Taking better black and white photos - basic tips and examples.

For me, black and white photography is one of the most interesting and inspiring areas of creativity, it is what people call a hobby or passion. It is rough and refined, naturalistic and unusual, powerful and sophisticated, mysterious and open, emotional and calm, simple and complex, it contains all shades from black to white. Black and white images are linked to the origins of photography, but what was once just a way to capture images has evolved into something deeper over time.

Practice, practice and more practice

Experienced black and white photographers may see the world as colorless. They train their minds to perceive contrast and tones while ignoring distracting colors. This is not a skill that you can acquire in a short time, it is something that will come to you with experience. I can't say that I'm good at black and white, but I can spot some scenes and objects that require black and white.

One way to prepare your brain is through conscious effort, or in other words, practice. Trevor Carpenter gave us a great example with his October Challenge. He decided to limit himself to only black and white photography for a month. This allowed him to experiment in this environment and learn from his own works. Summarizing his project, he said: "I noticed, especially in last days"that when I take or think about a photograph, I sense in advance the potential impact of the composition in black and white."

Focus on contrast

Black and white photography is black, white and all the tones in between. The human eye, by its nature, is designed in such a way that it perceives two things - the intensity of light and color. When we remove colors, our eye becomes more sensitive to light intensity. A person perceives areas of contrast, thanks to this he can distinguish one thing from another.

When shooting in black and white, your main goal will be to frame your subject through the shades of gray. Use contrast to show your viewers what is important and what is not. Look for scenes that themselves contain high contrast, this will help your black and white shots stand out more from the start.

During processing black and white photographs Using Photoshop features such as levels, curves and layer blending will open up a wide range of possibilities for you to achieve the final image. You can also use the dodge and burn technique, which is effective method increasing contrast. This technique works well because it allows you to focus on processing certain elements of the image without affecting surrounding areas.

Focus on texture

In reality, texture is nothing more than a manifestation of contrast, but it is perceived completely differently. If you think about it, texture is a constant or variable pattern of shadows and light of varying degrees of intensity. Black and white photography largely depends on texture.

Colors add an extra layer to a human-perceived image and therefore mask the most subtle textures. Look for areas with interesting textures where the surface can be photographed in a way that highlights the specificity of the surface and brings out the contrast.

The decisions you make during processing can also have a significant impact on the texture. When processing a black and white photo, you have the opportunity to extract texture from a flat surface thanks to the technique you choose. IN digital photography Blue and red channels tend to contain more noise than green channels, so tools like the channel mixer and black and white adjustment layer in Photoshop will allow you to bring out the textures contained in your photo.

Shoot in color

This mostly applies to digital photography. If your camera gives you the choice of taking color or black-and-white photos, never choose black-and-white mode. In reality, the camera first takes a color photo and then converts it to black and white.

Photo processing software can make the translation much better, and you will have more flexibility in producing the final image. It's incredible how different photos can be when you edit them yourself, so it's best not to limit yourself before the image even comes out of the camera.

The only exception to of this rule, if you are using the camera's black and white mode to get an idea of ​​how the scene might look in the final black and white photo. This trick can help you find good black-and-white scenes faster, but after you find them, return the camera to color shooting mode and take another shot.

Use color filters

In order to change the shades of photographs, photographers who shoot black and white film use filters. Have you ever seen black and white photos with dark skies and snow-white clouds? This is not the result natural conditions, for this, color filters are used to achieve the desired effect. Using similar color filters with digital camera It's perfectly acceptable, it's not necessary, but it can give you some benefits.

Software like Photoshop allows us to apply filters without altering the original image. Thanks to the program, the same results can be achieved when converting from color to black and white images. Those using Photoshop CS3 will notice that the black and white adjustment menu gives you the ability to customize and apply several filters.

So if you decide to practice a little black and white photography, you should definitely think about these things before and after shooting. Anyone can take a black and white photo, but you will need a little more skill and knowledge to create a good black and white photograph.

