Black & white


Hints and tips
by Philip Grosset



If you'd like to submit photos for criticism,
click here.
Which of the two versions below do you prefer?
Girl in color Girl b&w

Most of us choose to use color, so why do some people still choose black and white?

B&w is slightly cheaper to buy than color film, but by no means every commercial processing plant will handle it. The main reason for using b&w is often that it lends itself more easily to home processing. If you do this, you can save money (once you've bought the equipment!) and can exercise considerable control over the results. You can also select the particular paper grade that will give you just the effect you want. Another advantage is that b&w prints still last longer than color ones.

It is often said that b&w offers more artistic control over the final result as there are no distracting colors. It is easier to combine different forms of lighting too, as there is no problem about matching color balance between, say, daylight and fluorescent or tungsten lighting. You can also obtain really fast film, which makes filming in poor light more practical.
B&w can be good for bringing out contrasting tones and patterns, as with these very old stones in Cornwall. Shapes become more dominant, as there is no color to divert the attention.
Snow scene B&w can be very effective at communicating mood, so snow scenes (and misty landscapes) can turn out well. This particular photo is improved by the inclusion of the dark coated figure which provides an effective contrast with all the white, as well as a sense of scale.

Nowadays, a computer photo editing program can produce a greyscale picture from a color original, and modify the tones, as here, so we no longer have to decide whether to go for b&w or color at the taking stage. So why not use color film - then convert the picture to b&w later if you decide it would be better? This is what I did with the snow scene above.
Venice
Venice
The view of Venice that everyone takes! It looks all right in color but perhaps you could say it has more "atmosphere" in b&w.

FishermanB&w can be good, too, for producing interesting silhouettes (as in this picture by Ariane Schrinel from Your Photos 145), for making skies look threatening, and for creating a dramatic and/or gloomy and/or old-fashioned effect!






With b&w, the contrast between different tones can be increased by the use of filters. These darken complementary colors, so a red filter, for example, would lighten red and darken violet, blue, green, and yellow, so is often used to produce dramatic dark skies on which white clouds really stand out. Graduated filters (partly of no color, or of a light one, and partly of a more intense color) can be used to darken, say, just the sky but leave the rest of the picture unaffected.




For those who want to find out more:

Book coverIf you'd like a really helpful book on black & white photography by a real enthusiast, I'd recommend Better Picture Guide to Black & White Photography by Michael Busselle. As I mention elsewhere, this comes from a very creative series, with excellent illustrations.

Also see the BOOKS pages.




Now try the NIGHT SCENES page.
Finding your way around this site

NEXT PAGE