Seeing in black and white

Level: intermediate.

Colour does a lot of the work in a photo. It separates a subject from its background, sets a mood and catches the eye. Remove it and the picture has to carry itself on light, shape, texture and contrast. That makes black and white harder in one way and more direct in another.

Contrast comes first: a beam of sun through a window, a figure against a bright wall, a dark doorway on a pale street. Each gives you strong separation between light and shadow.

Texture and shape follow. Weathered wood, stone, skin and fabric show their detail when colour isn’t distracting you, and without colour to pull the eye around, patterns, curves and strong geometry hold the frame together.

Scenes that have similar tones across the frame usually look flat, and they depend on colour to be interesting. A red umbrella against a grey wall is a good example. In black and white they can turn almost the same grey.

Harsh midday sun washes out detail in colour, but it can build bold shadows in monochrome. Early morning and late afternoon give long shadows and soft edges. Overcast days give gentle, even light that suits quiet portraits and subtle tones.

Low ISO matters because grain shows in black and white. Some people love that look, so decide on it deliberately.

Shoot RAW so you keep all the colour information. Many cameras let you set a monochrome picture style that shows black and white on the screen while still saving a colour RAW file. It helps you see the scene the way the final picture will look, and you can still change your mind later.

Keep an eye on the highlights. Bright, blown areas go to pure white with no texture, and in monochrome they stand out.

Don’t convert by dragging saturation to zero. Use the black and white controls in Lightroom or your editor, which let you set how bright each original colour becomes in grey.

That gives you creative control. Pull the blue slider down and a blue sky turns darker and more dramatic. Push the orange and red sliders up and skin tones lighten. This works like the coloured filters film photographers used to put on their lenses.

After the conversion, adjust contrast with a curve, lift or deepen specific areas with masks, and check the picture at a small size. If the subject still reads at thumbnail size, the contrast is working.

Portraits behave differently in monochrome. Side light shapes a face with shadow, and eyes become the focal point, so make sure they’re sharp and have a catch light. Skin tones turn to shades of grey, so a bit of dodging and burning in your editor can sculpt a face with light.

On your next walk, choose three scenes. Shoot each one, convert them both ways at home and compare. You’ll learn quickly which scenes depend on colour and which look better without it.