Over its 150-year history, photography has undergone many changes. The methods of capturing and reproducing information changed, and the possibilities of influencing the final image expanded. Today, digital photography allows us to carry out manipulations with photographs in a short time that would require hours of work in analog photography or would be impossible in principle. One area that has not lost its appeal over the years is black and white photography. In this article we will look at methods for converting a color image into black and white and working with it.

As you know, when working with RAW images, it is possible to restore information in the shadows to some extent, but not in the highlights. Therefore, in digital photography, it is common to set the exposure taking into account the lightest parts of the motif, so that the histogram is not cut off at the right edge. This principle, while most often true for color photography, does not necessarily apply to black and white photographs. In some cases, overexposed areas can be quite appropriate, adding contrast to the image, while the structure in dark areas is also not desirable to lose by making them too dark. These considerations need to be taken into account when shooting contrasting motifs.

Most often, for optimal results, the sum of the influence of all channels should be equal to 100%. The most natural result looks like 30/60/10. It is possible that the value for one channel, for example blue, can be set to zero. It is also possible that one channel contains the image in an ideal form, so the influence of the other two channels can be left at zero.

Initial and results of using Channel Mixer with parameters 80/20/0 and -20/-30/150

Some simple rules while creating black and white portraits: Preferring red channel information results in fair, smooth skin. Freckles can be made more visible by increasing the percentage of the green channel. Including information from the blue channel in the calculations makes the skin darker.

Calculations

This method can be considered a logical continuation of working with channels through Channel Mixer. The Calculations dialog box allows you to calculate the result of overlapping channels with different overlay modes. By calling the dialog via Image-Calculation, you can set the source channels and overlap mode.

Since this method allows you to work with only two channels, it may be more interesting to directly work with all three channels. To do this, go to the list of channels and select Split Channels in the options. We will get three images in Grayscale mode: _R, _G, _B, where is the name of your file. Now, having copied all three images into one file in the form of layers (remembering to give the layers appropriate names), we can experiment with overlay modes and transparency, if necessary, adding masks to the layer-channels and closing parts on it.

This method only works if the image is represented by a single Base layer. If in your case it looks different, then the image layers must first be folded (Ctrl+Shift+E) and create a base layer via Layer-New-Background from Layer.

Gradient Map

First, let's set the colors to black and white by pressing the D key. Now create a new Gradient Map adjustment layer and select the first gradient in the list, Foreground to Background.

This method, judging by the results, is based on the formula: 30% of the red channel information, 60% of the green and 10% of the blue with slight variations. The results obtained differ more strongly from the visual perception of the brightness of a color image than the results described below. simple methods, but the contrast of the resulting photograph is higher - from 18 for pure blue to 237 for yellow.

As a variant of this method, you can use a “zone gradient”, a kind of imitation of the method of working with brightness zones, which is offered by the Lightzone program. To do this, we will create a black-and-white gradient and place another 9 on it between the two outer carriages with a step of 10. That is, the second carriage will be at position 10, the third - 20, etc. Now we will assign a shade of gray to each carriage corresponding to its position, - that is, the first will have a brightness value of 0, the second - 10, etc. Now, by changing the positions of the carriages, you can manipulate the contrast and brightness distribution in the image. By moving the carriages to the center of the gradient, we get a more contrasting image; by moving the carriages to the edges, we will get more shades of gray.

The original black and white photograph and the results of applying a zone gradient with various parameters.

Of course, for optimal results it is better to apply a "zone gradient" to 16-bit images. In principle, if your computer is not quite ancient, then it is better to carry out all manipulations in Photoshop in 16-bit mode, as mentioned at the beginning of the article.

Hue shift

This method is often called an advanced method of converting an image to black and white. Considering the fact that it is based on a Hue/Saturation layer, which is rather indifferent to color shades, it may be interesting more as a fun experiment than as a practical way working with photographs. Although, I don’t argue, it can be quite acceptable for photographs with dim colors.

So, let's create two Hue/Saturation adjustment layers. Change the overlay mode of the bottom layer to Color, and change the saturation value of the top layer to –100. Now, by changing the Hue value on the bottom adjustment layer, you can change the brightness of the different light tones in the image.

