibly stimulating and beautiful but so is black and white. Colour invokes energy which is why we like it. However black and white invokes a sense of calm, gentleness and can even surreal feeling depending on the scene.

My last tip I can give you is that sometimes when taking black and white subjects, like landscapes, you may have to increase the exposure to give you a little more light in the photo. Black and white can make things darker because you don’t have color light reflection from normal color photos. So just remember that might be the case with some black and white landscapes you are taking.

Best wishes,

Amy Renfrey