Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 1 i Black & White Photography The Complete Manual

WELCOME BDM’S Complete Manual Series Black&White Photography WELCOME YOUR INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY BEGINS HERE “We hope you will discover a passion that takes your current photographic skills and adds a new level of artistic scope.” Our aim is simple, we want to introduce you to the world of black and white photography and the creative possibilities that this medium has to offer. Black and white photography, to many, is the essence of what photography is all about. It is considered traditional, yet has a magic that is hard to deny. Many people who have been avid colour photographers, are pleasantly surprised by how magical monochromatic work can be. It suddenly opens up new avenues of creative endeavour that can become quite captivating. Within the pages…

INTRODUCTION TO BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY Introduction to black and white photography YOUR JOURNEY INTO BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY BEGINS HERE “…black and white photography didn’t die off like the black and white TV; in fact it flourished.” See the world in black and white as we introduce you to this timeless medium. At the dawn of photography as we know it, when everything was fresh and new, you had no choice but to shoot in black and white. Exposing images onto glass or metal plates gave way to the film and chemical process. It wasn’t until 1936 that Kodak gave the world colour photography. However, black and white photography didn’t die off like the black and white TV; in fact it flourished. Whichever way you look at it, colour…

USING FLASH, STUDIO LIGHTS AND MODIFIERS Using flash, studio lights and modifiers LIGHTING GUIDANCE FOR YOUR BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY If you find you are getting serious about shooting portraits, but you have been limited to shooting with available light only, why not consider getting yourself a couple of flashes? The ability to control your own lighting is key to adding an extra level of creativity that shooting with ambient light alone can’t offer. There is a saying that if a serious photographer is shooting a portrait with ambient light alone, and standing next to him is a complete amateur with a similar camera and lens setup, chances are high that they could produce broadly similar shots (we will forego the fact that chances are equally high the amateur’s sense…

DARKROOM EQUIPMENT Darkroom equipment Red safelight While black and white film is of course sensitive to light of all wavelengths, black and white photographic paper is not sensitive to red light; so as long as your darkroom is only illuminated by one of these safelights you can at least see what you’re doing while handling paper. This popular Paterson Darkroom Safelight will cost you around £30. Graduated measuring beakers Film and print processing involves a lot of different chemicals, which have to be mixed in the correct volumes and concentrations. To do this you’ll need a selection of graduated measuring beakers, preferably one for each type of chemical to avoid cross-contamination. Make sure you buy ones designed for darkroom use, as these will be chemical resistant. Paterson sells them in…

MONO CONVERSION TECHNIQUES Mono conversion techniques SOME ESSENTIAL GUIDES TO CONVERTING YOUR WORK TO BLACK AND WHITE There’s a lot more to the process of converting a colour picture to monochrome than simply removing the colour. Photographers shooting on black and white film will use coloured filters to produce certain effects in the finished photo; a yellow or orange filter will darken a blue sky, while a green filter will brighten trees and grass. When editing digital images, since colour is present in the original image some conversion methods allow you to apply similar filtering effects during the conversion process to change the tone of objects in the image. By changing the filter settings you can make clouds stand out against a dark sky, highlight trees and foliage, or change…

RETOUCHING A PORTRAIT Retouching a portrait ENHANCE PORTRAITS IN COLOUR PRIOR TO CONVERTING TO MONO It has become an accepted fact that for mainstream advertising, marketing and fashion, any photographs used for those purposes will have been retouched to some degree. Oil paintings of historical figures never show zits and coffee stained teeth, and professional portrait photographs have always been retouched. All of the most famous portrait photographers have employed the talents of retouch artists to work on prints and negatives with a brush or airbrush to correct minor blemishes. Here, we cover some of the more basic retouch areas. 01 Select the Zoom tool from the tool palette, or by using the keyboard shortcut ‘Z’, and click on the subject’s face until it is zoomed as required. Alternatively you…

