Week 2 runs from February 6 through February 12, 2017
After the preliminaries of When to Shoot in Black and White, Tonal Qualities and Being Technically Competent, our author discusses the most essential element of black and white (and all photography for that matter!), PAYING ATTENTION TO LIGHT.
Photographs are made because of light. Our most well-known and popular photographic masters excelled in capturing it. Carren states, “With black and white everything gets pared down to the minimal”. Black and white is less distracting and can be more austere. It is harder to hide mistakes with black and white. So, “when you are going to work with black and white, pay attention to the light conditions surrounding your subject”.
Light in black and white has the ability to reduce everything down to pure shape so we are to consider the light in our pictures to be a part of that. In other words, the light and shadows fall on and interact with your subject creating shape. The light in your black and white photos should be pleasing. You can also make use of extreme chiaroscuro. The artist Caravaggio was one of the masters of this technique. This dramatic form of lighting surrounds the subject with a darker, somewhat muted background (sometimes even black) and a light source which is singular, like a spotlight on a stage. The dramatic lighting illuminates only the most important feature of the picture, but as it does, it brings shape and depth to the subject. Here is an example of one of his paintings:
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/his/CoreArt/art/bar_cvggo_calling.html
After light, TEXTURE is a crucial element of black and white photography. Carren writes, “Texture can also be important when you have a picture that is made up largely of lighter tones, those close to white, or of darker shades and those closer to black. When you have a picture that has limited tonal range, things can begin to blend into each other, which can be cool, but you also want some variation for interest. This is where texture comes in”. We’re then challenged to take note of the way fabric is draped in still-life photography. According to Carren it is always draped to show texture.
Carren makes two final observations in this section. First, he says we must be aware of color and how it will translate to black and white. For example, similar shades of red will not be as easy to distinguish in black and white. Secondly, in some cases you will need to correct tonal similarities in post-processing by mixing channels. Unfortunately this is one of the areas where this book falls short. After making this point, he gives no indication on how to do that and there is no before and after picture to show you how it looks.
So here is an example of lighting and texture from my archives.
The stark lighting of the early morning accentuated the shape of this curved megalith. You can see texture at work here too. Since the stone is in the shadow the lack of light enhances the rough surface while the grass looks much smoother in the bright light of the sun.
If you’d like to do some further reading on these subjects (slightly more technical but with lots of examples!) check out The Complete Guide to Black and White Photography by Michael Freeman. We used this book for Flash of Red February in 2015 and most of us felt it was a great resource to have on the shelf.
THIS WEEK’S ASSIGNMENTS:
As always, these “assingments” are not hard and fast. You can tailor them to your own liking or leave them as is. You can do one or all. It’s your project; your rules!
1) Carren suggested in the “Paying Attention to Light” section of experimenting with areas of deep dark and (bright) light. Choose situations with extreme lighting to photograph and watch how the gray scale reduces things down to pure geometry. Experiment with chiaroscuro.
2) Practice your still life skills with texture. Find materials to drape behind your subject with strong texture or make use of lighting (natural or artificial) to emphasize the folds of your material thus bringing out the texture of the material. Try unconventional backdrops too- such as a crumpled piece of paper. Use fruit, pottery, glassware, things of nature, or some of your favorite treasures.
3) Another exercise Carren suggested was to shoot an apple in ways to bring out its texture- such as cutting it in half. Shoot the apple for the entire week, or try several different subjects which have lots of texture.
Have fun experimenting. See how much texture you can put in a photograph that has similar tonal range or explore the effect light has on what you’re photographing (a single subject or an entire scene). Tag your photos: flashofred2017.
So how did your first week go? Do you have a favorite shot from the week? Share it below!
To share a picture: On your picture screen click the arrow button underneath your picture. Left click and highlight the embed code, then right click copy. Return to the discussion thread and left click in the comment box, right click paste. Once you click on “post comment” your picture will appear.
Next week we’ll be flashing our colors on the 14th!
Ann
I know we're not quite finished with week #1 but if you're like me you like to plan a little bit ahead! Looking forward to seeing your favorite shots from week #1.
This is my favorite from week 1. Thanks for hosting this Ann, B&W is not something I usually have in mind when shoot, so this is really pushing me to learn some new skills.
Have found planning for photos to be in B&W challenging, and looking at the ones posted above has provided inspiration. Think this one was by best B&W, but it is pretty monochrome anyway!
Thanks for doing htis thread and typing out that text!
My favorite challenge this week was this one. The shoes are bright green with bright orange laces--they really are bright in color, but in B&W they were monochrome. So I played with the sliders in the Grayscale tab Adobe RAW (can be used on .jpg files, too!) to play with changing the luminosity of the different shades. It was fun!
It's so exciting to see the diverse and creative contributions here! I'm glad to see the challenge has been both inspiring and motivating. And for those of you who are being stretched, that's a good thing! I've learned some things this week too on achieving that high-key look at picture point instead of in post processing. Here's my favorite from the week.
Thank you Loopy-Lou, Jorlam, Mandy and Granagringa for posting your favorite shots of the week here. I find it so interesting to see such a wide variety of approaches to the weekly challenge of shooting black and white photos! Excellent work!!
Thanks Annie, Larry, and Brandi for adding your excellent shots to this thread. I continue to enjoy the many different ways each person is approaching the month. What a creative place!
@jgpittenger A beautiful job on the high key shot Jane! @skstein Nice shot Sandy. True, I think it's more high contrast than high key. The barn shot is closer to high key because it has a stronger gray tones and less contrast.
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I know we're not quite finished with week #1 but if you're like me you like to plan a little bit ahead! Looking forward to seeing your favorite shots from week #1.
Thanks for doing htis thread and typing out that text!
It's so exciting to see the diverse and creative contributions here! I'm glad to see the challenge has been both inspiring and motivating. And for those of you who are being stretched, that's a good thing! I've learned some things this week too on achieving that high-key look at picture point instead of in post processing. Here's my favorite from the week.
Many thanks Ann for an inspiring challenge.
I think this is the image I like best from my first week, although I know it has its faults (background too grey)
I like this image best just because it's Dennis!
I like that I was able to get the background white and still not fade out or grey out the phone.
Thank you Loopy-Lou, Jorlam, Mandy and Granagringa for posting your favorite shots of the week here. I find it so interesting to see such a wide variety of approaches to the weekly challenge of shooting black and white photos! Excellent work!!
I found these great examples of chiaroscuro on the web.
http://www.thephotoargus.com/35-gorgeous-examples-chiaroscuro-photography/
Thanks Annie, Larry, and Brandi for adding your excellent shots to this thread. I continue to enjoy the many different ways each person is approaching the month. What a creative place!
@skstein Nice shot Sandy. True, I think it's more high contrast than high key. The barn shot is closer to high key because it has a stronger gray tones and less contrast.