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Posted on 20/03/09 12:27:45 PM |
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Faith Ince
* Posts: 28 Reply |
Black & White Photography
I need to take some B & W photographs. Any information on what type of subjects and how to photograph them will be most welsome. |
Posted on 20/03/09 2:28:28 PM |
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Nick Curtain
Model Master Posts: 1768 Reply  |
Re: Black & White Photography
Hi Faith First of all welcome to the forum. Can you advise what you will be taking the pictures for, i.e. hobby, pleasure, a forum, magazine and is there a brief to follow? Ideal subjects, hmmm... - Dramatic skies - Architecture - Old mature faces (men) - statues - cars and lots more. Look through magazines for inspiration and share some of your images with us. Tip - shoot in colour (RGB) and convert to mono in PS. There are various ways to do this, but Gradient Map set to pure B&W gives great all round results. Nick |
Posted on 20/03/09 5:17:59 PM |
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Faith Ince
* Posts: 28 Reply |
Re: Black & White Photography
Hi Nick, The photographs are for a forum. I am required to photograph in Colour and convert to B & W, show both versions, and explain the stages and reasons. This will be my first attempt at B & W. I use a SLR camera & CS4. Faith |
Posted on 20/03/09 7:37:20 PM |
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cy98
** Posts: 104 Reply |
Re: Black & White Photography
You might want to try both a high contrast and a low contrast scene or object. When there is color present the mind changes your perception of the image. |
Posted on 21/03/09 01:13:35 AM |
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tank172
ThreeDee Thriller Posts: 692 Reply  |
Re: Black & White Photography
Maybe find a subject with alot of texture, etc....possibly a trip through the woods on a sunny day? A farm, museum, park... Or a walk around the "olde town" district if you have one nearby - looking at old buildings, cracked paint, old shoes, graphitti, etc, anything you fancy. If you have a tripod, you could attempt HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography....then convert that to b/w or sepia tone. -Just some ideas. |
Posted on 22/03/09 09:35:57 AM |
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chris berry
Overhead Overlord Posts: 724 Reply  |
Re: Black & White Photography
Some of the most startling bw photography I've seen is waves breaking on rocks. You get a whole range of grey tones, and the shots tend to be far more dramatic than their colour versions, especially on sunny days. Take you waterproofs tho'! |
Posted on 22/03/09 10:52:25 PM |
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rob
* Posts: 24 Reply |
Re: Black & White Photography
I have to agree that texture is the key here. It always seems to surprise people that a lot of contrast can be lost by poor conversion as red, green and blue contrast really well in colour but can all render very similar grey scale tones. I have found that a black and white adjustment layer followed by a colour dodge layer and then a hard light layer, with a final curves layer tends to give good results - it's the closest I can get to black and white film. I have written a brief tutorial on this and have it on my hard drive as a pdf file - if you email me I can send it to you. Great subjects for black and white can be found lying around - nuts and bolts, rusty gate hinges, tree bark, spider's webs, drops of water hanging off a wrought iron gate, machinery such as the internal workings of a clock, if you live near a canal, lock gates and their associated cogs etc, even your car engine in close up, and how about a portrait in black and white? And the waves on rocks idea is also a very good suggestion - it can be very dramatic in black and white and quite dull in colour. _________________ rob_stroud@yahoo.co.uk |
Posted on 22/03/09 10:52:28 PM |
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rob
* Posts: 24 Reply |
Re: Black & White Photography
I have to agree that texture is the key here. It always seems to surprise people that a lot of contrast can be lost by poor conversion as red, green and blue contrast really well in colour but can all render very similar grey scale tones. I have found that a black and white adjustment layer followed by a colour dodge layer and then a hard light layer, with a final curves layer tends to give good results - it's the closest I can get to black and white film. I have written a brief tutorial on this and have it on my hard drive as a pdf file - if you email me I can send it to you. Great subjects for black and white can be found lying around - nuts and bolts, rusty gate hinges, tree bark, spider's webs, drops of water hanging off a wrought iron gate, machinery such as the internal workings of a clock, if you live near a canal, lock gates and their associated cogs etc, even your car engine in close up, and how about a portrait in black and white? And the waves on rocks idea is also a very good suggestion - it can be very dramatic in black and white and quite dull in colour. _________________ rob_stroud@yahoo.co.uk |
Posted on 23/03/09 10:05:30 PM |
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Ocker
* Posts: 54 Reply |
Re: Black & White Photography
Rob, I say, Rob, You should link to your, I say, you should link to your PDF tutorial here, so that all can benefit! |
Posted on 24/03/09 08:15:25 AM |
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Scott
* Posts: 40 Reply |
Re: Black & White Photography
For me, and my BW's, I like to use filters more than Ps. I am keen on long exposures (daytime) and I would always recommend the ND110 filter to anyone. Also a red filter and of course dabbling with IR is always a good idea. I find subject matter not that important, but the look and feel of the image (whatever it may be) to be the point. Scott |
Posted on 24/03/09 08:18:15 AM |
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Scott
* Posts: 40 Reply |
Re: Black & White Photography
I thought I'd attach an example of what I mean. This image is 146 seconds.  |
Posted on 24/03/09 2:44:52 PM |
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cy98
** Posts: 104 Reply |
Re: Black & White Photography
Scott - Very nice moody scene. |
Posted on 25/03/09 07:36:47 AM |
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horonggo
Manchurian Master Posts: 71 Reply  |
Re: Black & White Photography
good sensation by black & white  |
Posted on 25/03/09 12:21:55 PM |
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Scott
* Posts: 40 Reply |
Re: Black & White Photography
Cy, thank you. That is I think my first ever BW long exposure. Or should I say, that is my first ever BW long exposure that didn't get deleted. I have taken a couple more since, but really I need to explore this filter more fully (architecture, landscape, minimalist beachscape), and build up a more substantial collection. And of course some photomontage a la Michal Giedrojc. 
When it comes to BW, I godda say I do love black. High contrast for me. Scott |
Posted on 26/03/09 2:37:17 PM |
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rob
* Posts: 24 Reply |
Re: Black & White Photography
Re Ocker's post - I am not sure how to put a link to something on my hard drive but if anyone wants a copy of it they are most welcome to email me - if anyone wants me to send it to them, maybe they could post a link somehow. Even my own website won't allow me to embed pdf files so I am a bit stuck. And Scott - that picture is - what's the word?... It's not good, it's stunning. And I have to agree that in black and white, dark is good and black is superb. Nice picture, well shot and well presented. I am now mid grey with envy (after a quick conversion). _________________ rob_stroud@yahoo.co.uk |
Posted on 26/03/09 4:20:33 PM |
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cy98
** Posts: 104 Reply |
Re: Black & White Photography
Scott - I should have mentioned that the blurred cloud pattern, as the result of the long time exposure, make this picture stand out for me. If shot with a clear sky it would be just an OK picture, IMO. |
Posted on 27/03/09 08:46:17 AM |
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Scott
* Posts: 40 Reply |
Re: Black & White Photography
Cy I agree. For myself (and for Faith) it's a good idea to be inspired rather than take advice. Flickr has been a great inspiration to me (tho I still have a way to go before I even equal my inspirations) Faith, if you are interested in BW, I would recommend (as a starting point) you take a peek at work by bristol_bound. He was the person who has inspired my BW (and Super Black approach), and was instantly in awe by his BW. (partly because we are from the same city, a lot of his images I instantly recognized). I'm still way behind hime tho. 
His Flickr stream is http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristol_bound// His Black and White, and Super Black sets might be of interest to you. Scott |