SYROTK/SHUTTERSTOCKBEAUTIFULBACKLIGHTING
Backlightingcanlookamazing
in black& white,especiallyif
softened by translucent fabrics.IT’S TIMETOGETTOGRIPSWITHTHE
ARTOFBLACK& WHITE–FROM
IN-CAMERATECHNIQUETOEDITINGTHEBASICS
OF MONO
52 DigitalSLR PhotographyJuly 2019
SHOOTINGINMONOCHROME
NOWADAYS I S MUCH,MUCH
EASIERTHANIT ONCEWAS.
LONGGONEARETHEDAYS O F
BLACK& WHITEFI LMAND
COLOURFILTERSS
TRIPPINGBACKCOLOURin your
photographycanbea wayto
differentiateyourimagesfromwhatyou
seeeveryday– in a sensetheimageinstantly
becomesmoreaboutthelight,shadow,
shapesandtexturesthanit doesaboutthe
actualsubjectmatter;black& white
photographywalksthelinebetween
capturingrealityandcreatingart.Savefora
handfulof veryraremedicalconditions,the
majorityof thepopulationseetheworldin
coloursotheresultsarea simplifiedversion
of whatweseedaytoday.However,if you
seekouttherightsubjects,lightandcapture
andprocesstheimageswellthesescenes
becomemoretimeless,thought-provoking
andpackedwithmoodandatmosphere.
Beforewegoon,weshouldprobably
definewhatwemeanbyblack& white,and
monochromephotography.Thetwoterms
aretakentomeanthesamethingbutthey
don’talwaysapplytoimagesfreeof colour,
orwithpureblacksandpurewhites.Mono
referstoimageswithonecolour,orvariants
of thatonecoloursuchasgrey.Typically,the
termblack& whitealsoincludeswarmor
coldmonochromaticimages,suchassepia
tones and cross-toned duochromatic orSHOOTINGIN MONO
1 )IMAGEQUALITY:In digitalphotographyblack&
whiteconversionsarealwaysbestundertakenduring
post-processingwhereyouhavethefreedomto
experiment,buthowdoyouknowif whatyou’re
shootingwilllookanygoodin monochrome?Thereis a
simpletrickthatalmostallcamerasoffer.First,setyour
filequalitytoRaw+ JPEG– thisensuresyoucapturea
Rawfileat maximumqualitywithitscolourdataintact,
plus a black & whiteJPEG for previewing ontheLCD.2 )SELECTMONO:In yourcamera’smenusystem,find
thePictureStyles(orequivalent)optionandselect
Monochrome.ThiswillbeappliedtotheJPEGve r s i o no f
theimageonly,leavingyourRawfileuntouched.More
importantly,thepreviewthatyouseeonthebackofthe
cameraaftertakingtheimagewillbein black& whitetoo.
Youcanalsousethistoadddigitalcolourfiltereffectsto
yourmonochromepreviewtoo,muchlike using black
& white colour filters (see page, right).tintedpolychromaticimages(forexample
warmhighlightsandcoldshadows,ora
monochromeimagewithanoverall
magentatint).Asa catchallterm,black&
whiteandmonochromereferstoanimage
whereallnaturalcolourhasbeenremoved.
Effectssuchascross-toningandtintingare
carriedoutduringtheprocessingstage,
whichdoesn’tremovetheimagefrombeing
classedasmonochromeorblack& white.
Shootingin monochromenowadaysis
much,mucheasierthanit oncewas.Long
gonearethetimesof black& whitefilmand
colourfilters(althoughbothdoexistif you
fancya tripdownmemorylane,andthe
lattercanstillbeusedin moderndigitalblack
& whitephotography).Nowit’sassimpleas
capturingimagesasyounormallywould,
andthenconvertingthemtoblack& white
duringprocessing.However,if youwantto
capturebettermonochromeimagesthen
thereis moretoit at thecapturestage,and
muchmoreyoucandoduringprocessing to
make your creations stand out.