Black and White Photography Tips

© 2010 Wazari Wazir | Black and White Photography | A Portrait of HaiQal

“Life is like a good black and white photograph, there’s black, there’s white, and lots of shades in between.”

( Karl Heiner )

First thing first, not all picture will look great in black and white, don’t get into the idea that everything will look great in black and white. I’ve a lot people asking me whether I change my camera setting and shoot in in black and white mode. No, I’ve never done that. All my pictures are taken in colors, I use Photoshop to turn it into black and white. Most of my pictures especially a picture of my son are taken in RAW mode. If you are familiar with my flickr stream, I really like making black and white portrait of my son and most of my son pictures that I turn it into black and white is when my son HaiQal wearing a hat, there is a reason for that, the hat have it purposed in turning my son picture into great looking black and white.

Like I’ve wrote previously, not all pictures will look great in black and white. If you would like to experiment with black and white and make it look great then look for subject that have great contrast, nice separation of tones, shadow and highlight, look for something that have texture in it and look for picture or something that have pattern, all this will contribute to make your picture look interesting in black and white. Since black and white have no colors, I mean it’s just a color of black and white and grey in between, all those supporting element will make or break your picture if you turn it into black and white.

Have you ever notice why a pictures of and old man or women with thousands of wrinkles on their face look great in black and white compared to pretty lady with smooth looking face? The answer is because old man have “texture” on their face, the wrinkle on their face add depth to the photograph where it create nice separation of line in their face and with the right source of lighting it will create a strong image or character compared to the pretty smooth looking of a pretty lady. Undoubtedly pretty lady with a smooth as silk looking face will look beautiful in a black and white photograph but it is not strong enough to grab or hold our attention and lack character.

When your are trying to get the most from your black and white, just keep this simple things in mind :

1. Timeless subject work great : For an example, an old wooden house or historical building will look great in black and white photography compared to ultra modern building.
2. Pattern and texture : Look for subject that have pattern, something like great looking architecture. One of the reason that I’ve mention above about why most of my son pictures in black and white wear hat, is because the hat have texture in it, have pattern on it, the knitting on the hat create depth in a photograph and  make the picture look stronger with the depth.
3. Tones and contrast: Look for something that have nice separation of tones or contrast, this when turn into black and white will also add depth to a photograph, just remember not all colors will look good in a black and white pictures, like yellow color for an example, it will turn into almost white when you turn it into black and white and you loose it contrast. Keep practicing and you will know which colors will look good in a black and white.
4. Light and shadows : This is among the most important thing whether your black and white will look great or not. Light and shadows combine with good looking texture or pattern will make any black and white subject look stronger, it create depth. When photograph for black and white, try to shoot during early morning or late afternoon when the side lighting will enhance a pattern or texture.

Those are the the simple things that you may want to keep in mind when you decided to turn any picture into black and white since most of us shoot in colors nowadays. Those are the things that will make any subject look interesting in black and white photograph, the subject itself, pattern and textures, tones and contrast and the lighting, especially light and shadows.

There are many other factors that will make a picture look great in black and white photograph and when talking about portrait, black and white photograph tend to enhance mood, or evoke emotion or feelings. Black and white in a portrait will take away all the colors that distract a viewers attention and let the viewers to focus more on the subject without getting distracted by any unwanted attention like colors of their clothes or background. That’s why some people say that if we want to show or focus on someone soul or characters, show it in a black and white photograph.

I love doing and editing my picture into black and white and when talking about photographing my son, I did plan my shot, I will choose which clothes will look better in black and white. Another thing that make me fall in love with black and white is because, black and white is classic, can be considered as romantic, sentimental, soulful and the most important thing is a “Timeless Feeling” into it. I like my picture to be “Timeless”…