Black and White Photography Rediscovered
©Steve Williams. All Rights Reserved
It seems like all the focus these days is on digital color photos, megapixels, color saturation - pretty much vivid color is all the rage. And yet, people are rediscovering the power of black and white photography every day. With digital cameras, you have more options for experimenting without costing an arm and a leg.
Here are a few recent articles on black and white photography from around the web:
Black and White back in Fashion
The influence of black and white photography has lasted throughout time, finding itself a sought after method for its unique attractions. For the photographer this requires a different set of skills and techniques. …
My Attraction to A World Without Color
Black and white photos are timeless and classic. So many “Masters of Photography” before us have laid down such a huge array of great work in black & white. These grayscale classics have been burned into our minds as representations of …
Black & White Photography back in Fashion.
Well I am pretty sure that black & white photography has never really gone out of fashion but digital photography has certainly rocked black & whites boat a bit. As far as film based photography is concerned the Black and White (B&W) …
Additional Recommended Reading:
Digital photographers can now attain the enduring beauty of black-and-white photography in their own work! There’s more to monochrome than just discarding the color in Photoshop, but many books simply treat it as an afterthought. Not this one! John Beardsworth teaches every major method of making a color picture black and white, and explains what kind of images are best, and why. Both ambitious newcomers and advanced enthusiasts will learn how to achieve the richest tonal depth and balance, use black and white to interpret the subject for the viewer, reproduce historic and darkroom processes, add creative and special effects, and produce exhibition-quality prints.
The very nature of black and white photography places a premium on creative interpretation of the image. Advances in digital technology have expanded both the precision of imaging techniques and the interpretive possibilities for black and white imagery. Never before has such a wide array of tools been available to photographers who have a passion for black and white. Mastering Digital Black and White is written for these photographers. It serves not only as a comprehensive guide for creating black and white images and prints, but also examines the role of artistic craft in the imaging process.
Fine art quality, black-and-white prints are within every photographer’s reach with the techniques illustrated in this digital image editing guide. Taking advantage of the control and reproducibility that the digital darkroom offers, this handbook teaches photographers how to fine-tune images with contrast and exposure levels, crop and rotate images for dynamic results, and remove flaws such as dust and scratches long after the photograph has been taken. Instruction on techniques that simulate traditional hand coloring and tinting and add special effects such as frames, infrared, and lighting and lens effects helps photographers realize their artistic vision.
Comment by Steve
on 4 June 2008:
Black and White Fine Art Photography is back in style and the influence of the Weston’s and others is strongly felt throughout the
community. Also, the tremendous impact Carrie Leigh has made with her magazine NUDE has certainly broadened the love of this fine art form.
Comment by admin
on 5 June 2008:
Hi Steve,
I completely agree. I’ve been finding more and more photographers using B&W to bring back a timeless, classic feel to their photos. I too have found shots of my own that looked good in color, but converted to B&W they all of a sudden really captured what I felt when I saw the scene in color.
Pingback by infrared digital photography on 27 June 2008:
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Trackback by Canvas Picture Frames on 17 August 2008:
Canvas Picture Frames…
I enjoyed reading your blog. It is so interesting reading other peoples personal take on a subject….