Black and White Photography Practise Assignment - Free

Black and White Photography

Black & White Photography is a powerful medium that emphasizes light, shadow, and texture, stripping away color to reveal the emotional core of a scene. This assignment aims to deepen your understanding of how to effectively capture compelling black and white images through careful consideration of composition, lighting, and camera settings.

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the importance of contrast and tonal range in black and white photography.
  • Learn to compose images that emphasize texture and form without color.
  • Master camera settings and techniques specifically for black and white photography.

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Before You Shoot

  • Choose a subject that has strong textures and contrasts, such as a weathered building or a portrait with dramatic lighting.
  • Scout locations with varying light conditions to see how shadows and highlights interact.
  • Decide on the time of day to shoot; early morning or late afternoon often provides the best light for black and white images.
  • Prepare your camera by ensuring it is set to shoot in RAW format for maximum post-processing flexibility.
  • Familiarize yourself with your camera's monochrome mode and how it affects the histogram.

The Assignment

Technical Focus

  • Use aperture settings like f/8 to achieve a good depth of field while maintaining sharpness across the frame.
  • Set your shutter speed to 1/125s to freeze motion while capturing details in dynamic scenes.
  • Adjust ISO to 200 for optimal image quality in well-lit conditions, avoiding noise in your black and white images.
  • Utilize spot metering to ensure your highlights are correctly exposed, especially in high-contrast scenes.
  • Set your white balance to daylight to maintain consistency in tones, even when shooting in black and white.

Creative Focus

  • Look for leading lines in your composition that draw the viewer's eye through the image.
  • Experiment with high contrast scenes where shadows dominate to create dramatic effects.
  • Incorporate patterns or textures to add depth and interest to your black and white images.
  • Use negative space effectively to highlight your subject and enhance the emotional impact.
  • Consider the emotional tone you want to convey; softer contrasts can evoke calmness, while stark contrasts may suggest tension.

Assignment Tasks

  1. Capture a portrait using natural light at f/4, 1/100s, ISO 100 in aperture priority mode, focusing on the subject's facial textures.
  2. Photograph a landscape scene at f/11, 1/250s, ISO 200 in manual mode, ensuring the sky has dramatic cloud patterns.
  3. Shoot a close-up of an architectural detail at f/2.8, 1/60s, ISO 400 in shutter priority mode to emphasize texture and form.
  4. Create a long exposure of flowing water at f/16, 1/2s, ISO 100 in manual mode to smooth out the water while capturing surrounding rocks.
  5. Photograph a street scene at f/5.6, 1/125s, ISO 800 in aperture priority mode, focusing on the interplay of light and shadow created by buildings.
  6. Capture a still life arrangement at f/8, 1/60s, ISO 200 in manual mode to highlight the textures of different materials.

💡 Stretch Tasks

  • Create a series of black and white images that tell a story, using a consistent theme and technique across all photos.
  • Experiment with infrared photography in black and white, using an appropriate filter and settings to create unique tonal contrasts.

DO / DON'T

DO

  • ✓ Do explore different lighting conditions to see how they affect your black and white images.
  • ✓ Do experiment with different focal lengths to find unique perspectives.
  • ✓ Do use post-processing software to fine-tune contrast and tonal range.
  • ✓ Do study the work of classic black and white photographers for inspiration.
  • ✓ Do practice viewing scenes in terms of light and shadow before capturing them.

DON'T

  • ✗ Don't rely solely on color images; pre-visualize how a scene will look in black and white.
  • ✗ Don't ignore the importance of composition; leading lines and framing are crucial.
  • ✗ Don't shoot at too high an ISO, which can introduce noise and degrade image quality.
  • ✗ Don't forget to check your histogram to ensure a balanced exposure.
  • ✗ Don't shy away from high contrast scenes; they often yield the most striking black and white images.

Reflection Questions

  • What emotions do you want to evoke in your black and white photographs?
  • How does the absence of color change your perception of the subject?
  • In what ways can you improve your composition for future black and white shots?
  • What challenges did you face while capturing black and white images, and how did you overcome them?

📚 Related Reading

Before you start, read these related blog posts to deepen your understanding:

For Foundation Plus members: Submit 3 images from this assignment for personalised feedback in your next Zoom session. You should upload to the shared Dropbox folder - link provided by Alan when you joined Foundation Plus.

Alan RangerGenre-Specific