PANORAMA STITCHING Panorama stitching SHOOT SUPER WIDE PANORAMAS WITHOUT THE NEED FOR SPECIALIST EQUIPMENT There will come a time when your widest lens just won’t be wide enough to capture the scale and grandeur of a particular landscape. This is where the ability to capture a panoramic sequence of shots and combine them into a much wider or higher resolution image comes in very handy. The process is pretty straightforward and just requires a little bit of thought regarding the approach to the sequence you are about to capture. Essentially you are going to take a number of stills, rotating the camera a few degrees left to right with each shot taken, while allowing enough overlap from image to image so that they can be stitched together. This can be…

PSEUDO HDR FROM ONE RAW FILE Pseudo HDR from one Raw file There are a few ways you can achieve the look of an HDR image from one Raw file. This is particularly useful in scenes where there is a lot of movement that would show as ghost images in a multi-file HDR image. 01 We will show you the Photoshop method first. Firstly you will need to open your Raw file from Photoshop. Go to File > Open and navigate to where your target Raw is kept. 02 Choose the Raw file and double-click it to open it. Our example is a sunrise image that is underexposed. It can be useful to choose images that are underexposed, rather than overexposed, as you can usually recover more detail. 03 Because…

CROPPING AND RESIZING Cropping and resizing Crop out things you don’t want to see in your shots Sometimes a digital photograph can be the wrong size. Maybe you’ve got too much of the surroundings in the picture, when you wanted to concentrate on just the main subject; or maybe the whole image is too big, and you need to make it smaller to send via email or publish on a website. Doing both of these things is very quick and simple in Photoshop. As a starting image we’ll use this moorland picture. What we want to do first is crop it down so we just have the granite tor centred in the frame. 01 The best tool for the job is, not surprisingly, the Crop tool. You’ll find it in…

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BLACK AND WHITE CORE CONCEPTS Black and white core concepts BEGIN TO TRAIN YOURSELF TO ‘SEE’ IN BLACK AND WHITE “Shape defines how an object looks in its simplest form, as an outline or silhouette only.” You would imagine that the starting point would be to grab your camera, set its functions to black and white mode and start shooting. Many photographers always shoot in colour, in order to maintain as much tonal variation in the Raw image as possible; it just gives you more data to play with when it comes to the conversion process. A key word in the last sentence was ‘Raw’. Always shoot in Raw format. You want to record as much scene data as you can without your camera trying to process the image for…

TOP BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS TOP TIPS Top black and white photography tips ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR BETTER BLACK AND WHITE IMAGES 1 Shoot in colour and in Raw A lot of modern cameras have so-called creative functions that give you the option to capture your images in black and white at the outset. Doing this may actually result in a loss of tonal range. If you shoot in colour and especially in Raw format, you will be capturing the full gamut of tonality that your camera’s sensor can see. This is a much better starting point with more control than an in-camera mono image. It won’t stop you if your camera can’t shoot Raw, and you have to use jpegs instead; just keep them in colour. 2 Keep your ISO low…

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY…

HIGH-KEY PORTRAITURE High-key portraiture THE GREAT DEBATE; WHAT IS A HIGH-KEY IMAGE? “What constitutes a high-key image appears to be a matter of some creative debate.” What constitutes a high-key image appears to be a matter of some creative debate. It is held by artists in some areas, who declare that a high-key image should not contain deep shadows and have limited areas of dark tones: essentially, a low contrast image. Some will say that a generally well exposed mid-tone subject, with a pure white background, constitutes a high-key photo. Still more will take the image to extreme levels of overexposure, with much detail being lost in the process, to leave the barest amount of detail and tonal range. A general rule is that a high-key image when viewed as…

ABSTRACT BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY ABSTRACT BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY AN INTRODUCTION TO THE TECHNIQUES OF ABSTRACT ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY “Like all true art it’s hard to define, and equally hard to master.” Abstract photography is the representation of scenes and objects in a manner that divorces them from their context and creates a pure artistic image. Like all true art it’s hard to define, and equally hard to master. We have already made a lot of reference to shape, form and the absence of colour in this black and white special. When it comes to abstract images it is even more relevant. Remove colour from an abstract image and you take away another visual clue by which you could possibly identify it. You are left only with shape, tone,…