Although, as stated above, Hue/Saturation is indifferent to both color saturation and hue, this method relies on the fact that the Color overlay mode preserves color shade and the saturation of the overlay layer, adjusting the brightness of the result to the brightness of the base layer, that is, the original image. The limitations of this method are that blue shades cannot be made lighter, only darker, and yellow shades can only be made lighter.

The original photo and the results of applying the filter with different meanings color shade.

Hue/Saturation and Desaturate

The simplest and perhaps most useless methods. With this method, all three channels are filled with the color brightness value in the HSL model, that is, max+min/2. Color hue and color saturation are not taken into account: Blue colour, which appears darker to us, turns into the same shade of gray as the visually brighter green. This method makes sense to use only in cases where the original photo already has virtually no color that needs to be taken into account.

Grayscale

To fill the single resulting channel with information, the approximately classic formula 30/60/10 is used. Approximately, since in addition to applying this formula, Photoshop clearly carries out additional manipulations with the image information in order to more evenly distribute the brightness levels between different color shades.

The resulting photos are fairly low in contrast, but this can be a good thing as it gives the photographer more room to manipulate the image using curves, levels, or other contrast techniques. This method makes sense to use if the photo has only weak colors. In this case, this method is still better suited than the previous one, since it still takes into account color shades.

If image translation is followed by toning manipulations, you can convert the image to Grayscale and immediately to RGB.

Lab

As the name of the channel already speaks for itself, it contains information about the brightness we visually perceive. The results of this method are similar to the previous one, only the range of brightness over which the different colors are distributed is even smaller. If, when switching to Grayscale mode, the brightness of pure colors was distributed from 70 for blue to 248 for yellow, then with this method it was from 250 to 110.

With this method, the image must be converted to the Lab color space, and then select channel L in the channel list or via Ctrl+3. Now let’s transfer it to Grayscale and answer the question in the affirmative whether to ignore the remaining channels.

Combining different methods

In most cases, for working with photographs, it will be most convenient to use the Black/White dialog or work with channels through the Channel Mixer or Calculations; for photographs with weakly expressed colors, a simple transfer to Grayscale can do a good job.

In some cases, it makes sense to use several image layers converted to black and white different ways. For example, when simulating a red or orange filter in the Black/White dialog, the sky becomes more contrasting and the clouds become more pronounced. At the same time, the contrast of red and orange flowers, and simply lightening the corresponding tones will not fix this. In this case, you can make a second version of the black and white image, for example using the red and green channels in the Channel Mixer. After that, add a mask to the first layer, with a contrasting sky, and paint everything on the mask with black except the sky.

To begin with, perhaps we need to say a few words about such a thing as contrast. The first thing a person starting to study digital photography studies is a histogram - almost a totem of the entire clan of digital photographers, and there is no way to spoil it or crop it. But what is true in the case of color photography does not always apply in black and white. In many digital black and white photographs there is an obvious lack of contrast, stemming from the photographer's fear of losing information. But, unlike color ones, monochrome and black-and-white photography live on the play of light and shadows; black and white areas can only add life to a photograph, making it more expressive and effective.

Changing Contrast

The most simple ways Changing the contrast of a photograph is known to everyone who has been doing Photoshop for more than a week - these are levels and, as a more flexible option, curves. Just in case, let me remind you that a flat curve reduces contrast, brightening blacks and darkening whites, while a steeper curve increases contrast, reducing the number of mid-gray tones.

In some cases, good results can be achieved by increasing the contrast through the Unsharp Mask filter with a high Radius value and a low Amount value. A similar result can also be achieved by creating a copy of the layer, changing the overlay mode to Overlay and using the Highpass filter, and then, if necessary, reducing the transparency of this copy of the layer.

Another good option for increasing contrast is to create a copy of the layer with Overlay or Soft Light mode and, if necessary, reduce the transparency of this layer.

For this photo, a copy of the layer was created with the Soft Light overlay mode, the layers were stacked and the Unsharp Mask filter was applied with a large radius value.

Drawing with light

For those photographers who are willing to spend some time to get interesting black and white photographs and are not afraid of accusations of manipulating reality, “painting with brightness” or “painting with light” may be interesting. The simplest variation of this method is to use the Dodge tool in Highlight mode and the Burn tool in Shadows mode, both at 2-5% opacity. It is, of course, better to work on a copy of the layer.

