Black and White Photography; the world without color

Before color photography, there was black and white photography. The first photo was taken over a 180 years ago. Decades later the first color print was produced. Color photography remained expensive for a long time, so most photos where made in black and white. This changed in the seventies of the last century.

By then color photography became more affordable and the use of black and white declined rapidly. For that time on, black and white photography was mainly used for artistic photos and for hobbyist with their own gear for developing black and white photos.

It became harder to find and print black and white films. Most photographers printed their own black and white photos, so it became something that only the passionate photographers did. For over a decade, not many black and white photos where made. But then things changed; digital photography brought back the black and white photos. With digitale it became easy and cheap to produce black and white photos.

A funny fact about modern day camera sensors is that these sensors only register black and white. It only measures differences in luminance. To obtain a color image three color filters are used. By using the filters, the luminance per color can me measured and a color image can be calculated.

Monochrome

Black and white photography is a bit of an odd way to describe this type of photography. A black and white photo often contains mainly grey tones. This is why black and white photos are often called monochrome photos too.

Black and white photos give you their information by using luminance variations, not by showing variations in color. Your thoughts are not distracted by the colors and therefore the attention goes to subject, composition and lighting.

Not every subject is suited for a black and white photo and it isn't always easy to 'see in black and white'. There are, however, things to can pay attention to when looking for good subjects for your black and white photos. Subjects with lots of contrast will be more suited by the large variations in luminance. The right light is important; light that’s coming from an angle will make textures stand out. Light coming for only one direction will produce big differences in light and shadow.


Black and white lets you emphasis the lines and avoids distraction by colors

Out of the ordinary shapes and patterns work well in black and white too. Color can become a distraction in these kinds of photos. In the color image the photo becomes to complex to really see the structure. Photos of buildings with recurring lines or shapes are an excellent example where color could make an image to complex. A good photo is most often easy to look at.

In short, portrait, architecture and landscapes are most suited for black and white photography. In the real world any form of photography can be done in black and white. It can be the other way around also. Some photos won't work in black and white and need the color. An image that contains red and green next to each other, for example. When using color the combination will jump out, in a standard black and white conversion you would hardly see the difference between the two.

Of course there are subjects that lend themselves to black and white photography, like the bark of a tree, a piece of wood or a frayed rope. Adding color information to these kinds of images won't make a lot of difference to the end result. There is hardly any color in them to start with, so by removing the color you'll emphasise the strengths of the photo.

Experienced black and white photographers are often able to think away the color in a scene. They imaging the scene in black and white. To do this, you'll need a lot of practice, but it's possible for anyone to learn. If you have a hard time trying to see in black and white you can always just take a black and white shot and view it the camera display. If you're not using RAW, retake the shoot in color to be able to perform you're own conversion instead of relying on the standard black and white conversion.

Shooting RAW for the best results

The best black and white conversion can be done when you convert an image by hand. So don't just put your camera in black and white mode and start shooting; you'll lose the useful color information you want to have for the post-processing. Many photographers will prefer to see their photos in black and white while shooting. This will give you a better view on the possible end result.

When you shoot in RAW format, you can get the best of both worlds. Use the black and white / monochrome preset and shoot in RAW. You'll get a black and white image on the back of your camera, but when you import the RAW file on your computer, the color image will be there. Now you can decide in post if you want to use the standard conversion or rather use our own conversion techniques.

Fixing photos

You can use a black and white conversion as a way to save a bad image from deletion. Can't get the right white balance setting to fix a photo? This can happen when you shoot where there are different light sources with different color temperatures. Convert the problem image to black and white and your problem is gone! It should not really be a reason for choosing black and white, but it can be a great solution to your problem.

The same goes for a photo with a busy background, especially if the background is cluttered with a lot of different colors. Converting to black and white will make the background less noticeable and returns the attention to the main subject.

Filters

In the old days a photographer used a selection of filters to give the image something special. Nowadays all these filters are easily reproduced in Photoshop.

- a yellow filter to bring out details on a sunny day;
- a orange filter to add some extra contrast;
- a red filter to get a night-look during the day;
- a blue filter to influence the color temperature

Conclusion

Not every photo works when converting to black and white. It pays off to think about which photo to convert and it's useful to try multiple variations in conversion. Compare the end result with your original color image; is it really an improvement?

A good black and white photograph will leave a bigger impression on the viewer. The absence of color puts more emphasis on subject and lighting. Perhaps you'll have to search for the right photo, but showing your work in black and white is certainly worth trying!

Check out our video tutorial on Black and White conversion in Lightroom.