Color photography has existed for more than 80 years, but black and white photography not only does not lose its popularity but on the contrary is gaining more and more fans. How to explain this phenomenon? In this article, we will discuss how to master black and white photography.
What is black and white photography?
Perfect photography often attracts attention due to interesting lighting, rich tonal range, unusual shapes, patterns, or structures. And it is in the black and white image, when color is not a distraction, that we can observe art in its purest form.
Traditionally, the creation of high-quality black and white images requires the photographer to be skilled in both shooting and post-processing within the walls of the “darkroom”. The best result in the image of the world in grayscale can be achieved if you develop the skill of compositional construction. In any case, you will have to work on the image after shooting in order to add semantic accents and enhance expressiveness.
How to take black and white photography correctly?
To make a perfect photo there are several points which should be noted:
- Graphic shapes and contrasts
Simple and graphic shapes are always effective subjects for grayscale photography. Pay attention to high-contrast scenes that have bright highlights and deep shadows. Such scenes are the most expressive.
- Significant detail and texture
Both artistic elements can form a subtle plot that is interesting to the viewer. Soft, diffuse lighting in the shade or cloudy weather will bring out the meaningful details of your subject. In contrast, harsh, direct lighting (such as sunlight on a clear day) will accentuate the texture of the subject.
- Simple and clear composition
Due to the fact that color combinations are not taken into account when framing the frame, black and white photography benefits more from a simple and “transparent” composition. For example, formed by eye-guiding lines or the likeness of objects located in the foreground and background.
Programs for processing black and white photos
The big advantage of such sites over software is the ease of use. In most cases, they are not suitable for professional purposes, but solving the problem will be relevant.
- IMGOnline – an online service for editing images in BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF formats. When saving the processed image, you can select the quality and file extension. Is the easiest and fastest way to apply a black and white effect on a photo.
- Croper is an online photo editor with support for many effects and image processing operations. It is very convenient for repeated use of the same tools, which are automatically displayed in the quick access panel.
- Photoshop Online is an advanced version of the photo editor, endowed with the main functions of the program. Among them is the ability to fine-tune color tones, brightness, and contrast, and so on
- Holla is a modern popular online image processing service, with support for Pixlr and photo editors. In this way, the second option will be considered, as it is considered the most convenient. In the arsenal of the site, there are more than a dozen free useful effects.