How to take high-end black-and-white photos with high-quality photography

With the development of science and technology, photography has become inseparable from our lives. Photography has been integrated into all aspects of our lives, whether it is the photos taken by ourselves when we are out for fun or the updated photos of friends such as friends in Weibo. But many people are used to taking pictures with the default color mode of camera or mobile phone. However, in fact, they want to highlight their own style, so they can impress others by taking cold black and white photos.

It is still difficult to shoot a prominent theme only by light and shade, so how to shoot a high-end excellent black and white photo? Let me introduce it to you.

Black-and-white photograph

First, the main classification of black and white photos

We usually have a special feeling when we see the black and white photos of the master, but we always can't tell where the feeling is. Our most common black-and-white photos can actually be divided into three categories: high light tone, medium light tone and low light tone. The distinction between the two is very simple, and it is judged by the amount of light and dark distribution in the picture. We usually say that in order to shoot excellent photographic works, we must first explore from an unknown angle. Accustomed to the color world when I open my eyes every day, I don't know much about the black and white world, so black and white photos have become the subject of artistic photography.

Main classification of black-and-white photos

It can be said that the master black-and-white photos we usually see mainly take advantage of Gao Fancha's live performance and seize the shooting opportunity. In addition to the above three forms of black-and-white photos, we have seen many black-and-white photos divided by comparison. Many mobile phones have such photo filters directly built in, such as "monochrome", "hue" and "black and white" of iPhone.

If the theme is appropriate, the distinction between the three is obvious.

For monochrome tones, the contrast between light and dark is relatively large, while the tone is just the opposite, and the details from light to dark are the most prominent. The contrast between black and white is the most obvious, and pixels filled with color will be darker. My understanding of them is different. It should be said that they should be used to shoot people or things on different occasions. Like the above example, to express the melancholy mood in rainy days, I think it is more appropriate to choose monochrome (medium contrast).

Second, when is it not suitable to take black and white photos?

Let's take the iPhone with three black and white filters as an example. Don't think that these three belong to the category of black and white, and you can use them casually. That was not the case. The premise of using the black-and-white theme filter is to use it when the contrast between light and shade is large (pay attention to the contrast between light and shade rather than color). I'll show you an ordinary photo first, and then use three filters to give you a deeper understanding of the grayscale image.

When the contrast between light and dark is weak, there is little difference among the three black and white filters.

Among the three black-and-white filters that come with the iPhone, we find that there seems to be little difference among the three filters. In fact, the reason is that the color brightness is at one level, of course, it is closer after the gray mode conversion. As I said just now, big contrast between light and shade and big contrast between colors are completely different, which is easier for students who are sensitive to colors to understand. The contrast between red and green is great, but they are very consistent after switching to black and white mode. Look at the color card comparison chart below.

Comparison between color card and black and white card

From the color chart, we can know that the richer the color in nature, the darker it will be after black and white. So what I want to say is that beginners of photography want to take special black-and-white photos, besides having very good creativity, they also have the ability of real-time color conversion algorithm. It's not complicated. My summary of experience is actually to find a scene with a big contrast between light and dark. This awareness can be exercised by appreciating the master's black and white works at ordinary times. If there is no strong contrast between light and shade, it is better to take bright-colored photos.

Third, how to create high-end black and white art?

Personally, I am in the working environment of the network building. Because it happens to be dark, I can take wonderful black and white photos just by walking around. The author believes that the most important thing for excellent black-and-white photos with aura is to highlight the narrative theme. In the following photo sample, it would be better if you could partially cut out (such as the first picture) the scene of people walking after the rain. But because I use a mobile phone, the details of 100% are seriously lost, so I would rather not cut it, and the sky after the rain will also blend in. The greater the contrast, the better the effect.

The more obvious the contrast between light and shade in rainy days, the more outstanding the work (iPhone6s)

The more obvious the contrast between light and shade on a sunny day, the more outstanding the work (iPhone6s)

In real life, there are actually many scenes with great contrast between light and dark. If you can find out carefully, whether you shoot with a mobile phone or a camera, their effects will not be very different. After all, after all the colors have been discarded. At the same time, I think if we can add the noise that we are afraid of in daily shooting to black and white photos, it will be more flavor of the film age. High ISO value can make black and white photos more brazenly.

After losing color, loneliness becomes stronger (by iPhone6s).

Ps retouching

Some students may ask, what if the contrast between light and shade of the scene I want to shoot is very small, but the content is very attractive? At this time, my suggestion is to turn on the built-in dynamic Monson or HDR mode, in order to make the contrast of the picture as strong as possible. If it really doesn't work, in fact, we can also pull out the S-shaped curve through PS later and then remove the color, and the results are all the same. The most important thing is to see your own creative inspiration. If you think it's worth filming, don't miss the opportunity.

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