How do black and white photos make works more artistic?

Lead: We like to take black and white photos because they have a strong artistic sense. Let's see how to improve our black and white photos better.

1. Shoot the original file

Many novice photographers are not used to shooting RAW files. Although the volume of the RAW file is relatively large, it can be fine-tuned to a greater extent later (such as adjusting exposure, contrast, saturation, etc.). ), especially useful for taking digital black and white photos. Therefore, it is recommended to choose RAW or RAW+JPG format for storage when shooting.

2. Use low ISO

Low ISO makes the outline of the main body more prominent.

The noise of digital photos is different from that of negatives. To take beautiful digital black-and-white photos, the lower the ISO, the better, so that the quality and black-and-white outline of the photos will be more prominent.

3. Take black and white photos with high light tone, middle tone and low light tone.

Average distribution of black, white and gray in halftone photos

Black and white photos are mainly divided into three categories: high tone, middle tone and low tone.

Highlights: Most photos with highlights are white, and only a few photos are black. This type of photo can bring readers a bright, light and elegant feeling, and is suitable for shooting beautiful scenery, children, girls and so on.

Mid-tone: Mid-tone photos are the most common. When the black, white and gray parts in a photo are evenly distributed, the feeling brought by the photo often depends on the contrast of the photo.

Low profile: Low profile is the antonym of high profile. Most of the pictures are black, and only a few are prominent white. Such photos give people the feeling of being deep, mysterious, strong and strong.

One thing to note is that when shooting, don't indulge in taking photos of a certain tone, but carefully weigh the scene and decide which photo is more suitable. Light-colored photos should be exposed by one level, while light-colored photos can be lowered by one level to express a stronger feeling.

Looking for high contrast

Because black-and-white photos lack color, only black-and-white contrast can express feelings, so contrast is a very important element in black-and-white photos. When shooting (even if you take a color photo and then convert it into black and white with a soft worker), you need to find out the environment with high contrast (obvious light and shade) before shooting.

Look for patterns and textures

A neat pattern with contrasting colors.

In color photos, patterns and textures are often ignored, because colors often steal the focus, and one of the elements of good black and white photos is to express unique patterns and textures.

Pay attention to the light

Like the fourth point, look for high contrast, because black and white photos have no color, so it is necessary to express the picture by light and dark positions. Pay attention to the direction and intensity of light when shooting. For example, taking a portrait with sidelight can bring out a half-silhouette effect, while a single light source will produce a shadow, so we can observe it carefully when shooting. Of course, silhouette is also a good attempt.

7. Shooting dynamic sky and water

Novices can add an element to the black-and-white landscape photos-dynamics. In fact, it is a moving cloud or water, because clouds or water are white, which will produce a white picture. Moving clouds and water will bring layers of light and shade, which will immediately make black and white photos vivid.

8. Post-production converts color photos into black and white photos.

If you have some color photos, or want to take color photos, and then use software to turn them into black and white photos, there are actually many ways, but the simplest way is to adjust the image and black and white adjustment options in Photoshop. Of course, if you are shooting a RAW file, it is more convenient to convert it into a RAW editor.