How is black-and-white photography structured?

When we take photos, besides taking color photos, black and white photos are actually one of the types we often take. Black and white photos can not only enhance the artistic sense of photos, but also create a strong sense of atmosphere. But if there is no guidance or experience accumulation, most of the photos taken are not satisfactory. Today, I would like to share with you some points for attention in black and white photos. I believe that by paying attention to the following precautions, you can improve the production rate of black and white works.

1) to create a contrast.

In black-and-white photography, contrast intensity is one of the most important factors affecting the whole picture effect. Because in black and white pictures, we can't use color to express objects, so we can only use light and shade to establish contrast, so contrast has become an important part of our composition. Although we don't need to find a very strong contrast every time, we need to know what effect the contrast of the shooting scene will have on the photos.

2) Different lighting methods will produce different feelings.

In black and white photography, how to distribute light will also give us different feelings. For example, front lighting can increase the contrast of the picture, while side lighting can easily show the texture of the object, while light in a single direction can produce shadows. Therefore, choosing the right lighting method can add details to the black-and-white photos, and the failed lighting will even affect the theme of the work, which is often ignored by the shooting partners, so we should pay attention to it as much as possible when shooting.

3) Look for contours and patterns

Because color will distract the photographer, the outline and texture become less obvious in color photography. However, in black-and-white photography, contours and patterns are often highlighted and described exquisitely. Therefore, when shooting black and white photography, we should pay close attention to whether the textures and patterns in the composition are prominent.

4) When taking landscape photos, look for the patchwork sky.

If you often feel that the sky is too dark in your black and white photos, this technique may help you. When taking black-and-white landscape photos, you must pay attention to looking for scattered sky, which can give you some sense of movement, such as capturing the moment when clouds disperse to form the most tense effect, that is, the sky before the storm. The gloomy sky before the rainstorm will also greatly reduce the brightness of the sky and the ground, so that you can keep the most details in the black-and-white photos. Of course, as a photographer, you can also find the right shooting time according to your own feelings and themes.

5) take a silhouette

The silhouette effect mentioned before is actually the best performance of black and white. The height difference of light and shadow can better highlight the characteristics of silhouette, and black and white can better show the uniqueness and contrast of silhouette. Therefore, we might as well try to take a silhouette with black and white photography, and we can also take amazing results.

Every photographer has his own experience and skills. These are five techniques that I often use when shooting black and white photography. Of course, more practice and more self-creation can make more amazing works. Let's try your own black and white photos.