Black and white pictures

Ivana again · Jan 23, 2005

I would like to make some white and black photos. Can you give me some advice?
What is necessary for good white black picture? is it better to photograph faces of people or nature,I would really like to learn everything what is needed for good pic.
If someone could advice me, I would be very thankful!

thank you :hail:

Replic · Jan 23, 2005

Black and white is my personal favorite, but that's simply because where I live vibrant colors seem to hide in lack of sun we have 6 days a week.

A black and white photo requires contrast. Heavy contrast. You could have a photo with shades of gray inbetween, but the photos with the whiter whites and the blacker blacks tend to not only look better but have the best artistic value.

This is a gallery I digged up on google in less than 3 seconds:
http://www.pbase.com/sheila/bw

Note how the powerful pictures in there work because of the sharp contrast. I can't emphasize this enough- even I forget sometimes to look for a shot with that contrast.

Black and white film tends to be sharper- digital black and white shots can be compressed to different sizes for sharper images than do their color counterparts. Because of this, don't be afraid to go for an extremely detailed (yet not distracting) image.

Finally, watch your clouds. A pale, dull, empty sky will show NOTHING when taken with black and white- just an offwhite or pale grey empty area. Be it in photoshop or the lab later, shots like these will NEED clouds or to be cropped out. Try to avoid taking pictures that include a noticeable amount of the sky if the sky is empty. I've taken architecture shots in B&W that mad the skyoverhead, which came out to a large portion of gray space I needed to crop out, thus lowering the resolution of my photo (this was film).

Hope this jumbled mess of words help. Send me some pics when you're done if you want more help.

loopy · Jan 23, 2005

Ivana again said:
I would like to make some white and black photos. Can you give me some advice?

Experiment!

Experiment with different camera settings, different lighting, and different subjects. Find a style you like. Google "black and white photographers" to look up different ideas, get you inspired.

Artemis · Jan 23, 2005

There is actually a website (Granted, my website) devoted to black and white photography, we may be able to give you some help there...www.darkroompros.com is the address

Anyways, advice, Practice alot, and use different coloured filters to help with the affect....youve also gotto learn how to see in black and white, so that you can see whats a good black and white picture.
Remember...shape is more important now, unlike when normally it is colour, so an apple may be a good shot in black and white, not so good in colour (although not saying it wouldnt work in colour)

santino · Jan 23, 2005

A black and white photo requires contrast

I totally disagree.

ksmattfish · Jan 23, 2005

The answers to your questions will be different depending on who you ask. Are there specific BW photographs and photographers that sparked your interest?

Ivana again · Jan 23, 2005

Thank you all! To be honest I will try everything what you advice me here, and then I will see how that looks. I never soo fare made a picture white and black. Thats why I want to learn from you.

P. S I have some vision how i want to look my white black pic.And I Like white and black portraits of the people.I like some Croatian photografs but they are not soo popular in the world.

thank you!