vendredi 23 novembre 2018

Creating Effective Minimalist Black And White Photography

By Linda Harris


The elements of contrast, texture, shadow, shape, and tone can create compelling and dramatic photos even without the use of color. If you have discovered the monochrome art of Ansel Adams and Alfred Stieglitz, you are probably wondering what they did to capture such deceptively simple and amazing images. Minimalist black and white photography is a form of art many have attempted. Mastering the techniques required to make the art great is attained by only a few.

If you're serious about trying this, you will have to learn to ignore color. You teach yourself this in a couple of ways. There are monochrome viewing filters you can buy for your camera. You can also go out and buy some inexpensive sunglasses that have dark gray lenses. Monochrome will work with almost any subject matter that interests you, people, cityscapes, landscapes, or still lifes.

Composition is one of the first subject instructors teach art students. Good composition is very important, whether you are working in black and white or color. You should be aware though, that composition in monochrome and in color are not interchangeable.

Tone is an important part of the foundation of good monochrome photo taking. It is similar to contrast, but not exactly the same thing. If you are photographing a street scene full of vibrant colors for instance, those colors may just end up being uninteresting shades of gray in a monochrome photograph. You can adjust the tone using colored filters or change the lighting. By changing the lighting, you will create instant highlights and shadows.

Shadows are something you must become aware of. These are powerful tools for those making minimalist art. If your shadows are strong, you have a chance of taking a good photo. Shadows are intriguing to people. It's important to understand that a shadow isn't a black void. It can, and often should, be full of shadows that observers may or may not be able to completely make out.

Shapes are parts of shadows, but they also create contrast. They may be the elements that define your photograph. If you consider it, shape is how the human brain processes what it sees around it. The way objects are shaped helps us determine what we're looking at. When you're shooting monochrome photos, it's important to identify shape and work with it in its relation to contrast and tone.

Texture is partly a product of shadow and light. If you eliminate texture as a way of creating a stark effect, the outcome will be something more along the lines of abstraction than if you included the texture. Texture can be created with the use of a low level light source that creates highlights and shadows revealing your subject's texture.

Eliminating color can be risky. Color serves as a crutch sometimes for those unsure of their technique. Artistry is more readily revealed when you strip away the color.




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