If you have tried and tried to master black and white photography but just haven't been able to get there... Here are a couple photo tips that will help.
Do you love BW photos - but you're never quite able to get the stunning shots that you see winning all the photo contests? Here is a black and white photo tip that may help. Actually,
here are two black and white photo tips...
First, you need to develop an "eye" for BW photos.
Not all scenes and subjects will look better in black and white than they do in color… but some do. BW is really good at showing high contrast scenes and it's a real killer when there is a lot of texture!
Think of the photo of the craggy old fisherman with his hard life showing in every wrinkle in his face. You almost always see that type of portrait done in BW.
I recently saw a BW photo of an elderly persons hand - it was breathtaking! As a texture, wrinkles adapt very well and often look far better than the same scene in color.
And for me, that's really saying a lot!
For most of my photo career I avoided shooting BW because it always seemed like something was missing (color). It never seemed as though something was added (art). I just never "got it."
You need to put in some time and develop your eye for BW. It won't just happen. But the good news is, it isn't hard to do and once you develop the black and white "eye", you too will be able to shoot photos that grab the viewer and won't let go!
How to develop the eye? For the next month, make ALL your photos BW! EVERYTHING! It won't take long for you to start to recognize a good black and white scene and one that isn't so hot.
For the second tip... Don't shoot in black and white!
With your digital camera, when you shoot in BW mode, it actually takes the shot in color and then converts it "in the camera." Sounds good in theory, but unfortunately, most digital cameras don't do a very good job of it.
You are better off taking the photo in color. Then - in your photo editing program - convert it to BW. Then after it is converted, use burning and dodging, layers, curves, levels and so on to turn it into black and white art.
Never shoot in black and white for your keeper - BUT - you should always snap off a quick BW preview so you can analyze the scene for its BW potential. Then shoot in color and convert it later in Photoshop or Gimp.
So, to learn to create those award winning - and contest winning - black and white photos; do a quick BW preview of everything you shoot for the next month and you will quickly develop the "eye." There just isn't any way - other than practice - to get there. Then shoot in color and convert it later. Pretty soon you'll be making black and white art!
