Black and white photography is timeless and a lot of photography genre work well when shot in black and white. One of those that works well in black and white is portrait photography and it has to be done well in order for it to stand out.
As with all black and white photography, the photographer needs to work with a good range of tones for the image to be interesting and have good contrast and depth. With practice, black and white photographers learn to see in black and white, which makes them choose the right subject, location, background, etc., and help the resulting images very effective.
If you are new to black and white photography and want to start out with a small and simple project this weekend, we would recommend you to check out this project that is on offer right now – the Black and White Portrait Photography Project. You don't need a studio or expensive gear to capture stunning portraits but just some planning and basic techniques and this project will help you go in the right direction.
If you need to refer to more resources, here are some black and white tutorials that will help you to capture classic, timeless portraits. There are also more incredible tutorials here to improve your black and white photography.
The Secrets to Compelling Black and White Portraits
When choosing black and white, there are a lot of things that need to be paid attention to since there will not be colours to make the image special. Light and shadows can add drama and depth to a black and white image, and then, shapes, forms and textures, that can accentuate light and shadows. Besides, you need to shoot in colour, in raw format, for you to make any detailed edits and also have a good tonal contrast in the final image. Check out the above article to capture compelling black and white portraits.
Getting Started With High Key Portraiture
When it comes to shooting portraits, a variety of lighting setups can be used based on the desired outcomes. One of those is high key lighting and it helps to capture light and airy images. Care needs to be taken to not blow out details in the highlights. The article above will help you get started with high key portraits and this technique works great for black and white portrait photography.
If you want to learn in detail how to set up high key lighting, check out this article – High Key Lighting And How To Set It Up. Black and white portraits also work great with low key lighting. Check out this article – How To Get Low-Key Lighting And Exposure Right Every Time
The Secrets Of Film Noir Photography
Film noir is a genre in photography where the scenes are shot in a dark mood. This can be applied to portraits where you want to capture dark themed images to portray specific emotions or add drama, mystery to the photo. There are some factors that need to be taken care of to capture perfect film noir portraits. Here are some tips and techniques.
15 Tips For Shooting Studio Portraits
Portraits can be shot anywhere – indoors or outdoors. Sometimes for various purposes, a portrait may need to be shot in a studio. When shooting in a studio, the photographer will need to depend upon artificial lighting depending on the studio setup and will also be able to manipulate light as and when required. The above article provides a lot of tips for shooting studio portraits.
How To Take Portraits With A Black Background: A Photographer’s Guide
Portraits can stand out when they are taken against a black background. When it comes to moody, dark, low key portraits, black background works very well. Lighting also needs to be taken care of in order to keep the background dark. The article above talks about using a black background effectively for stunning portraits.
Even if you do not have a black background, you can control light or the way you illuminate your subject, to capture portraits with a black background. Check out this article – How To Get A Black Background In Photographs
5 Technical Tips On How To Convert Portraits into Black and White
When shooting for black and white portraits, it is always recommended to shoot raw which means you will shoot in colour and then convert your images to black and white. This way, you will have a lot of details to work with and this will also result in a perfect black and white portrait. The article above will take you through the steps you need to execute to make a black-and-white conversion for pretty much any portrait, regardless of your RAW developing software.
How To Master The Art Of Black And White Post Production
21 Black And White Portraits That Make Use Of Natural Window Light
Lastly, if you are looking for some inspiration, we have a collection of black and white portraits that make use of natural light through a window. You just need to make sure that the light is of the right intensity and angle to get the look you wish to have in your resulting image. Portraits do not need to be shot in soft light all the time. If planned and done well even hard light can be used or manipulated to capture beautiful portraits.
Converting images to black and white is not just about bringing down the saturation or applying a black and white preset. One needs to take into account the skin tones, shadows and highlights, depth, tonal range, etc., before finalising the image. This article goes through steps for converting an image to black and white in Lightroom and Photoshop. The steps discussed can be applied to portraits as well.
If you want to learn how to shoot black and white portraits with the camera you already have, we recommend you to check out this simple weekend project – The Black and White Portrait Photography Project. It comes with a project that covers black and white portrait photography, cheat sheets that give tips on portraiture and post processing, a guided reflection worksheet, a document explaining how to shoot for monochrome, and two complementary bonuses too.
