#Black and white photo how to#

Push beyond presets and the basic grayscale conversion Thus, learning to integrate strong graphic elements and abstractions into your compositions can help elevate a black and white portfolio. This means that composition plays an elevated role in creating compelling black and white photographs.

Mood and light are essential in filling a photograph with emotion but in different ways than with color photography.ДЇor example, strive to see past typical landscape вЂњrulesвЂќ like вЂњonly photograph during the golden hourвЂќ Doing so will help create many more opportunities for black and white photography while in the field. Experimenting with the color sliders in the вЂњBlack & White MixвЂќ panel in LightroomвЂ™s Develop module can help you build this skill, as well.

#Black and white photo how to#

The next step is learning how to manipulate colors to introduce or tame contrast when processing a black and white photograph.

Observe how the colors translate to tones of gray and then work on applying those observations in the field. When converted to black and white, the bright white tones will contrast nicely with the darker gray sky.ДЄ good way to start learning this skill is to take some color photographs and convert them to black and white using software like Lightroom. For example, a photo of a green bush with red berries will have a lot of color contrast but when converted to shades of gray, the same scene will look dull.Д«ecause the greens and reds become similar tones of gray, leaving the scene with little tonal contrast.ДЇor another example, take white clouds against a dark sky. Learning how color scenes will translate into a black and white photograph can be challenging but is an important skill to learn. Learn to visualize a scene in black & white Fluffy cotton grass surrounds a small tarn in Jasper National ParkвЂ™s backcountry (Alberta, Canada).