A more time-consuming but flexible option is to create two copies of the layer, one in Color Burn mode, the second in Color Dodge. Now let's add masks to these layers, painted black. To do this, when adding a mask, you need to hold the Alt key. Now, painting with a brush white with a transparency of 5–10% on the mask of the first layer, which is in Color Burn mode, you can darken any areas of the image except the lightest ones. Also, by painting on the second layer mask, you can lighten the image, except for the darkest areas. The advantage of this method is that by changing the brush color to black, you can reduce the change in contrast again.

Those who find working with two layers at once too inconvenient can use just one layer filled with neutral gray (128/128/128 in RGB mode) with Overlay mode, and paint on it with black to darken areas and white to lighten. . Let me remind you that to create a layer with a neutral layer, you need to click on the new layer icon with the Alt key pressed, select the Overlay method and check the Fill with Neutral Color (50% Gray) option. Set the colors to black and white - with the D key, switch from black to white - with the X key.

Film grain imitation

When working with black and white photographs, sooner or later the thought of simulating film photographs may arise, which naturally leads to the desire to create a semblance of film grain in the image.

The easiest way to simulate film grain, which is mentioned in many articles, is the Add Noise filter. Unfortunately, this filter does exactly what its name promises - it adds noise that is as similar to film grain as a cardboard house with painted bricks is similar to a real brick house.

Unlike noise, which is superimposed on a digital image, film grain is part of the image, or rather, the photograph is made of grain, so the optimal filter or plug-in would be to divide the image into many small areas and randomly change their brightness depending on the sensitivity of the film. which they want to simulate.

Unfortunately, I have not yet seen such plugins. If you know of any, please write to me. All existing plugins are based on blurring the image with the addition of noise of various sizes, which often gives a completely believable result. Among the highest quality we can mention the following:

• Imagenomic Real Grain
• Power Retouche Film Grain
• Alien Skin Exposure
• Digital Film Tools 55 mm (Film Lab)
• Grain Surgery

If you do not want to use plugins, then a more or less satisfactory result can be achieved as follows: create new layer, filled with gray color and set to Overlay. This process is described in detail in part 2.2. Now let's add noise to it via Filter-Noise-Add Noise, with the Monochromatic option. Then let's blur this layer a little using Gaussian Blur. After this, you may need to blur the photo itself a little, since the imitation of large grain superimposed on a sharp digital photo looks tacky, especially if the sharpness was previously increased and the light halos characteristic of the Unsharp Mask filter are noticeable.

Users who know how to work with layer properties can try the following method: create a copy of the layer and add noise to it. After that, open the properties of the layer by double-clicking on it in the list of layers and, holding Alt, divide the carriage of dark or light tones for the main layer. This way, you can reduce the effect of simulated noise in dark or light areas of the image.

The results will be even more realistic if you scan a film photograph of a medium-brightness surface and place it on a digital photograph as a layer set to Overlay or Soft Light. If you are a big fan of black and white photography with film grain, then you can guess which option will give the most realistic results. Absolutely right - shoot on film.

Infrared photography is of interest to many, but not everyone has the time or desire to look for suitable filters, understand focus shifting, long exposures and other difficulties that come with it. Quite naturally, the question arises whether it is possible to process a photograph so that it is indistinguishable from real infrared. I can answer right away: it is possible, but only very approximately.

Visible light photography; simulation made using Channel Mixer; using the IR Film plugin; true infrared photography.

All methods of simulating infrared photography try to use the Robert Wood effect, in which green foliage becomes lighter while the blue of the sky turns black at the same time. However, the infrared spectrum does not care about the color of objects in visible light, it has its own reflection characteristics, so any photographer who has been doing infrared photography for long enough will easily notice the difference between a real IR photograph and a fake. Photos processed in Photoshop “under IR” show insufficient detailing of the cloud structure, too light shadows from objects, and high contrast on the grass and leaves.

