Shootingandseeingin Black& White
Whydoblackandwhitephotographscontinuetoexcitesomanyphotographersofalllevels,whenwehavecamerasandtechniquesatourdisposalthatcancaptureeverycolorunderthe sun?
Wecanproducephotographsofspectacularcolorrangebutremovingthecolorfromaphotochangesthefocus—itshiftstheviewer’sattentonfromthecolorstothingsthatcanbemoreabstract,lessimmediatelynotceable,anditpresentstheworldtousinawaythatfewofusareusedtoseeing it.
CamerasettingsforBlackandwhite
• Imagetype- RAWorRAW+JPG• ISO- rangetomatchlightorgraininterest• WhiteBalance- AutoorMatchlightingsituation• Manualorsemimanualmodes(Shutter/AperturePriority)• Histogramonorcheckhistogramoccasionallywhenshooting
EXPOSURE: Defined in photography-• exposure istheamountoflightwhichreachesyourcamerasensororfilm.Itisacrucialpartofhow
brightordarkyourpicturesappear.• Thereareonlytwocamerasettingsthataffecttheactual“luminousexposure”ofanimage: shutter
speed and aperture.Thethirdsetting, cameraISO,alsoaffectsthebrightnessofyourphotos
Exposure Triangle
Three Pillars of photography
LawofreciprocityReciprocityisthelawoftherelationshipbetweenshutterandaperture.Itstipulatesthatonestopincreasesinapertureisequivalenttotheshutterdurationdoubling.Bothincreaselightbyonestop.
Exposure and understanding the Lightmeter
BRACKETING
AEBorAuto- willchangesettingsforyouUsingthe+/- youcanchangeasyoushoot
*DigitalphotoProtectyourhighlights!ETTR
METERING
Matrix Spot CenterWeighted
f/4.5@1/30 f/4.5@1/100 f/4.5@1/60
Matrix CenterWeighted Spotf/4.5@1/1,250 f/4.5@1/1,600 f/4.5@1/400
Standinginsun,shootingintoshade
Matrix CenterWeighted Spot
Standinginsun,shootingintoshade
Matrix CenterWeighted Spotf/4.5@1/1,250 f/4.5@1/400 f/4.5@1/320
LensFiltersFilterschangethedynamicsoflightenteringthelensandusuallyrequire
youtoalteryourexposuretocompensateforthisfact.
UVFilter/SkylightFilterUltravioletfiltersaretransparentfiltersthatblackultra-violetlight,inordertoreducethehazinessthatisnoticeablyapparentinsomedaylightphotography.
Goodasalensprotectorastheydonotaffectthemajorityofvisiblelight.
TherearesomestrongerUVfiltersthatcuttheatmospherichaze.
PolarizingFilterThisfilterisusedtodarkenoverlylightskiesasitincreasesthecontrastbetweencloudsandthesky.
Typicalfunctionofapolarizeristoremovereflectionfromwaterandglass
NeutralDensityFilterThisfilteruniformlyreducestheamountoflightenteringthelens.TheNDfilterishelpfulwhenthecontrastbetweenhighlightsandshadowistoogreattogetaqualityexposure.Alsoenablesgreatermotionblurringandimagedetailallowinglargeapertureandoraslowshutterspeedtobeused.
FiltersforB&WPhotographyTherearespecificfiltersforB&Wphotographythatlightensimilarcolorsanddarkenoppositecolors,enhancingthemonochromaticlook.
Red,orange,yellow,greenandbluefilters-landscapephotographerslikeredfilterstoadddramatothesky.
Yellowwillalsoaddmoredramatoskybringingoutclouds.
DynamicRange&Tonal Contrast
• DynamicRage- isthedifferencebetweenthedarkestandlightesttonesinanimage,generallypureblackandpurewhite.It’smoreoftenusedtotalkaboutthemaximumdynamicrangeacameraiscapableof.• Sometimesdescribedintermsof”Stops”• Anincreaseofonestopequalsadoublingofthebrightnesslevel.• Adecreaseofonestopequalsonehalfofthebrightnesslevel.
• Tonalcontrastcanbebrokendownintothree categories:• HIGH,NORMAL,AND LOW
• HIGH-contrastimageconsistsprimarilyofwhiteandblackwithverylittle gray.
• NORMAL-contrastimageconsistsofabalanceofall three.
• LOW-contrastimagecanappearveryflatsincethere’slittledistinctionbetweencolorsortoneswithinthe image.
Ansel Adams
SallyMann
Lewis Baltz
Sebastiao Salgado
HenriCartier-Bresson
Robert Frank
Irving Penn
High--Keyiswherethepictureisalllightvalues.Low--Keyiswherethepictureisalldarkvalues.
High key
Harry Callahan
Minor White
MichaelKenna
Low key
Ray Metzker
HiroshiSugimoto
WinstonChurchillbyYousuf Karsh
Light&Shadow
Ray Metzker
Texture
EdwardWeston
AaronSiskind
AnselAdams
BenHeine
