Article by Morgan Hamilton. Thinking about doing some black & white photography? Considering how dirt easy it is to do nowadays with digital cameras, why not? Even if you’ve got a humble point-and-shoot without a “black-and-white” or “monochrome” mode, who cares? Snap away, and post process the images after with Photoshop (or any of the other programs available, some even free, like those listed in our Tools section).
The first thing I hear when I mention black-and-white to non-photographers is why shoot black-and-white now, when you can capture beautiful color with film or your digital cameras. Often, I do not even get into the discussion, because I know that it is a losing battle.
One of the least explored creative uses of the digital camera is black and white photography. With a little practice in developing an eye for when it will be effective, taking photos in black and white can be a rewarding addition to your photographic repertoire.
With today’s digital technology, transforming color images into black and white photographic prints is pretty straightforward, but don’t throw away your rolls of black and white film.
“Dodging and Burning” are essential techniques to finish off any black and white image, especially useful for atmospheric or moody images. This is a fantastic method of producing black and white landscapes in particular. It’s a fairly simple technique that requires an image editing program like Photoshop, but most good editing programs have a “Dodging & Burning” tool that isn’t too difficult to use.
…and the turbulent transparency years…
If you’re an emerging stock photographer and have never entertained the idea of taking a black & white stock photo, I’d encourage you to try it. But, fair warning though, it’ll be more an experience for the soul, not for the sale.
Ever since the onset of color in photographs, black and white photography has become less and less popular; however in recent months there has been an increase in the number of photographers turning to black and white. Why is this happening now? Well many people believe that photographers are going back to more conventional techniques to perhaps bring out a new look and feel instead of churning out all the too often normal colored photos.