KEEP THINGS STABLE WITH A GOOD TRIPOD Keep things stable with a good tripod ONE OF THOSE ESSENTIAL ADDITIONS TO YOUR GEAR LIST “They come in all sizes too, from pocket-sized mini-tripods suitable for small compact cameras, to heavy studio tripods mounted on castors.” If you want to take better photographs, the single most useful accessory you can buy is a good quality tripod. By using a tripod you can completely eliminate camera shake, the number one cause of unsatisfactory photos. A tripod is also essential when using long exposures, powerful telephoto lenses or when shooting in low light conditions. There are many different makes and types of tripod, from cheap budget models costing under £15 up to professional-grade tripods made of carbon fibre and magnesium alloy which cost hundreds…

DODGE AND BURN TECHNIQUE Dodge and burn technique A digital twist on black and white print techniques Dodging and burning have their roots in the days of analogue photography, long before digital cameras and computers were in use. Dodging refers to the technique of lightening an image at the darkroom stage by reducing the exposure of a photographic print in specific areas. Burning is the opposite, where parts of the image are exposed for longer onto the print, making those areas darker. With the advent of digital technology the process is done on a computer, but the basic principle and its terminology remain the same. In our example we take a basic black and white image that is lacking in contrast and, using the dodge and burn techniques, we can…

SEPIA TONING Sepia toning Give your photos that antique look with these simple sepia toning techniques There are plenty of tutorials out there showing you how to restore old photos, but what if you want to do the exact opposite? How can you take a modern full-colour digital photograph and make it look like it was shot 80 years ago? The classic look for old photographs is something called “sepia toning”. Sepia toned photographs have a distinctive yellow-brown colour. It was popular up until at least the 1930s, so you’ve probably seen examples of it in old photo albums. Any photos of your grandparents or great-grandparents in their youth will probably be sepia toned. 1 The Hue/Saturation method This sepia effect is quite easy to reproduce using any of the popular…

CREATE A MOVABLE VIGNETTE Create a movable vignette A CLASSIC ENHANCEMENT TO ADD TO YOUR BLACK AND WHITE IMAGES The term vignette comes from the French for ‘little vine’. It is a reference to the decorative designs in books used to separate chapters or adorn the borders of pages. These days, the term is associated with the graphic process that creates a loss of clarity, or change in brightness of the corners and sides of an image. In photographic terms, vignetting is an unwanted change in edge brightness created by certain lenses; but to create drama in a finished image, or to focus our attention to a specific part of an image, it is a positive boon. In black and white images particularly, the vignette is a useful graphic device…

STRAIGHTENING AND ROTATING Straightening and rotating GETTING YOUR SHOTS BACK ON AN EVEN KEEL When you’re shooting landscapes or architecture, or even when just taking snapshots of your family on holiday, if you don’t keep your camera level you’re going to end up with a sloping horizon or buildings that look like they’re leaning over. Unless you’re holidaying in Pisa this is something you want to avoid, but accidents will happen. Fortunately it’s possible to correct tilted shots using Photoshop Elements by rotating and cropping the image. It’s very easy to rotate an image in Photoshop Elements, to bring the horizon back to the straight and level, and to stop buildings looking like they’re about to topple over. In fact it’s such a common operation that the program provides several…

UNDERSTANDING IN BLACK AND WHITE Understanding black and white photography WE OUTLINE THE ESSENTIALS FOR SUCCESSFUL BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY Something that is worth pointing out at this stage, and it reinforces the essence of shooting images in black and white, is to be able to ‘see’ in black and white. We don’t mean this literally of course; it is more a method of visualising the scene in front of you, being able to assess the colours, tones and light available, and envisioning how it will translate into a finished black and white image. Wherever possible, don’t go for the ‘shoot it now and worry about it in Photoshop later’ approach. Examining the image, with the best chance for a successful mono conversion in mind, is a great way of…

