There is something especially dramatic and compelling about a photo that has to rely on tone, shape, texture, contrast, and shadow rather than vibrant color design. You may have poured over prints by Ansel Adams and Alfred Stieglitz and wondered how they managed to capture such amazing, and deceptively simple, images. Minimalist black and white photography is something anyone can try, but only a few manage to master the techniques necessary to make it great.
If this is something that interests you, learning to ignore color is one of the first things you need to do. You can try a couple of simple things that might help. There are monochrome viewing filters you can purchase and attach to your camera. You might also pick up some cheap sunglasses, that have dark grey lenses, from a big box or dollar store. Monochrome is an appropriate photographic technique for nearly any subject, including still lifes, people, cityscapes, and landscapes.
A lot of instructors put primary emphasis on composition. Composition is important, for sure, no matter how many colors are involved. Compositions that work in color however may not work in monochrome. You must learn the elements of composition that make monochrome so distinctive.
One of the foundation stones of good monochrome picture taking is tone. It is not exactly the same as contrast, but similar. When you shoot a cityscape that has lots of vibrant color for example, the vibrancy of those colors may not translate when the same scene is shot in monochrome. They may just become a mass of different grays. You can alter the tone with the use of filters. You can also change the lighting. If you change the light, you'll create instant shadows and highlights.
You must be aware of shadows. Shadows are powerful tools in your arsenal when you are creating minimalist art. The stronger your shadows the higher the possibility you have of taking a good picture. It is just a fact that people are drawn to shadows. Not all shadows are black and empty of shape. You should consider how shadow, and what's contained in the shadows, will affect the observer.
There are shapes in shadows, but it's contrast that creates them. Shadows can be the element that defines your photos. Shapes are the objects the human brain uses to define and recognize its surroundings. One of the ways we identify objects is by the way they are shaped. Working in monochrome makes it even more important to look for shapes, and how they work with contrast and tone.
Texture is part of light and shadow. It can be tricky. If you eliminate it in an effort to get a stark effect, you will have something more abstract than if you had included it. You can emphasis texture by lowering the level of the light source. Light creates shadows and highlights that will reveal the texture in your subject.
The decision to strip your work of color can be scary. Color can hide a lot of technical mistakes. Monochrome doesn't give the artist that cover.
If this is something that interests you, learning to ignore color is one of the first things you need to do. You can try a couple of simple things that might help. There are monochrome viewing filters you can purchase and attach to your camera. You might also pick up some cheap sunglasses, that have dark grey lenses, from a big box or dollar store. Monochrome is an appropriate photographic technique for nearly any subject, including still lifes, people, cityscapes, and landscapes.
A lot of instructors put primary emphasis on composition. Composition is important, for sure, no matter how many colors are involved. Compositions that work in color however may not work in monochrome. You must learn the elements of composition that make monochrome so distinctive.
One of the foundation stones of good monochrome picture taking is tone. It is not exactly the same as contrast, but similar. When you shoot a cityscape that has lots of vibrant color for example, the vibrancy of those colors may not translate when the same scene is shot in monochrome. They may just become a mass of different grays. You can alter the tone with the use of filters. You can also change the lighting. If you change the light, you'll create instant shadows and highlights.
You must be aware of shadows. Shadows are powerful tools in your arsenal when you are creating minimalist art. The stronger your shadows the higher the possibility you have of taking a good picture. It is just a fact that people are drawn to shadows. Not all shadows are black and empty of shape. You should consider how shadow, and what's contained in the shadows, will affect the observer.
There are shapes in shadows, but it's contrast that creates them. Shadows can be the element that defines your photos. Shapes are the objects the human brain uses to define and recognize its surroundings. One of the ways we identify objects is by the way they are shaped. Working in monochrome makes it even more important to look for shapes, and how they work with contrast and tone.
Texture is part of light and shadow. It can be tricky. If you eliminate it in an effort to get a stark effect, you will have something more abstract than if you had included it. You can emphasis texture by lowering the level of the light source. Light creates shadows and highlights that will reveal the texture in your subject.
The decision to strip your work of color can be scary. Color can hide a lot of technical mistakes. Monochrome doesn't give the artist that cover.
About the Author:
See the exhibitions of the very talented minimalist black and white photography expert online. To get instant access to the website, here is the link http://www.kieranwalshgallery.com/about.
No comments:
Post a Comment