Black & White Photography Book

There is something magical yet traditional about monochromatic photography. All the distractions of colour are taken away and what you’re left with is the structure and form of a place, object or person. In this edition of The Black & White Photography Book, you will be guided through all the fundamental aspects of the medium, including how to shoot professional-looking black-and-white portraits, landscapes and travel images. Soon a moody city scene will transform into piece of black and white art through your lens. In this revised edition, we have provided you with essential advice from industry professionals who shoot black-and-white images in all genres, including exceptional fine art. But it’s not all just about shooting techniques and skills – we also have several editing tutorials, so you can take advantage…

Photography began in black and white. But with rolls of monochrome film and darkroom experiments, the equipment and techniques used were a long way from the digital cameras and image-editing software that we have now. With some of the world’s most iconic images having been captured in the black-and-white medium, there is a lot of history behind it, but it’s no surprise that it remains as popular now as when it was first developed. Advancing successfully from film into digital over recent years, the monochrome medium has improved dramatically. Even darkroom tools and techniques have seen a digital revival with computer software, making black and white much more accessible to photography enthusiasts. As it works effortlessly with any photographic genre, the black and white medium is used across the industry, from…

Web: www.deansherwood.com “I am a Grimsby-based commercial photographer/cinematographer producing high-quality imagery for commercial businesses, retail sites, portraiture, weddings, musicians/bands and HD web TV films for commercial businesses.” Dean specialises in musicphotographyand has worked closely and been on tour with big British bands such as N-Dubz, Feeder, McFly and One Direction. 1 Choose RAW Photograph in RAW if you can. 2 Emotive work Capturing emotion always looks great in black and white. 3 Contrast rules Think about the contrast between the main subject and the background, like a light subject against a dark background. 4 Throw some shapes Lines, shapes and textures look great in black and white. 5 Composition is key With colour removed you have to concentrate on your composition. The viewer’s focus is purely the content of the…

Formerly used in traditional darkrooms, the Dodge and Burn tools have since been digitally converted for image-editing software like Adobe Photoshop. Located in the toolbar on the left-hand side of the interface, you can select either the Dodge icon to lighten areas of the image or the Burn icon to darken, creating a more controlled contrast effect. Here is a quick guide to using them. Dodge 1 Set the Dodge Select the Dodge tool first in order to brighten areas of the frame. Adjust the brush size to a suitable diameter and select a soft edge to help blend the effect. Using the Range drop-down menu, select the Midtones as you don’t want to make the highlights any brighter. 2 Apply the effect Adjust the intensity of the effect by…

Colour filters Red: Popular with landscape photographers, red filters have the biggest impact on contrast and are used to enhance dramatic skies by affecting the blue and green tones in a black-and-white image. Yellow: A relatively subtle filter effect, the yellow colour tends to lighten red, orange and yellow tones. Green: You can enhance a dramatic sunset using a green filter, which will darken the red and orange tones. Blue: Lightening the green and blue tones, the blue filter works similarly to the green colour filter in darkening red and orange tones. Orange: The orange filter will darken blue and green tones and lighten yellows and oranges. It is often used in black-and-white portraiture to remove freckles and blemishes from the face. ND Filter (Neutral Density) ND filters allow you…

1 Set up the tripod Once you have selected the scene you want to shoot, you will need to set up your equipment. Begin by assembling your tripod. Pulling the legs apart from the centre, unclip each section. You can pull down to extend the length of each leg. Ensure all of the legs are straight and the correct length before clicking the fastenings back into place. 2 Are you level? Check your tripod’s bubble level to ensure the tripod is level. You may need to extend or shorten one leg to accommodate for rocky or uneven ground. You can now attach your camera to the top plate by screwing it correctly onto the mount. Place the plate back onto the tripod head and click it securely into place. 3 Camera ready…