We have reached the mid-point of the month for our Black and White Book Club study of Michael Freeman's The Complete Guide to Black and White Digital Photography (or the Black and White Photography Field Guide. Be sure to read the overview and week 1, and week 2 posts if you are just joining in. Everyone is welcome to participate, even without a copy of either book, but if you do have the book, you will have more to draw on during the month.
Week 3 (Feb. 10-16th) will focus on Elements of Visual Design in Photography – thinking about shape, structure, tone, volume, form, and texture. We will be covering pgs. 46-61/44-59 (optional processing pages: 82-103/80-103).
* For those participating via 365project.org and want to also add the "Flash of Color" element, Feb. 13th will be the day for Flash of Color – an image processed with selective color to bring out only a specific color. Last year was flash of red, but you are free to choose any color. This will create one color image in the precise center of your 365project calendar. (Scroll down in the discussion for Ann's links about 'how to' for selective color.)
Elements of Visual Design in Photography
This week's chapters cover some of the elements of visual design in photography: shape, structure, tonal nuance, volume, form, and texture. (For the curious, I am borrowing the cohesive term "elements of visual design" from last August's Photography Book Club of Freeman Patterson's Photography and the Art of Seeing.)
I will admit to being a little frustrated at Freeman's brevity in these chapters. While he alludes to the various elements in the chapter titles, he does not do much to define or explain them for the reader. So, for the curious, I will be borrowing more from Patterson to lay out some groundwork.
Shape: "All shapes are two-dimensional, such as a square, a circle, the silhouette of a tree, or the outline of a cup … In real life every three-dimensional object has as many shapes as there are positions from which it can be viewed" (Photography and the Art of Seeing, pg. 106). Freeman focuses on the idea of shape as silhouette that "depends heavily on outline … defined by edge contrast" (pg. 46/44). Think about edges and silhouettes and how to see shapes this week.
Tone:Tone includes the range of hues or colors in an image, which is simplified when shooting in black and white to the tones from pure black to pure white and all the grays in between. "What this allows is a clearer, purer concentration on the subtleties of transition between shades of gray" (pg. 50/46). Think about which tones are present or featured in your image.
Volume and Form: While a two-dimensional photograph does not have actual depth, "the illusion of depth or perspective is easily created. In fact, it occurs naturally, owing to the ways that the intensity, quality, direction, and colour of light illuminate the subject matter" (Ibid, pg. 107). Freeman shows in his example the impact of side lighting in highlighting the volume and form of a three-dimensional object in a two-dimensional photograph. Think about lighting and the angles of your lighting this week. See how side lighting or backlighting or front lighting changes your image.
Texture: "Texture is the visual weave or fabric-like nature of surfaces … As much as anything else, the direction from which light falls on the subject matter influences the photographic representation of texture" (Ibid, pg. 107). Freeman stresses that "almost any relief texture looks stronger under a point-source light that casts hard shadows, and in particular under raking light, from a low angle" (pg. 54/52). Try to search out some interesting textures this week or fill the frame with a single texture or a combination of textures.
There are a lot of ways to apply these ideas this week, as the subjects are up to you. Think about shapes and angles; think about lighting and timing; and think about what you want to achieve: shape vs. volume, texture vs. smooth tones, or …
Delving in to "Digital Monochrome" chapters
This week's optional section on digital processing takes a look at some unusual processing options as well as a basic processing workflow (pages 82-103/80-103). The infrared spectrum, while outside our normal visual range, is not necessarily outside the range that can be capture by your camera's sensor. Freeman details how cameras are created to filter out IR and how you could use infrared for photography.
The processing workflow chapters are really at the heart of the "digital darkroom" idea. Freeman provides an overview of what some of the options and panels look like in various RAW conversion programs, and he devotes an entire chapter to Silver Efex Pro.
"Reduced to the simplest, there are just three basic image qualities for monochrome photography: brightness, contrast, and tonal range. When you shoot … you can influence just the first of these … when it comes to processing, however, each of these is adjustable" (pg. 96). Freeman then walks through some basic definitions of each of these three terms and covers some common ways to adjust them in post-processing, often including several variants to accomplish the same goal. He suggests adjusting the end points of the histogram first (tonal range), then adjusting the brightness, and finally working on the contrast, and he provides several comparative (though often quite subtle) examples of such adjustments.
Does his process match your workflow for black and white photography? Do you think there are steps that he is missing, that you would re-arrange, or that seem like they need greater explanation? Consider sharing in your descriptions some detail about your workflow process this week.
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Please consider tagging any photographs related to or inspired by the book club with the tag bw-bookclub and/or adding your photographs and thoughts about them to this post for discussion. Please also consider joining in the book club conversation with photographers outside of 365 by posting comments or images on the book club blog posts at http://www.boostyourphotography.com and/or by joining the Photography Book Club Group on Flickr.