MONO LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY…

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS Portrait photography tips SOME GREAT TIPS TO HELP YOU PRODUCE STUNNING PORTRAITS The power of the black and white portrait cannot be denied. A wise soul once said: ‘If you want fashion, shoot in colour. If you want emotion, shoot in black and white.’ As we’ve mentioned before, there is a power and depth to a black and white shot that is often swamped by colour. The story behind a shot is easier to comprehend when it is in black and white and the distraction of colour has gone. Even if there is no real story being presented in the shot, you can suddenly find yourself paying more attention to a black and white portrait. Texture, form and tone become important to the shot. It draws you…

LOW-KEY PORTRAITURE Low-key portraiture WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE WITH LOW-KEY LIGHTING FOR PORTRAITS “…with low-key you often need only one light to get a great dramatic portrait.” Low-key lighting is widely used in all the various visual media such as film, television and photography. It is used to add drama to a scene or image. Its mood is generally the complete opposite of high-key. It is dark, brooding, mysterious, and dramatic. Low-key is also a simpler setup than its counterpart. You are often using three or more lights for high-key work; but with low-key you often need only one light to get a great dramatic portrait. An absence of light is what is needed here, with just your subject illuminated, creating high contrast images. Shooting with one light in…

SELECTIVE COLOUR Selective colour ADDING A SPLASH OF COLOUR TO YOUR BLACK AND WHITE IMAGES It is quite popular to convert your images to black and white, but then to return part of the image to its original colour. This is done to create a small splash of colour that is instantly picked out of its surroundings to draw the eye to that point. It is a simple and fun way to enhance your black and white images. We show you how it’s done in this simple tutorial. 01 First of all, you will need a colour original. We have used a shot of some coloured pencils from Shutterstock. We have a great range of colours that should convert to black and white with no issue. 02 Create a duplicate…

HDR FOR BLACK AND WHITE CONVERSION HDR for black and white conversion HDR images are great source material for black and white conversion It is often the case when out on a shoot that you will encounter a situation where the lighting conditions and dynamic range of the scene you are trying to capture are beyond the capability of your camera. If you expose the shot for the sky, your foreground can become too dark; but if you expose the scene so the shadow areas are correct, then the sky overexposes to the point where detail is lost. As long as you have a tripod you can get around this issue by taking multiple exposures that encompass the full dynamic range of the scene. Typically this is achieved by taking…

ADDING A GRADUATED FILTER Adding a graduated filter SELECTIVELY ALTER THE EXPOSURE OF YOUR SKY As with most photographic techniques, it’s possible to duplicate the effect of graduated filters using Adobe Photoshop, and as usual there are several ways to accomplish this. For this example we’ll use an image of the harbour town of Brixham in Devon, taken on an overcast but bright day with a washed out sky. You could convert the image to black and white as it stands, but you may not be able to recover detail from the sky, it makes sense to add all your filter effects whilst it is still in colour to increase your chances of a more successful mono conversion later on. 01 Since this photo was taken using Raw mode, we…

Adjusting exposure TIPS TO RECOVER UNDER-EXPOSED IMAGES Even with the sophisticated technology in the light metering systems of modern digital cameras, they are not infallible. Some lighting conditions can confuse them, resulting in pictures that are over- or under-exposed. Severe over-exposure where large areas are burned-out white, or under-exposure resulting in areas of featureless black, are generally impossible to correct; but between those two extremes is it often possible to rescue a badly exposed photo. Over-exposure tends to be more of a problem, since burned-out highlights contain no detail, but digital cameras are surprisingly good at capturing detail in areas that might initially look like featureless black. As a result it’s usually possible to rescue shots that are quite badly under-exposed. 01 The quickest and easiest way to brighten the…