If you still want to make an imitation of infrared photography, then it is best to take a photograph that contains only foliage and the sky. It is advisable to remove from polarizing filter so that the sky is darker and the green leaves are richer. If you are shooting in sunny weather, then it makes sense to take several images and then create an HDRI from them, since dynamic range in infrared photography is quite low and even on a cloudless day the shadows are not completely black, and the structure of the clouds remains clearly visible.

Now let's use the Channel Mixer dialog with the Monochrome option checked and the channel values, for example, -70/200/-30. These parameters are offered by Channel Mixer in version CS3 for the Infrared installation. You can try changing the influence of the red channel and, accordingly, adjust the value of the blue so that the sum is equal to 100. If the green is still not light enough, then you can make a copy of the layer with the Soft Light overlay mode and, if necessary, reduce its transparency.

Now you can, if you wish, try to recreate the effect that is known from photographs of certain types of films, for example Kodak HSI. To do this, set the colors in Photoshop to black and white and call the Diffuse Glow filter, parameters to taste. After this, you can make an imitation of film grain and hope that no one will suspect a fake.

The IR Film plugin imitates infrared images quite well in some cases.

Toning

For monochrome toning of black and white images, there are several obvious methods that can also be used as adjustment layers: Photo Filter; Hue/Saturation with Colorize option checked; layer filled with one color with Color overlay mode.

To tint in different colors depending on the degree of brightness, you can theoretically use Color Balance, but there are much more flexible methods - Gradient Map and Curves. For the first method, create a Gradient Map adjustment layer and change its overlay mode to Color. Now you can change the gradient, determining what color shade different areas of brightness in the original photo will have. The second method uses a Curves adjustment layer, also in Color overlay mode. By selecting one channel, for example blue, in the curves dialog box, we can determine which brightnesses will have a blue tint, and which ones will be colored in yellow, which is complementary to it. Sometimes, in both the first and second cases, the results can be more interesting if you do not change the overlay mode to Color, so it makes sense to experiment a little.

Another interesting way toning - using the color of the original photograph. To do this, place a layer with the original on the black and white version of the image in the Color overlay mode. Now you can blur the colored layer a little, reduce its transparency, change the saturation of the entire layer or certain color shades.

In conclusion, I would like to remind you that, as in many areas of photography, working with black and white photographs in Photoshop provides room for experimentation. The main thing is not to be afraid to try new methods and approaches to processing, but at the same time objectively evaluate the results of these experiments.

Features of black and white photographs
Great photographers begin training their students with the intricacies of black and white photography. This is due to the fact that in such photographs the composition is very great importance, so all the flaws are clearly visible. To make sure of this, you need to “bleach” an ordinary “everyday” photo in a normal graphic editor, you can be more than sure that most of the photo will be covered with gray spots. If you look at a color photo with a red flower on a green lawn, then it will be bright and festive. But if it is a black and white photograph, the green and red colors will merge and you may not see anything. The difference between black and white and color photography is not only that color is missing. Thanks to monochrome photographs, you can reveal the essence of things more deeply, while focusing on the most interesting and most important. Black and white photography allows you to highlight shapes and lines, emphasizing rhythm, light and shade and structure. In the foreground of monochrome photographs are impressions and emotions. It is for this reason that black and white photographs have a completely different approach, so for the monochrome version you need to see the colors of the world around you in your own way.

So, when is it better to give preference to black and white photographs? In most cases, this is a nude, a portrait; reportage and genre subjects also look very good in black and white photography. But this does not mean that still life and landscape will not look good in black and white.

A good color photograph most likely should not be converted to black and white. It is the successfully found color solution that makes it attractive, and if you remove the color, then the photo will only lose. For example, photographs that you brought from travels around exotic countries, should play with color and convey local flavor. Although several interesting black and white photographs will only decorate your photo album, their semantic content should be completely different.

It may also happen that the color component does not fit into the overall design and overloads the photo, different color spots do not harmonize, they are too colorful. In this case, it makes sense to take the photo in black and white. Therefore, do not rush to delete an unsuccessful color photo - it is possible that in black and white, after some processing in a graphics editor, it will become much better.

