Dreadlock Girl Photography Tips: How to Take the Best Black & White Photos
1.) B&W Shots Are Forever. There is so much to love about shooting in black and white. It makes the people stand out- you aren’t distracted by the colours, so if the shot has a strong focal point your eyes will have no problem heading there. Black and white is more intimate, more whimsical, and much better at showing the on-looker the detailing in the shot. If you aren’t convinced that black and white photography is for you, read on my friend.
2.) Learning from Black and White. Shooting in B&W gives you more of an opportunity to see what is really good (or not good) about your shot. The detailing either will stand out or not depending on the contrast you have set up in the shot, sure you can edit and change some things, but you will be able to see more of the raw detailing and therefore learn to take better shots. Therefore learning from mistakes, the best of teachers.
3.) Beat The Gray! May your blacks be black and your whites, white. This was a tip from my old photo teacher in high school when we were developing our own photos from film in the toner and other smelly chemicals. I still remember the tip though. When you are shooting, your light meter is set right when there is a range of “colours” from the darkest of blacks to the whitest of whites. Also, as always try to use the lowest ISO possible to reduce what is known as noise.
4.) The Biggies in Black and White. What matters in black and white shots? Learning to shoot for texture and contrast. That is what makes an excellent shot stand out in black and white photography. You will start to know the amount of contrast you are looking for. When you are a well trained black and white photographer you will see contrasts, textures, and be able to ignore the distractions of colour and tone. The best way to do this is to practice!!
5.) Never Shoot in Black and White! Yeah, strange I know…but there are several reasons to shoot in colour and edit the images on your computer in a photo editing program. The first is that then you’ll have the image in colour if you ever need it that way, or happen to like it better. If you shoot in black and white you are limiting yourself and your options with that shot. The second reason is that when you tell your camera to shoot a digital image in black and white it shoots it in colour and then edits it into black and white inside the camera. Cameras don’t have as good of image converters as your regular computer photo editing, so it will be a lower quality image that you start out with.
There are exceptions: if you are shooting in the RAW format than just go for it, your camera will load the colour data on to your computer when uploading so switching to colour will be an option. The second (and last) exception that I can see is if you are really wanting to see how it will look and you want to see it in black and white on your LCD screen, then switch over to shooting in black and white.
I always love answering questions for readers. I’d love ideas on future Dreadlock Girl Photography Tips sessions if you have them. Leave me a comment, I love hearing from you!
Previous Dreadlock Girl Photography Tips:
The Basics
Capture Real People, In Real Life Shots
Work That Thing! How to Get the Best Shots
Tips for Group Shots: How to Shoot a Group Session Like You Know What You’re Doing!
Photo Editing, Fixin’ Your Images
Taking the Best Black and White Photos: What to Look For
Dreadlock Girl Photography Tips: I am going to do several of these posts, I am not a professional photographer by a long shot, but I love taking pictures and seeing beautiful pictures so I want to share what I have learned with you.
Themocracy
I ALWAYS love your tips! I’m played around on Picnik yesterday and will be using it to tweak some of my vacation photos.
Keep the tips coming !
This has been great so far. I keep looking forward to your next photography tips!
Hi i have a passion for photography and i am still learning the ropes of photography. My camera is D70s Nikon DSLR camera. Can you suggest me a good website that can teach me how to convert a colour photo into a black and white photo?
Cheers