Black & White photography tip: Think about color!
Every time someone asks me what's the most important thing you need to consider when doing black & white photography I say "color". And of course, almost every time I say this someone looks back at me with a "huh?" face. It's understandable, especially because when it comes to black & white photography, the common advice is to ignore color and "think in b&w". Well, I think that advice is misleading and confusing. Let me explain why.
A black & white photograph is made up shades of grey, from pure white to pure black and everything in between. These shades of grey are actually an interpretation of the colors we see in real life, so to truly appreciate and visualize how they'll look in a b&w photograph you need to understand how they'll be interpreted. Sometimes, colors that look very different when in color end up being almost the same shade of grey in a black & white photograph, lacking contrast and intensity when seen together. See the examples below:
Color wheels in color:
Color wheels in black and white:
The only difference between the first series of circles and the second is that the ones in black & white have been desaturated to remove all color. Notice how in the first one the colors are different (green, black, red) and appear different in the black & white version below. Although there isn't much difference between the green and red. Then observe the second circle, where 3 somewhat similar shades of blue look quite different in the black & white version. Then take a look at the last 2 circles. The colors are very different and contrasty, but they look practically identical in black & white. Pretty boring if these were the dominant colors in your photograph.
See why I say color is so important in black & white photography? Just because a scene looks amazing in color doesn't mean it'll look good in black & white. And the opposite is also true, a scene that looks quite dull and boring in color could come to life in black & white.
Remember that what makes a black & white photograph are the differences in tonality. Everything depends on this: shapes, contrast, light and shadow, composition, etc. Now, there are ways to affect how colors are translated into black & white (such as color filters), but that's a topic for another day. As a quick example, if you were to take the color circles and turn them into Grayscale in Photoshop you will get a different result than what I show here, in which I just desaturated to show the effect.
Take the photograph above. It's a beach, so we know the sand is brownish and the clouds are bluish white, yet the look very similar. We also know the sky is blue and that it's daytime because of the overall light, but the sky looks almost black. As the photographer, we need to understand how colors look in black & white.
As an excercise, go out for a couple of hours with your camera set to black & white so you can see the result instantly. Keep your eye out for scenes you think will look either contrasty or dull in black & white because of their colors. I'd recommend either shooting in RAW so you have the color version to compare later; or shooting 2 versions (one in color, one in b&w) if using JPEG. Afterwards study them in your computer so you better understand how each color translates into black & white.
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Reader Comments (2)
As a black and white photographer I appreciate your article. This is a refreshing perspective.
Thanks, I appreciate your comments!