Black and White Photography Tips

Black and White Photography Tips

If you’re new to working with black and white photos, remember the following helpful tips:

• Think about contrast. Good black and white photos have strong contrast between the foreground and the surrounding environment.
• Look for interesting textures. One of the biggest advantages of black and white photography is the ability to highlight interesting textures within an image.
• As with color photography, black and white photography can be greatly enhanced by strong lighting. Shoot outdoors in natural light early in the morning or late in the evening to reduce harsh shadows.
• If possible, try to photograph your subject wearing solid colors. Busy prints can be very distracting in portrait shots.
• When in doubt, take the shot. Black and white photography has the tendency to transform ordinary photos into beautiful and artistic images. Feel free to experiment and get in the habit of taking twice as many photos as you think you’ll need for your layout. You never know what combination will produce amazing results!

Converting Color Images to Black and White Photos

For many people, black and white photography brings to mind heritage photos from previous generations. However, this trend is easy to incorporate into modern pages as well. Many digital cameras have a setting that will let you automatically take black and white photos. Alternatively, you can convert color images to black and white photos using your favorite image editing software. The easiest way to do this is to simply switch the photo mode from color to grayscale, but this may result in images that seem to lack depth. Scrapbooks Etc. provides detailed photo conversion instructions on its Web site for scrapbookers using Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Paint Shop Pro, and Microsoft Digital Image Suite.

Adding Spot Color

One of the most intriguing black and white photography tips for scrapbookers involves adding spot color to your favorite images. This technique allows you to preserve the elegance of the black and white image while highlighting special details. For example, you could add spot color to a photo of your son hanging his favorite ornament on your Christmas tree or color the flower in an image of your daughter smelling the roses in your garden.

Most scrapbooking stores sell special markers that can be used to add spot color to your favorite black and white photos. These tinting pens are transparent and quick drying, making them fairly easy to use. To learn more, read Adding Color to Black and White Photos on the DIY website.

If you’d prefer to add color to your photos digitally, Biorust has an easy to follow tutorial showing how to add spot color within Adobe Photoshop. The process is similar for most other types of image editing software.

Additional Information

Additional black and white photography tips can be found in the following reference books:

• Digital Black & White Photography by John Beardsworth
• Black & White Photography in the Digital Age: Creative Camera, Darkroom, & Printing Techniques for the Modern Photographer by Tony Worobiec and Ray Spence
• Mastering Black and White Digital Photography by Michael Freeman
• Mastering Black & White Photography: A Unique Case Study Approach to Achieving Professional Results by John Garrett

You may also want to check out these helpful links:

• Scrapbooking with Black and White Photos
• Black and White Photo Layouts
• It’s Not All Black and White