The elements of contrast, texture, shadow, shape, and tone can create compelling and dramatic photos even without the use of color. If you have discovered the monochrome art of Ansel Adams and Alfred Stieglitz, you are probably wondering what they did to capture such deceptively simple and amazing images. Minimalist black and white photography is a form of art many have attempted. Mastering the techniques required to make the art great is attained by only a few.
If this is something that interests you, learning to ignore color is one of the first things you need to do. You can try a couple of simple things that might help. There are monochrome viewing filters you can purchase and attach to your camera. You might also pick up some cheap sunglasses, that have dark grey lenses, from a big box or dollar store. Monochrome is an appropriate photographic technique for nearly any subject, including still lifes, people, cityscapes, and landscapes.
A lot of instructors put primary emphasis on composition. Composition is important, for sure, no matter how many colors are involved. Compositions that work in color however may not work in monochrome. You must learn the elements of composition that make monochrome so distinctive.
One of the foundation stones of good monochrome picture taking is tone. It is not exactly the same as contrast, but similar. When you shoot a cityscape that has lots of vibrant color for example, the vibrancy of those colors may not translate when the same scene is shot in monochrome. They may just become a mass of different grays. You can alter the tone with the use of filters. You can also change the lighting. If you change the light, you'll create instant shadows and highlights.
You must learn the power of shadow. You need to think of shadows as tools you can use to manipulate minimalist art. The more intense the shadows the better the photograph. Shadows draw people in. They don't have to be black voids. You want observers to feel the shapes inside the shadows, sometimes without being able to actually identify them.
Shapes are parts of shadows, but they also create contrast. They may be the elements that define your photograph. If you consider it, shape is how the human brain processes what it sees around it. The way objects are shaped helps us determine what we're looking at. When you're shooting monochrome photos, it's important to identify shape and work with it in its relation to contrast and tone.
Texture is partly a product of shadow and light. If you eliminate texture as a way of creating a stark effect, the outcome will be something more along the lines of abstraction than if you included the texture. Texture can be created with the use of a low level light source that creates highlights and shadows revealing your subject's texture.
The decision to strip your work of color can be scary. Color can hide a lot of technical mistakes. Monochrome doesn't give the artist that cover.
If this is something that interests you, learning to ignore color is one of the first things you need to do. You can try a couple of simple things that might help. There are monochrome viewing filters you can purchase and attach to your camera. You might also pick up some cheap sunglasses, that have dark grey lenses, from a big box or dollar store. Monochrome is an appropriate photographic technique for nearly any subject, including still lifes, people, cityscapes, and landscapes.
A lot of instructors put primary emphasis on composition. Composition is important, for sure, no matter how many colors are involved. Compositions that work in color however may not work in monochrome. You must learn the elements of composition that make monochrome so distinctive.
One of the foundation stones of good monochrome picture taking is tone. It is not exactly the same as contrast, but similar. When you shoot a cityscape that has lots of vibrant color for example, the vibrancy of those colors may not translate when the same scene is shot in monochrome. They may just become a mass of different grays. You can alter the tone with the use of filters. You can also change the lighting. If you change the light, you'll create instant shadows and highlights.
You must learn the power of shadow. You need to think of shadows as tools you can use to manipulate minimalist art. The more intense the shadows the better the photograph. Shadows draw people in. They don't have to be black voids. You want observers to feel the shapes inside the shadows, sometimes without being able to actually identify them.
Shapes are parts of shadows, but they also create contrast. They may be the elements that define your photograph. If you consider it, shape is how the human brain processes what it sees around it. The way objects are shaped helps us determine what we're looking at. When you're shooting monochrome photos, it's important to identify shape and work with it in its relation to contrast and tone.
Texture is partly a product of shadow and light. If you eliminate texture as a way of creating a stark effect, the outcome will be something more along the lines of abstraction than if you included the texture. Texture can be created with the use of a low level light source that creates highlights and shadows revealing your subject's texture.
The decision to strip your work of color can be scary. Color can hide a lot of technical mistakes. Monochrome doesn't give the artist that cover.
About the Author:
See the exhibitions of the very talented minimalist black and white photography expert online. To get instant access to the website, here is the link http://www.kieranwalshgallery.com/about.
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