If you are commenting on an individual's photograph, please consider clicking on it and then commenting on it directly. If you want to share a comment, thought, or picture with the whole group, then include it on the discussion thread itself.
Parting words for the week, "It makes it possible to achieve almost any conceivable distribution of tones, with almost too much choice. It certainly demands a clear idea of what you want to achieve, ideally before you begin the process" (pg. 50/46).
Anyone else finding exactly this aspect a struggle?
Everybody ready for week 3 tomorrow? For those doing the "Flash of Color" part, I believe Ann @olivetreeann is putting together some tutorials about how to do selective color using free editing software ...
Sometimes his brevity is hard. However, it does make you think about how to accomplish the task. I appreciate his conclusion that B&W photography requires you to see things differently than color photography. This is a good read as it puts B&W photography into category all its own with unique skills..
Love selective color, so this should be great. Thankfully, my new camera has this setting. My old camera did not, so it had to be done in editing. Picasa lets you do it, but it the color has to be something round because that's all it allows.
I'm definitely struggling with this: "It certainly demands a clear idea of what you want to achieve, ideally before you begin the process." So far I haven't been able to "prevision" photos for black and white, so I'm sort of making guesses which photos might transfer successfully.
However, in the last two I processed (Black and White Blue House, Car, Shadow and the Black and White Corner George Inn) I have asked myself how I can manipulate the tones to improve the image in the first case and to focus attention on a group of signs in the second. So I may be turning a corner, in presentation once I decide to convert if not in artistic intent in the first place!
@therubysusan That's the way! Just dive in and experiment with the greyscale mappings and see what happens. it will definitely open up your eyes to the possibilities at the next shoot. It took Ansell Adams and the Hoppers and all the other pros and masters years to develop their skills and they were out shooting specifically B/W every single day. You just can't magically "see" in Black and White, but need lots of practice and advice on what to look for and how to achieve it. Digital helps no end. You can take a single shot and convert it any number of ways to see what happens and then you can store those effects away for future reference.
@therubysusan I don't necessarily agree with Peterson's "prevision" idea as being the only way to accomplish a great black and white shot. Sometimes I do see something and think that it would make an excellent black and white. But there are other times when I take something thinking it will be a good shot and then realize it's way too busy or just looks to overpowering in color. So I think you've found a good way for you to work with black and white. I've also noted that when I work in black and white for a while I actually take better color shots and vice versa. Somehow switching up the way I view something for a picture is strengthened when I go beyond my usual method of operation. So, I'd say if this is working for you, stick with it!
Hi all!
how do yo all get on with your visual design pictures?
I was searching for shapes and structures all morning. Its interesting how your brain notices these things more when you tell it too. I eventually found the Pensford Viaduct.
I was in two minds how to post edit the picture. Originally I was going to make the bridge a silhouette(Shape) to frame the trees but in the end I wanted to make the viaduct the subject (structure).
This is a shot I wouldn't have thought to take if I wasn't thinking about shapes and texture. I played around with the lightness and contrast. I like the way those two work together with black and white. I have a hard time not using those on black and white.
Tweets ahoy!
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While I don't have the book, I am really enjoying following the discussion and exploring b&w this month.
However, in the last two I processed (Black and White Blue House, Car, Shadow and the Black and White Corner George Inn) I have asked myself how I can manipulate the tones to improve the image in the first case and to focus attention on a group of signs in the second. So I may be turning a corner, in presentation once I decide to convert if not in artistic intent in the first place!
Btw - I already did some selective color few weeks ago and I used pixlr.com which works really well :)
Keep on it, it is very rewarding.
Here are the links to this year's tips using PicMonkey:
http://365project.org/olivetreeann/themes-and-comp/2014-01-17
http://365project.org/olivetreeann/themes-and-comp/2014-01-18
http://365project.org/olivetreeann/themes-and-comp/2014-01-19
http://365project.org/olivetreeann/themes-and-comp/2014-01-20
And this one is from last year using Ribbet:
http://365project.org/olivetreeann/themes-and-comp/2013-01-23
I put together some tutorials on selective coloring if you are interested. The links are posted above.
how do yo all get on with your visual design pictures?
I was searching for shapes and structures all morning. Its interesting how your brain notices these things more when you tell it too. I eventually found the Pensford Viaduct.
I was in two minds how to post edit the picture. Originally I was going to make the bridge a silhouette(Shape) to frame the trees but in the end I wanted to make the viaduct the subject (structure).
I got stuck on the "texture" side of things, shooting in the prop shop at work!