This week we have been talking about black and white photography but since the early days, there have been many articles shared about black and white photography, by almost all writers here at Light Stalking. At some point, we all get into this genre and sometimes struggle to get the best out of a scene or situation, or get stuck during the post-processing part.
Today we thought that we will put together some very useful tutorials on black and white photography, so you can refer to the ones that are really important or useful for you.
Many photographers may have a questions as to why one should shoot black and white, when there is colour photography. There are a dozen reasons why one might honour black and white photography and four of those are discussed in this article.
Black and white photos look surreal, they are emotive and they evoke a lot of emotions that sometimes a colour photo cannot. Shooting black and white photos can be quite tricky and the photographer needs to know when shooting the image, if a scene, subject or scenario will work well as a black and white photo. So, here are some ways to tell if a scene will make a great black and white photo.
Black and white photographs are beautiful and it makes many of us wonder how someone could have captured and post-processed such a stunning but simple photograph in black and white. This article discusses a few tips on how to capture and edit stunning fine art black and white photographs.
Some photographers convert an image to black and white, in order to hide the imperfections in their colour version. It may be fine to do this occasionally, but making it a habit is not the way to creating black and white images because creating great black and white photographs is an art. So, here are some things to think about when getting into black and white photography.
Here is another article that touches on this issue – Do You Still Make These 2 Mistakes When Working In Black And White?
Before capturing a shot, or after you have captured one, have you ever been caught up in a dilemma if the shot should be in colour or black and white? In the early days, photographers made the choice to shot either in colour or black and white film, but in the days of digital photography, we have the luxury to capture raw files and work on them the way we wish to later. So read to find out how you can make this decision between colour and black and white for a particular shot.
Also, for further reading – How to Use Your Eyes to Create Better Black and White Images
Photographers think that it is easier to shoot images for black and white but the problem arises when we try to convert an image to black and white. Most photographers think that removing the colours by bringing the saturation slider to the negative, or clicking on the black and white setting or applying a preset when post processing will help. The truth is, you need to capture images using a black and white film mindset.
We all would have seen the famous landscape photographs of Ansel Adams that are shot in black and white. Although we can see in colour and in these days photograph in colour too, we still feel the emotions better sometimes in a black and white photograph, especially landscapes that are vast and colourful. So, if you want to shoot black and white landscapes, here are five keys to improve your shots.
If you are someone who is interested in shooting dark scenes, then film noir photography is a genre that you can explore. These types of photos can be used to portray dramatic, mysterious scenes and it suits only particular types of situations, light and stories. Here are some tips and techniques to capture interesting film noir photographs.
Not only do street photos or landscapes work well for black and white photography, even portraits become more beautiful when converted to black and white. It lets you focus on the subject and their characteristics, without any distraction. So here are some tips to convert a portrait onto black and white.
And here are “The Secrets to Compelling Black and White Portraits“
Once you capture the images for black and white conversion, you need to make some important adjustments when post processing your image for black and white. This article discusses the best monochrome practices for photographers in both Lightroom and Photoshop.
If you just shoot in black and white or convert an image to black and white by the click of a button or by desaturating it, you will nowhere be near to those images of olden days that were shot in film. The images will mostly look flat with not much contrast or tonality. Black and white film photographers used colour filters to give a punch to certain elements in their shots and these days, it can be achieved in Photoshop using the channel mixer tool. Read to find how to use it.
A lot of street photographers shoot in black and white and it is a very common thing for decades now. Most photographers really do not shoot in black and white, but instead shoot in colour and then convert their images to black and white and they think street photographs should be in black and white. Read to find why photographers make this decision.
And of course, street photographs also need some amount of post production, because we always advise to shoot in raw in order to get the best results in the final photo. A lot of street photographers also believe that the colours in the streets may not be always visually appealing to have the street photograph in colour. Here are some tips to convert a street photograph to black and white.
If you would like some inspiration to shoot black and white photographs, here are links to dozens of quotes and images that you can refer to:
