February is a great month to dive into black and white photography. With only 28 days to fill, it’s easy to break down the weeks into manageable themes. For the past few years we’ve incorporated a book study into our black and white challenge. I felt the need to change things up a bit this year- us creative types need variety to keep our art fresh! So rather than approaching the month from a technical viewpoint this year, we’ll be looking at the art of monochrome from an artistic perspective. I’ll post some links to on-line articles which discuss the elements of composition and design to give you some pointers on bettering your photos overall and each week’s “assignments” will direct to putting them into practice in your black and white shots. You’ll probably notice that some of the articles overlap and vary on some of the details- but that is the nature of trying to make something objective out of a subjective medium.
With all of that in mind, I decided to take a leap of faith in myself this year and I’m pleased to announce I put together a book which is now available as a Kindle download if you’re interested. It looks at black and white photography through the elements of composition and design with my own photos as an illustration as to what they look like in black and white. I have also included some of my thoughts on when black and white is better than color and what to look for when shooting in black and white. If it wasn’t for the 365 community and your enthusiastic support of me and this “annual” challenge (6 years now!), The Art of Seeing in Black and White by Ann H. LeFevre (!) never would have happened. If you are so inclined here is the link:
What’s in store for the month ahead?
Feb 1-4 Using High Key or Low Key Lighting in Black and White
Feb 5-11 Using Compositional Elements in Black and White (your choice of emphasis)
Feb 12-18 Studying and Emphasizing the Rule of Thirds or Golden Triangle in your photo to Tell a Story
Feb 14 Adding Selective Color in for fun (always optional)
Feb 19-25 Using Compositional Elements in Black and White (your choice of emphasis)
Feb 26-28 Using Muted Light (non-extreme with emphasis on mid-tones) in Black and White
Feb 28 Have some fun by taking your favorites shots from the month and put them into a photo orb at funny.pho.to/globe/ (this is optional too)
I’ve structured the month so that at end when you view your calendar you should see some interesting patterns. We’ll see…!
So for beginners you might want to read these articles:
If you’re reading my book, the Introduction, Seeing in Black and White in a World of Color, and For the Love of Light will go along nicely with the above articles.
During our first four days we’ll be concentrating on extreme lighting- that is when the light source is either high key or low key. When there is a lot of light or light sources in the picture we call it high key. When there is not a lot of light or almost no sources of light we call it low key. Black and white photography responds to these types of lighting in very creative ways. Over the next few days, choose one or the other of these lighting extremes and experiment with them artistically. Some examples are: sunlight streaming through a window, midday, a room with a small, single light, or outdoors an hour or more after sundown. Pay close attention to what these types of lighting conditions do to your subject. (Low lighting will require a steady hand- you may want to use your tripod if you have one.)
So, off we go! Enjoy your Black and White journey all!
Ann LeFevre @Olivetreeann
If you do want a more technical and thorough approach to Black and White photography, I highly recommend The Complete Guide to Black and White Photography by Michael Freeman (c. 2010 Lark Books, Ashville, N. C., 28801, ISBN #13:978-1-60059-523-3). It covers every technical aspect of black and white from f/stops to processing.
Thanks Ann, really looking forward to doing Flash of Red again. You really outdo yourself getting it all set up. I shall definitely have a look at your book.
Thank you all for your well-wishes. For those of you who were not tagged before, just putting all the tags in here so that you know you're now on "the list".
Thank you, Ann, for organizing this again. I joined it the past two years and it’s one of my favorite challenges. PleSe include me in this year’s list. Thanks!
@olivetreeann
Wow, Ann I am so impressed that you put together a book. Well done. I shall go and check it out.
I am looking forward to the different approach this year, you are right, we do need to change things up sometimes!
Thank you Ann. I just grabbed a Kindle copy of your book. I love black and white photos so I'm joining in so that I have to grab the camera daily and get back to working on my learning curve!
congrats on your book - i will definitely check it out :)
i will, of course, be playing along for the month... but i might not stick with the themes and i expect there will be quite a few fillers... things are going to be hectic at work over the next month and i'm not sure how much time / energy i'll have for camera-ing on a daily basis...
Gave this a go last year and bailed out very early in; didn’t really understand it. I do now, so will be giving it another go this year if that's okay?
@northy No problem Northy- your project, your rules, right? Thanks so much for looking at the book. I have learned a lot about black and white from you!
