Some Thoughts On Black And White Photography

Shape and Form

Shape and form become more obvious in the absence of color. When you remove color from an image you can no longer rely on it to provide interest or a focal point in a scene. This may seem obvious but it can be easy to forget. By doing away with color we also remove one of the most potentially distracting elements in a photo. Form and shape are all-important in black and white photography. When looking for a good shot, look beyond the colors in a scene and instead focus you attention on the shapes. Arrange them in a way that emphasizes the most interesting aspect of the shape, or creates an intriguing composition of different shapes.


Contrast

Use contrast to help separate and define shapes. Without differences in color to separate elements in your scene, you must instead introduce contrasting shades into your black and white photos. You can use contrast to help your main subject stand out, for example, by photographing a light subject against a dark background and also to add depth by including a variety of tones and shades in your photo.


Pattern

Many patterns, particularly subtle ones, often go unnoticed in color photos, because the colors draw attention away from the pattern itself. Black and white photography gives you a much better chance of capturing interesting patterns because it focuses the viewer's attention on the shapes formed by the elements in a scene.


Texture

Black and white photography focuses the attention of features such as texture. In the same way that patterns can be lost in color photography, textures can be too. When we see a color photo, our mind immediately begins to identify and label the elements in the scene, meaning that we often do not really 'see' the photo, but instead see our mind's interpretation of it. When we photograph in black and white, the mind no longer has that color information to work with, and so pays more attention to elements such as texture, making them appear much more prominent.


Lighting

Good lighting enhances all aspects of black and white photography. Lighting is absolutely key to a good black and white photograph because it affects all of the above elements - shape, contrast, pattern and texture. When thinking about your lighting, consider how it will influence all of these factors, and choose a setup that enhances as many as possible. Side lighting often produces the most dramatic black and white photos. It picks out the edges of shapes and increases contrast by adding highlights, and the shadows it creates add interest to the scene as well as enhancing textures and patterns.


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