Black and white photography is a classic art form that never goes out of style. It has been around for centuries and many great painters throughout history have used it to create their masterpieces. The reason why black and white photography appeals to so many people is that it can be used in many situations to achieve impactful results. When done well, black and white photography can bring a striking, timeless quality to a scene. However, not all lenses or techniques are suitable for black and white effects. Want to get the best black and white photos, wonderful moving black and white photos? Keep an eye out for the following tips:
1. Strive for clarity.
Color photos can have a wide palette of shadows, but the best black and white images usually have clear "black" and "white" to guide the viewer. While shades of gray are also interesting, they are more difficult to achieve. If there is too much gray, your image may end up appearing blurry or flat.
2. Make the most of light and shadow.
One way to create clarity is to create a strong contrast between darkness and light. With some planning, this contrast should be easy to create because light and shadow are more pronounced in black and white. In editing, you can increase blacks and contrast without worrying about skin tones in black and white photos. This gives you the opportunity to create truly dynamic, impactful images.
3. Pay attention to texture and shape.
Just like light and shadow, texture and shape tend to be more important in black and white photography. You no longer use color to guide the viewer's eyes. Instead, you need interesting curves, curious shapes, and/or great textures.
4. Choose the right subject.
While almost all themes look good in black and white, some are easier to handle than others. If you're new to black and white photography, start with a simple topic before tackling more challenging ones. You can then gain experience and confidence, reduce setbacks, and achieve more success.
The great Grace — Cloudscape
Natural chiaroscuro
One of the big challenges of shooting in black and white is that you have to imagine what your subject would look like without color. Therefore, it can be helpful to start with a topic with a strong dark/light contrast, such as white feathers on asphalt or black text on white paper. Then you don't have to use your imagination so much.
Similarly, you can look for a light or dark background for your photo shooting. Then, just choose a theme with the opposite tone (light theme with dark background / dark theme with light background) and you will get a beautiful black and white image.
Lawrence Caldeway – Trio
Ana GR — May or may not be the right time
Jordan Park – Mohawk
Ted — Bay Bridge at night
James Drury — Clean feathers
Alex Greenspan – Tiptoe
silhouette
Silhouettes are the next step in learning how to imagine black and white photos. This is because it's easy to overlook color when you're focusing on the outline. Regardless of the surrounding colors, the dark/light contrast will be sharp.
When you're looking for a silhouette to shoot, remember that you don't need a perfect backlight to get a lovely black and white silhouette. If the contrast is sufficient, dark subjects look like silhouettes on a light background. For example, a dark-colored bird like a crow might look like a silhouette under a bright sky.
Sherrin Lim – Puppet
Saul Randall — Exodo Lírico
Bahadır Bermek – Need to rest
Bryon Lippincott – exposed to light
Jordan Park – Untitled
Sunlight
Taking a portrait in the sun is an easy way to create a silhouette. But even without these silhouettes, sunlight can be a lovely subject for black and white photography because they are clearly visible in monochrome. While the color of sunlight may seem subtle, it will turn into a noticeable black and white light.
Fotis Mavroudakis – Seeking Forrest Gump's silence
Amin Fassi – Chefchaouen – Kasbah Prison
Jordan Park – in the kitchen
Jordan Park – Wait
Jordan Park – Untitled
Interesting pattern
Bright colors can be powerful – so powerful that they can distract people from other interesting subjects, such as patterns. If you want to minimize this distraction and focus on a certain pattern, try shooting in black and white. This way, the viewer will notice the pattern first instead of the color.
Flowers and winding staircases are common motifs in black-and-white shoots, but you can find more wonderful motifs in nature and architecture. Even floating bubbles have a pattern where the color may not be obvious, but black and white are clear.
Paul Hills – bubble reflection
Children of the Mist - Momo's spiral
Thanawat Thiasiriphet — Hierarchy
Paul Hills – Labyrinth of the City
Alex Greenspan - the birth of a star
Alex Greenspan – Infinity
architecture
Buildings like skyscrapers tend to look great in black and white for a number of reasons. First of all, they often have interesting patterns, textures, and shapes that become more noticeable without color. They also usually use the sky as a backdrop, making a nice, featureless black-and-white background without any distractions.
