Moreover, Black and White photo is long lasting than colour photo which faded after a few years.
Photographers who had gone through the black and white course and printed their own photos’ will never forget the beauty of black and white photography as a Fine Art-Form.
It is not so much on just shooting but the after process. One had to develop your own negative and you learned to master the art of printing your own photographs.
Stepping into the darkroom is most interesting part of Black and White Photography with all the happening. You begin to see your negative images being projected on the easer one by one; you begin to tell yourself this is not sharp enough, some need to crop away and others composition not good enough……….etc.
You realized how important to see and compose an image before you click the shuttle. While doing the printing process you learn to master the art of using your both hand to help do dodging and burning here and there to enhance the images.
The biggest challenge was while you are developing your own printing in the darkroom, the satisfaction when you see the images appearing on the photo paper after you had immersed into the developer.
This can be testified by the numbers of black and white enthusiast or course students who had attended the black and white photography course conducted by Photo Clubs or Photographic Societies.
In colour photography you can play with colour to bring out the subject but black and white photography you must train to look at the fundamentals basic of composition, contrast, textures, lines, shapes, light and shadow, backlighting or highlight to create a more dramatic image.
Black and white is all about capturing a sense of the dramatic, so if your subject has texture that is naturally dramatic, then you are in the right path toward making a good black and white photo. With black and white, try to keep some symmetry in your texture.
It’s easier to create stunning black and white photos when you have symmetry in your texture because it can sometimes be lost in colour. Symmetrical textures in black and white are consistently beautiful and offer something the eye cannot capture as well when working in colour.
To understand and master black and white photography you must understand the concept of grey scale. You see a piece of black and white photo is not really only black and white but it’s actually lots of different shades and depths of grey.
The interplay of managed tones found within a photograph becomes a joy to behold and brings great satisfaction to a photographer.
The use of filters especially the darker-orange filter is a must for general black and white photography. If you wanted a high contrast or a high key image, a red filter will help to enhance the image to look more dramatic.
Black and white photography has seen something of a resurgent lately and it’s getting a lot of attention in the digital photography magazines, books, blogs and websites.
Perhaps it’s about people wanting to get back to basics; or perhaps people are just continuing to fall in love with the mood and atmosphere that black and white images conjure? Or digital camera owners rediscover the beauty of monochrome images.
Conclusion, be it Black and White or even Colour Photography the most important quality is “Passion”. It is passion that drives you to stay up late and wake up early to discover the secrets of Photography. Passion gives you power and keeps you going while others may have given up long ago
Secondly, I always believed that one must first understand their equipments well & master the fundamental basics principle of photography. Many great photographers are those who had learned or mastered the art’s basics and blend that understanding with their personal creativity to produce or capture those beautiful images.
If we strictly adhere to rules then we are hindering the development of photography and discouraging the artistic and creativity of every individual. Keep practice and practice till you get it right, there is no other way.
Articles by Bernard Teo
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