Professional photographer Andrew S. Gibson has put together a list of the most common black and white photography mistakes.
His article over at Digital Photography School explains why you should never do these things, and tips on what you should do instead, when you’re taking black and white photos.
Follow his advice the next time you’re taking B&W photos and you’ll immediately notice a big difference in the end results!
Not having a strong composition
Black and white is a true test of your compositional skills. The best monochrome images use visual elements like tonal contrast, texture, line, shape, pattern, and negative space. The emotional power of color can mask poor composition. But in black and white there is nowhere to hide. You have to learn how to use these building blocks of composition effectively.
That starts with learning how to see them. For example, you can’t use lines in your compositions if you haven’t trained yourself to see straight, diagonal, or curved lines in the scene.
The good news is that once you understand the fundamentals of composition in black and white, you will instinctively apply them to your color photos as well.
Trying to save photos by making them black and white
Black and white is not a method for rescuing poorly crafted color photos. If your photo is bad in color, it will be bad in black and white too (although there are always photos that work better in black and white for compositional reasons).
There is nowhere to hide in black and white. In color, if the lighting or composition isn’t as good as it could be, the emotional impact of the colors in the photo may rescue the image (or, depending on how you look at it, cover up its shortcomings). Black and white images rely on factors like tonal contrast, textural detail, line and strong composition to work.
That’s why some photographers consider black and white to be a kind of higher art form than color photography.
Not shooting in the best light
One of the advantages of black and white is that you can often shoot in lighting conditions not suitable for color photography. For example, on a cloudy day you can create beautiful black and white seascapes with a tripod and neutral density filters (this is called long exposure photography). Yet, in color, you would really need to shoot close to dawn or sunset to make the most of the scene.
But what some people do is use black and white to shoot in lighting conditions that are simply unsuitable for the subject. Using black and white isn’t the solution. The important skill is in matching the light to the subject. This takes a while to learn but it’s very important. Don’t be lazy just because it’s black and white.
Read the full article with even more tips over at Digital Photography School.
Source: Digital Photography School