Finally, using architecture as a subject can help train your mind to ignore color when shooting in black and white. Because buildings have strong, familiar shapes, it's easy to imagine them in black and white, even if they are brightly colored. With some practice, you'll soon get used to ignoring colors and get ready to shoot more challenging subjects.
Nimit Nigam – Night contrast
Drop photography – untitled
Ben Rofelson — Slice
James Drury — Kotham Church
Andy Farmer – Beckett Harp
Justin Piercy - disappeared
vanishing point
As roads or trails move towards the horizon, they seem to get smaller and smaller until they disappear. The point where they "disappear" is called the vanishing point. This is a powerful composition technique that works very well in both color and black and white.
As with architecture, using vanishing points as a subject can help you practice black and white observation and shooting. You don't have to imagine exactly what a photo would look like without color. You just focus on creating a powerful vanishing point and the rest will follow.
Konstantinos Kousis – Kozani, Western Macedonia, Greece
Shirren Lim — Walking under the vast sky
John Salisbury – Cold Walker
John Salisbury – tie
Shirren Lim – long road
Mist landscape
Photographing landscapes in black and white can be tricky as they usually look more beautiful in color. However, when you're shooting mist, it's worth trying black and white. Removing the color can make the fog more noticeable as it will stand out in a dark landscape.
Shirren Lim – Good morning, Bagan
James Drury – fog, trees, some birds
Thanawat Thiasiriphet — Keep walking
Jennifer McNeill – Cow in the Mist
Motion blur
Motion blur is a great technique to create energy and movement in an image. You can use this technique to blur the main subject or create a background. If you're creating a background, ideally your theme should be more colorful than the background. Otherwise, a colored background may divert the viewer's attention from the monotonous subject, even if the background is blurry.
If your background is distracting due to bright colors compared to the subject, simply shooting in black and white will solve this problem. Well, your theme will definitely stand out.
Amin Fassi – Life on the Road
Michele Lazzarini — The Lost Metro
Amin Fassi – Street View
Sam Cordrington – In the Loop
Bahadır Bermek – Pan Turkey – Istanbul
Beach, coastline and waters
The beach is an excellent location for black and white photography because beaches without color often look boring. This sense of dullness can be an advantage when you're shooting portraits. The repetitive grays of sky, sand, and ocean will ensure that all attention is focused directly on your subject.
Amin Fassi – Ready to fight
Ivan Sgobba – Sanibel Island – Florida
Ahmad Syukaery – Fisherman pulling nets
Debjani Chowdhuri — Get out of the way
Bahadır Bermek – Rain Man Turkey
Amine Fassi – Rabat Lighthouse
animal
Many animals have neutral fur that blends in with the environment. This camouflage can help them survive in the wilderness, but it is not suitable for photography because it makes them less noticeable in photos. To make the animal stand out more in the photo, try taking a black and white photo. Then, the color of their fur no longer matters.
Sherrin Lim – Portrait of a yak
Amine Fassi – Green Commute
Alex Greenspan – You make me spin
Alex Greenspan – Behold, mighty tiger!
Amine Fassi – Happy Camel, Happy Day
portrait
With or without color, portraits can be beautiful. Choosing one of them depends on what you want your audience to experience. In general, color portraits tend to focus more on fashion or the overall appearance of a person or scene. In contrast, black-and-white portraits tend to show the emotions and humanity of the subject.
Of course, black and white can be used to highlight fashion, and color can also be used to stimulate emotions and connections between people. But often, black and white portraits are more emotionally impactful than color portraits. Unless color is essential to understanding the scene, it often distracts rather than adds to the deep human emotions in the portrait.
Jordi Corbilla – Sleeping Beauty and the reflection of dreams
Shirren Lim – Shami
Mahesh Balasubramanian – Peekaboo
Jaime Nicolau – My family
Federica Giordano – fancy
Elena K. – Self
Black and white fashion portrait
Like many things in art (and life), the simple approach is often the better way, and photography is no exception. In many cases, black and white brings an easy way to draw attention beyond the color of a photo. The result can enhance the emotion, impact, and even beauty in the photo. Happy shooting!