@tracys Compositional elements- aka the elements of composition: line, shape, texture, light, space, and color. I explain them in my book and give examples of what they can look like in black and white (with the exception of color of course!).
@randystreat Thanks Kathy!! I really appreciate that!
Congrats on the book...well done you!
Says not available for purchase when I followed link...maybe because I am in Oz...
You'll be surprised to know I am behind hahaha....but will definitely catch up the b&w
@annied You should be able to go directly to Amazon, type in Seeing in Black and White, then my name Ann H LeFevre and it should take you to the page where you can purchase the book. Let me know if you're still having problems with it and I can try sending you the link via email. (Olivetreeann@mail.com)
Congratulations on your book Ann! Now that I've found this page I know what's going on - sorry for the previous question! I'm going to have a go - sounds good - will no doubt get to try lots of new things! Thanks for organizing it! Cheers Rob
I have to say this challenge is really making me think, that’s a good thing, smile. Congratulations on publishing your book. I don’t have a Kindle, I better get one!
@louannwarren Thank you Lou Ann- you might be able to download it to your computer. If not, we can figure out a way to pay through PayPal and I can send you a PDF file. That is if you want to buy the book- no sales pressure here!
@jacqbb Glad to have you join in! It's never too late.
@portela yes! You can join in anytime, post anywhere and welcome aboard!
I've been doing the challenge too but not on the list - could you add my name please Ann. When do we put our pics on the specific page, or do we just tag them all?
@phil_sandford Good question Phil. Every picture tells a "story". It's not necessarily the "Once upon a time" type of story, but it's the part of the picture that conveys something about the subject. I hadn't really considered that all pictures do this. This aspect of photography is more obvious in pictures where some interaction is taking place such as a street candid or two animals rubbing noses. But last year when I was hanging a shot I'd taken in the cranberry bog of a leaf with a pine needle resting in it I commented to the curator how much I loved the green of the leaf. But she responded, "That little pine needle is the story." It really made me rethink the picture! But ever since then I've come to realize that every picture, even abstracts, tell us something of a story. The story can be the subject, the ambiance, and sometimes even the photographer or more. The idea behind the "tell the story" of your shot this week is to make you think about your picture, why you're taking it and what you think it is telling your viewer. How will black and white help you to tell the story? Will it bring out the mood, record an important detail, or something else? You don't really have to think about this too deeply because no matter what, your picture will tell a story, but it's a great way to be a little more creative in your approach to the shot. Using a compositional element such as the Rule of Thirds helps to make your story even stronger. If you were choosing a particular subject, let's say a rose, and you wanted to tell the story of how the rose looks beautiful even as its "life" is beginning to fade but stuck it squarely in the center of your picture and shot it straight on, the viewer might not see the beautiful curl of the petals on the back or sides. But if you placed it more intentionally in one of the upper corners and shot from a slightly lower point of view, the curling petals become more visible and now the viewer gets "the story". So that's where I'm going with this week's "assignment" and of course, it's completely optional as to whether or not you actually do it. I hope that helps!
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Thank you all for your well-wishes. For those of you who were not tagged before, just putting all the tags in here so that you know you're now on "the list".
So glad you're joining in! And thanks so much for your kind words.
Wow, Ann I am so impressed that you put together a book. Well done. I shall go and check it out.
I am looking forward to the different approach this year, you are right, we do need to change things up sometimes!
@adi314 Will do Adi! Thanks for joining in.
@transatlantic99 @suesmith
Thank you all- I've added you on- one more day and we start!
@fbailey I already have you listed. (o:
flashofred2018
i will, of course, be playing along for the month... but i might not stick with the themes and i expect there will be quite a few fillers... things are going to be hectic at work over the next month and i'm not sure how much time / energy i'll have for camera-ing on a daily basis...
@helenhall @motherjane @deborah63
Thanks for joining in Helen, Jane, and Debbie!
@phil_sandford Absolutely Phil!
@randystreat Thanks Kathy!! I really appreciate that!
Says not available for purchase when I followed link...maybe because I am in Oz...
You'll be surprised to know I am behind hahaha....but will definitely catch up the b&w
@nanderson Thanks Nancy!
@jackies365 Thanks Jackie!
@wenadee Thanks Wendy! Glad you're joining us!
@jacqbb Glad to have you join in! It's never too late.
@portela yes! You can join in anytime, post anywhere and welcome aboard!
I will add you both to my list of tags.
What do you mean ‘tell the story?’