5 Tips for Stunning Black & White Photography

5 Tips for Stunning Black and White Photography

Creating a great black and white image involves more than dropping the saturation on any photo. Black and white is an art form of its own, and it begins before you ever pick up your camera. For this tutorial we hit the streets of Chicago to focus on five photography composition fundamentals that matter most in monochrome.

Black and White Photography Gallery

1. Focus on Simple Shapes

Without color to help distinguish the different parts of an image, it’s easy to end up with photos that look and feel flat. Keeping the frame as simple as possible is what overcomes that. Rather than hunting for complex scenes, look for simple shapes, forms and textures that stand out on their own. Downtown Chicago has stuff everywhere, so keep it simple: look for something that makes you think it is an interesting shape, like a piece of architecture with good shape and structure.

2. Find Angles That Avoid Distractions

There are no boring subjects or locations. If you’re struggling to make an interesting image wherever you happen to be, experiment with the angle and perspective of the shot. There is always an angle that makes things a little more simple, and it captures a place or a subject in a way nobody else has. When a place is full of people, you really have two options: Photoshop the people out afterward, or shoot from an interesting vantage point that just doesn’t have anyone in it. At a crowded mirrored sculpture, aiming up at the curved buildings and their reflections leaves the crowd out of the frame and creates a trippy effect.

3. Look for Leading Lines

Shooting in Chicago means being surrounded by parallel streets, tall vertical structures and tunnel-like views. Any time lines or structures seem to extend out toward the horizon, you have a perfect situation for leading lines, one of the most powerful compositional techniques available and a reliable way to pull a viewer into an image. Streets, railroad tracks, buildings, rivers, there are countless examples out there.

No Leading Lines Available?

Research and experiment with other forms of composition. Photography isn’t about what you can fit in a frame, it’s about how you place objects and subjects within the frame to maximize interest.

4. Use Contrast Between Light and Dark

Color is an incredibly powerful tool for separating objects and subjects in a photo. Photographing someone in a red shirt against a green background adds depth and interest immediately.

In monochrome, every one of those colors becomes a shade of gray, so you have to shoot with tonal range in mind instead. Areas of near-black and near-white are far more interesting and dynamic than a frame full of mid-tones. Black and white photography uses light in its purest form, and being able to spot areas of light, shadow and high contrast quickly is what makes a subject stand out. On a cloudy day with little sunlight, you won’t see much contrast between highlights and shadows from the sun, so find it in the subject instead: a dark building against the light sky gives you the contrast between light and dark.

5. Adjust Your Position to Capture Symmetry

Symmetry exists all over the place in architecture, but sometimes you have to work for it. Get closer to or farther from your subject to capture just that part, then move left and right until you are pretty much right on with the building. If you’re having trouble getting the image you want from further back, don’t be afraid to get up close. Move in and look for repeating patterns, lines and balance.

Now pick up your camera and try looking at the world in black and white.

Why Composition Carries More Weight in Monochrome

A color photograph can lean on color to do the separating: a bright shirt against a muted background reads instantly, whatever the composition. Take color away and the only things left to organize the frame are shape, line, tone and contrast. That’s why every one of these five tips is a composition decision made before the shutter opens rather than an edit made afterwards.

Final Thoughts

Strong black and white photography comes from simplifying the frame, working the angle, finding leading lines, shooting for a wide tonal range between near-black and near-white, and moving until you are square to a symmetrical subject. Get those right in-camera and the conversion to monochrome becomes the easy part.

Quick Reference: Settings and Tips

• Simple shapesOne interesting shape with good structure, nothing else competing with it
• Avoid distractionsFind a vantage point with no one in it, or Photoshop the people out later
• Leading linesStreets, tracks, buildings or rivers that converge into the distance
• Light and darkNo sun? Put a dark subject against a light sky
• SymmetryMove closer or farther, then left and right until you are square to the subject
• Nothing from far backGet up close and look for repeating patterns, lines and balance

No software needed: every tip is a decision you make with the camera in your hand.