Of all the edits you can do to a photo, perhaps none is more fundamentally transformative than converting it to black and white. However, how do you know when to make that conversion? This excellent video tutorial discusses the topic as it applies to wedding photos and portraits and offers some helpful advice.
Coming to you from Katelyn James, this great video tutorial discusses how to know when to convert a photo to black and white. Some of the simplest and most effective advice I have heard regarding this is to use color when you want to convey information and black and white when you want to convey emotion. Of course, that is just a first heuristic guideline, as there are many other things to consider, such as the light and contrast, but thinking about what you want to convey with your photo is probably the most crucial. Black and white can be a highly effective way to reduce irrelevant distractions you may not have been able to avoid in an image and bring the viewer's attention back to the subject(s). The next time you are feeling a bit stuck, try out a black and white edit. Check out the video above for the full rundown from James.
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3 Comments
For me, 90% of the photos I take should be black & white mainly because I'm searching for shapes, shadows and textures. If one shoots with color, these accents will not show through. Plus during late fall/early winter, color doesn't offer the best possible aspect of what is seen through the lens. For instance, Digital color was used while taking the Birch trees of Wisconsin. If I used black & white, you would not have seen the yellow or orange of the fluttering leaves. So use color for very colorful images and use B&W when you want to capture shapes, shadows and textures.
Follow Up: this all depends on the film (in this case) that is being used. The Tri-X 400 film as compared to the Ilford 400 film. The Kodak Tri-X 400 has deeper tones and layered separation, While the Ilford 400 film appears to offer more grey tones and not as much separation. So if one is talking in terms of type of film, The Tri-X wins every time.
"...use color when you want to convey information and black and white when you want to convey emotion." I really struggle with this, Alex.
Temperature will influence emotional response in colour, as will toning with a mono.
I don't have any great insight, but it does occur to me when you remove colour, you are removing information/complexity from the image.
Maybe it's related to the way we so often respond powerfully to a detail within landscape being presented in the form of a minimal image.
This site went to hell fast, most of the videos are from amateur bloggers not photographers with any real experience or education. They arent even part of the site, they are just random youtube videos picked out by the editor!!!