Digital SLR Photography - UK (2019-07)

Whatbetterwaytotrainyoureyein black&

whitethanbyshootingonblack& white

film?Whethera formerfilmaficionado,ora

childof digitalphotography,goingbackand

exploringtherootsof photographycanhelp

furtheryourdigitalcraft.Youcanpickupfilm

camerasforrelativelylittlein secondhand

shopsorat car-bootsalesand,depending

onthemodelyouchoose,someoffer the

samesemi-autoexposuresmodesthatyou’ll

beusedtowithyourdigitalcamera.Shooting

onfilmslowsyoudownandmakesyou

considereachcompositionbeforepressing

theshutter– withoutthesafetynetof image

previewsandinfinitestoragespaceyou’llbe

surprisedhowmuchit changesyour

approach.Iconicblack& whitefilmssuchas

Ilford’sHP5andDelta400,orKodak’sTri-X

400 canbepurchasedonlineandin

specialisthigh-streetshops,andthereare

processinglabsaplentyaroundthecountry

soyouwon’tneedtoworryaboutchemicals

either!Black& whitefilmimageshavea

certaincharmthatwillhaveyoureachingfor

yourfilmcameramoreandmore.

Abstractphotographyinvolvescapturing

imagesoutof contextwiththesceneor

subjectwithin.Byusinglight,perspective,

compositionandexposure,everydayscenes

canberecordedin a uniqueway.Because

black& whitefurtherremovestheimage

fromreality,it goeshand-in-handwith

abstractsandcanbeusedtofurtherobscure

subjectsandcreatestrikingimages.Literally

anythingcanbephotographedin anabstract

way– lookforpatterns,repetition,interplay

betweenshadowandlight,high-keyor

low-keyscenes,silhouettes,unusualangles,

perspectiveandviewpoints.Takecarewith

yourcompositionandexposuretorender

theimageshowingonlythepartsthatyou

wishtofocuson.Zoomingin tosingleout

detailsis aneffectivewayof ‘seeing’abstracts

• tryattachinga telezoomlensandlooking
  at theworldaroundyoutoseewhatcatches
  youreye.Macrolensesoffer a similar
  opportunity,allowingyoutogetcloseand
  focusonjustonesmallpartof a subject.
  Editingabstractsis funtoo,asyoucanbe
  moreliberalwithyourediting!

H E R E A R E A F E WI D E A S T O T R YT HATHELPYOUHONEYOURBLACK& WHITESKILLS

GET CREATIVE WITH MONO

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In colour,harshdirectlightcancreate jarring

images – vibrant colours can become

oversaturated, while colours in hard shade

take on cool, desaturated tones. Balancing

exposures when shooting colour images with

vast differences between light and dark can be

difficult too. Thankfully, in black & white you

don’t have to worry about the extremes of

colour, and it’s a format that suits scenes with a

wide tonal range. Colour images with

histograms bunched in the middle can still be

effective as colour creates its own contrast,

but monochrome images tend to be more

pleasing when we see the full tonal spectrum,

from bright whites down to dark shadows and

everything in between. This makes black &

white a perfect way to capture the interplay

between light and shadow on a sunny day.

Expose for the highlights and let the shadows

become dark and inky to create graphic

interpretations of whatever is in front of you.

Look for shadowy shapes cutting through the

light and avoid the middle of the day – instead

aim for mid-morning or late afternoon when

shadows are exaggerated and elongated.

LIGHT AND SHADOW

B&W FILM ABSTRACT

60 Digital SLR Photography July 2019