Black and white photography may appear to be simplistic but the art of taking a rich, balanced monochrome image is a bit more complicated. The following clip gives a few pointers on how to create effective, high contrast images. Take a look:
“Contrast is what black and white is all about”
To create that contrast, Morgan calls on his Hensel Porty Pack to power a key light which is used in combination with a softbox. He also hangs a silk to filter the ambient light, thus softening the hard sun. Morgan also prefers to blowout the background, resulting in sharp silhouettes. To light the model’s faces, he brought out a beauty dish and placed a grid on it which allows a controlled light output from the strobes.
When dressing the models, remember you can’t rely on colors to create separation from the background when shooting in black and white. If you will be photographing on a light background, choose dark clothing to create depth.
Professional Black & White Techniques
For this shoot, Morgan shot in both RAW and JPEG on ISO 160. The JPEG images were done in monochrome and served as a working image that could be used for reference during the shoot and later discarded. When it came time for editing, Morgan brought out the RAW shots and ran them through Nik Software’s Silver Effects to create the finished photographs.
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A very enjoyable tutorial, very impressed with your results and you’ve given me a new target to aspire to. Thank you.
So nice and funny.. thanks for sharing