So, in order to get a good monochrome photograph, you can go in two ways. The first option: take a regular color photo, which is converted into black and white in a graphics editor. The second way: set your camera to black and white photography mode. In the first case, you leave yourself the opportunity to return to the original color option. In addition, you have at your disposal the powerful tools of modern graphic editors that give flexible control over the process. What photographers used to do in " dark room", developing film, experimenting with developers, printing pictures, now you will get it by working with the program. In the second case, in the graphic editor you only “extend” the image to the desired result.

Composition
First of all, you must determine for yourself what you want to emphasize, highlight in the photograph, and select the means to achieve expressiveness accordingly. Think about whether you need to enhance sharpness and contrast in order to show a courageous face in the photo or an old abandoned ship worn out by time, rain and heat, or, conversely, to soften a gentle portrait of a woman or child, to show a “paradise” landscape in the photo.

When you are thinking about a future black and white photograph, abstract from the rich and bright colors - a monochrome photograph will not convey them anyway; moreover, they can merge.

It is desirable that the picture retains a rich range of halftones. The range of a successful photograph is from black to pure white. Tonality and contrast are the main starting points on which the success of your work depends. But it should be noted that in black and white photographs, dark areas will look almost dark, so try to construct the plot in such a way as to avoid large “black holes”.

If you look around with an attentive eye, you can take an original and high-quality black and white photograph almost everywhere. Contrasting textures, relief and attractive shapes, patterns, rhythmic, repeating details of the scene make the photograph more advantageous. When looking for interesting and contrasting graphic forms, do not forget Golden Rule: the simpler the better. The picture should not be overloaded with unnecessary details.

A selection of black and white photographs

Black and white photography This is not a snapshot of reality - as it is, but from an interesting perspective, with the author’s idea. Black and white photography is an image of emotions, feelings, experiences, a string of thoughts

Black and white photography- historically the first type of photography. After the advent of color and then digital photography, black and white photographs retained their popularity. Often color photographs are converted to black and white for an artistic effect.

Each photograph is accompanied by text beginning with the word "one day" and the pronoun "I", in which the second is not as important as the first. Because “everything you see appears in front of the camera lens only once, and every photograph turns it once into eternity.” And every time this “one day” is always the beginning of something new.

black and white rainbow of life...

Today man is completely absorbed in the external, the internal is dead to him. This is the last stage of decline, the last step into a dead end. Previously, such a situation was called an “abyss,” but now the word “dead end” is enough. “Modern” man seeks inner peace, since he is deafened by the external, and hopes to find this peace in inner silence, from which in our case arises an exceptional tendency towards the horizontal-vertical. The logical consequence of this would be a clear preference for black and white, which has already been attempted many times in painting. But the exclusive connection between horizontal-vertical and black-and-white is yet to come. Then everything will be plunged into internal silence and the world will be shaken only by external sounds.

Wassily Kandinsky

Knowing what a good black and white photograph is is almost the same as taking one.

If I knew how to take a good photo, I'd do it every time

“A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth there - even if you put them all together, they add up to one, two or three seconds, snatched from eternity.”

Robert Doisneau

The prejudice many photographers have against color photography stems from a lack of perception of color as a form. You can say things with color that cannot be said with black and white. Those who say that color photography will eventually supplant black and white are talking nonsense. They don't compete. These are different means to different ends.

Edward Weston

I've been working on the "no" series. No - to exquisite light. No obvious compositions. No to the temptation of poses and narration. All these nos led me to yes. I have White background, interesting person and something happening between us.

Richard Avedon (1923 - 2004)

“Photography is like life. What does this mean? I don't know. You get an impression, a feeling. The impression of walking down the street, in the park, in life. I'm suspicious of anyone who says they know what it means."

“A good photograph must have an element of good intention. Everything in a photograph should be significant. This is not painting, where everything can be perfect. A photograph doesn't have to be absolutely perfect. It would have destroyed her."

The photogenicity of a person is not determined by his beauty, but rather, on the contrary, by the sharpness of the lines of the face - the more sharp curves on a person’s face, the more impressive it looks in a photograph, and the better it is remembered - the more strongly it is etched in the memory.

The camera sees more than the eye, so why not make use of it!