What an exciting time when monochrome photography advanced to color photography. Everyone couldn't wait for color photography to be possible and affordable for the average person. But now that full color photography is almost all that we have, we are inexplicably drawn to black and white photos. The effect of these photos is powerful on the emotions. The limited color seems to make the content of the subject being photographed more accessible. With monochrome color, a picture becomes so timeless and even touching. The tips outlined below are some essential must knows for great black and white photography.
The digital cameras on offer today don't give you WYSIWYG pictures. This term means that what ever the image is that its sensor captures, the camera ultimately does not give you the whole image. It gives you a processed version of it that is, what one might call, compressed. With some modern cameras you can actually access this direct uncompressed image which the sensor ultimately captured. This is hidden in a raw image file or a digital negative. These are called raw because there is no way for one to edit them with a graphics editor or to print them. With this type of camera that allows you to take and store these raw images, you can use this function spectacularly well in black and white photos. One gets such depth, contrast and completeness in these images. Even if you open these photos in Photoshop or other editing program, you will probably find that you don't even want to tamper with them.
We really need to look at color photography and black and white photography differently. Portraits for example, have a special quality about them when taken in black and white. Without flesh colors to bring evenness to spots and blemishes, every contrast in skin texture is brought out. In this monochrome look, these features are not unsightly but bring an element of vulnerability and beauty to a photo. Textures, wrinkles and patterns are brought out in vivid and touching ways. As you plan each shot, you can attempt to frame your subject in order to enhance and reveal those fascinating features. Shadows and light work really well with black and white. Back lighting your subject brings great drama to a photo and setting up sharp shadows onto the subjects face is a great effect.
Changing settings on your camera can enhance the look you are trying to achieve. Digital cameras have an ISO adjustment that tells the sensor to be more or less sensitive to light. Changing this setting from color shots to monochrome shots ensures that you get the best effect. Setting the ISO as low as possible for black and white, making the sensor least sensitive to light brings great effect. Setting the ISO too high in this shot would make the photo grainy.
Your choice of subject is important when you are looking for great results with black and white. With the correct subject in frame, you should get wonderful shots. As discussed, portraits are particularly striking when taken in black and white. If you want a close up of a loved one, like a child or spouse, choosing black and white should bring out some worthwhile portraits. Color allows us to click away at anything, but with the grey scale of monochrome photography it can be difficult to discriminate between every single shade and the contrast between items on a picture shows up poorly. One needs to take care to choose a shot that would show up lots of contrast. With these ideas in mind, we could learn to see the world in black and white.
The digital cameras on offer today don't give you WYSIWYG pictures. This term means that what ever the image is that its sensor captures, the camera ultimately does not give you the whole image. It gives you a processed version of it that is, what one might call, compressed. With some modern cameras you can actually access this direct uncompressed image which the sensor ultimately captured. This is hidden in a raw image file or a digital negative. These are called raw because there is no way for one to edit them with a graphics editor or to print them. With this type of camera that allows you to take and store these raw images, you can use this function spectacularly well in black and white photos. One gets such depth, contrast and completeness in these images. Even if you open these photos in Photoshop or other editing program, you will probably find that you don't even want to tamper with them.
We really need to look at color photography and black and white photography differently. Portraits for example, have a special quality about them when taken in black and white. Without flesh colors to bring evenness to spots and blemishes, every contrast in skin texture is brought out. In this monochrome look, these features are not unsightly but bring an element of vulnerability and beauty to a photo. Textures, wrinkles and patterns are brought out in vivid and touching ways. As you plan each shot, you can attempt to frame your subject in order to enhance and reveal those fascinating features. Shadows and light work really well with black and white. Back lighting your subject brings great drama to a photo and setting up sharp shadows onto the subjects face is a great effect.
Changing settings on your camera can enhance the look you are trying to achieve. Digital cameras have an ISO adjustment that tells the sensor to be more or less sensitive to light. Changing this setting from color shots to monochrome shots ensures that you get the best effect. Setting the ISO as low as possible for black and white, making the sensor least sensitive to light brings great effect. Setting the ISO too high in this shot would make the photo grainy.
Your choice of subject is important when you are looking for great results with black and white. With the correct subject in frame, you should get wonderful shots. As discussed, portraits are particularly striking when taken in black and white. If you want a close up of a loved one, like a child or spouse, choosing black and white should bring out some worthwhile portraits. Color allows us to click away at anything, but with the grey scale of monochrome photography it can be difficult to discriminate between every single shade and the contrast between items on a picture shows up poorly. One needs to take care to choose a shot that would show up lots of contrast. With these ideas in mind, we could learn to see the world in black and white.
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Learn more about photography. Stop by Echo 4X4's site where you can find out more about black and white photography.
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