Five Tips For Taking Better Black & White Photos

black and white
When black and white works, it really works - Joaquim Alves Gaspar

For many of us getting started in photography years ago, learning to shoot in black and white was not an option. My first photography customers were all newspapers and you shot the film they gave you and, except in rare cases, that was almost always black and white.

Today almost everything is in color, newspapers and magazines are disappearing, and film is on life support. Still, even today with cameras containing high speed computers with more computing power than the space shuttle, a well composed black and white photograph is a thing of simplistic beauty.

While I disagree with instructors who want to start out teaching students black and white photography, it is worth learning. Below are five tips for taking better black and white photos.

Start With Raw

I actually shoot RAW+JPEG and do probably 90 percent of my work with JPEGs. Part of the 10 percent when working in RAW are the pictures I think would make a good B&Ws.

A lot of tonal information is tossed out by the JPEG compressing and this is one of the times you want it back.

Pick Your Day

The worst days for shooting color are sometimes the best days for shooting black and white. Dismal, gray, and overcast days, so called “low contrast” lighting is made for black and white photography. Ironically, these are the days you’d stay home shooting color photography.

Black and white can also give a scene a cold, detached feeling. Hearkening back to the days of film noir, a good black and white photo can create an air of suspence.

Go Low On The ISO

For the same reason you’re starting with a RAW image. Get as much photo data as possible before deciding what to take away. At higher ISO ratings some cameras can start picking up noise, particularly in the blacks.

If you want grain you can always add a film grain filter in post-processing.

Composition

The rules for composition in black and white are not a great deal different than in color photography, with more emphasis on textures and strong lines. Without color to draw the eye, you have to depend more on composition.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons some instructors want to take that away for new students, to get them to focus on lines and framing instead of color.

Look For Patterns

With black and white you’re more likely to select a shot purely for the design elements, not necessarily a definitive subject. That would particularly true for patterns with strong lines with a point of convergence.

Just because I don’t lead with black and white when teaching a photography class, doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s worth learning and practicing. I’ve seen pretty average color pictures turned into something with real impact, just by taking away the color.

Here are some excellent examples. How many of these would have lost impact by adding color?

Giving Back as a Photographer

dog at shelter
I just don't like the dog behind bars look - Nhandler

If you’re a professional photographer, there are some charity projects that are definitely worth your time. If you’re working your way into the business, charity shoots can be a great way to build up your portfolio and get your name out there.

Consider Local Animal Shelters

This is one that’s almost always available. Having really attractive portraits for animals in the shelter will definitely increase adoptions. So many shelters are limited to a staff member with a point and shoot camera and many of them are sad looking animals under a harsh flash that look like animal felons behind bars. A few will have an actual background they use, but even that is rare.

Shelter photos are also a great way to gain experience working with animals, one of the most frustrating exercises in photography. After about 20 animals right in a row, you’ll be a master at knowing the precise microsecond to hit the shutter button. In animal photography practice will make perfect, or lead to psychosis, one of those. You’ll definitely know after a day if you’re cut out for animal pictures!

Pro Tips: Get the animals out of their cages and somewhere outside that looks more like a home atmosphere with real grass and scatter some toys around in the background. Use the best lighting setup that’s easily portable in the field. A leash in the picture is okay, and you can get inexpensive ones that are 20 or 30 feet long. Definitely better to have a leash in the photo than one of the animals getting away, unless you’re in a completely fenced area.

The idea is to get people to visualize the pet in their house, as opposed to a visual of some quivering animal in a kennel. The more fun the pet is having in the photos, the more likely they are to be adopted quickly.

Animal Rescue Facilities

If you’re thinking of something animal related, also consider animal rescue facilities, which seem to be chronically short of money. Some commercial quality promotional pictures can be a big boost to their fund raising activities.

Pro Tips: Be really careful about working around large animal rescues. It’s rare for one to be bothered by the flash, but some are scared of the camera. Many of these animals have been abused or neglected and may react unpredictably. Use a long lens and always make sure you have an exit. I try to keep a barrier between myself and the rescue animals at all times, especially if they’ve recently come to the shelter.

Picture Book Fund Raisers

Local zoos are catching on to this one. Buyers of season passes or those who make a donation to the zoo get a free photo book. Some zoos are even arranging special times for the photographers to get better shots than could normally be obtained from the normal traffic areas.

Pro Tips: Prepare to be amazed that you’ll be up against the top photographers in the area on charity projects like this. Don’t be discouraged if you get turned down the first year, or even the second and third. Even if you’ve been a pro working in the area for years, the competition is fierce. The one time I got accepted, I was surprised to be mixed in with some of the best known names in local photography, including one with National Geographic in his background. Everyone wants to be on the zoo credits, so don’t feel bad if you have to work your way up to this one.

City Walks

These are sometimes organized by city government to help promote the area to businesses thinking of relocating. In the old days cities and counties might have had a budget to pay photographers, but today not so much.

Making friends in city government is always helpful for those seeking to start a new business or expand their existing one. If they already know who you are because of your community involvement and efforts to promote the city, you may find your reception to be far warmer than someone off the street.

Pro Tips: They probably already have dozens of skyline photos, unless you can think of a really unique angle, skip those. Look for identifiable landmarks and places less traveled. The idea is to make the city look attractive to anyone considering opening a business. Think about your shots from the standpoint of a business person.

Being the volunteer photographer at charity events is a great way to get your name out there, especially if you can get in on the sponsor credits in exchange for service. Don’t get discouraged if you get turned down, you’ll likely find there are many photographers in the area with the same idea.

How Much Do Photographers Make?

julie caitlin brown
Most photographers don't make as much or look as good as Juile Caitlin Brown - by Craig Damon

Those of you new to the business may be wondering how much money photographers make. The answer will likely depend on a number of factors such as where you live, how long you’ve been in the business, and your area of specialty.

The bottom line answer: Not a lot. Especially when compared to other career options, like nursing. Not only is the pay meager but the stress level is quite high. In a recent CNN Money survey, commercial photographer was the only job that got a 100 percent stressful rating. Higher than fundraisers, parole officers, and a near par with prison guards, who also make more money.

Incomes from photography can vary widely. The lower 10 percent averages just under $18,000/year. Even the very top earners average out to around $64,000/year. Compare that to nursing, where the average nursing salary is $65,651 and the low end of the scale is over $56,000.

The best paid photographers live in the District of Columbia, New York, California and Hawaii, so at least you can’t complain about the scenery. The very best paying photography jobs are, somewhat ironically, in the motion picture and video industries.

The salary information answers some of the important questions like, “Is getting a degree in photography worth it?” If the answer is you’ll be making about the same as someone working at McDonald’s, what do you think?

What skews these numbers are very large, high-end studios, most of which are located in New York and California. They make a lot of money and work for large commercial customers. Those slick, glossy brochures with stunning photos of new cars don’t happen by accident. But they also give people a skewed idea of the industry.

One benefit to being a professional photographer, if you can prove you actually make your living that way to the IRS, much of your equipment becomes deductible. And you don’t have to punch a clock or put up with a boss you don’t like.

Wireless Flash Controllers Explained

flash bulb
In the beginning this was precision flash control - By Thuringius

Back in the day there were manual flash’s were simple. An electrical contact inside the camera closed a wired connection with a battery pack in the flash handle which then sent a jolt of current through a glass bulb stuffed with magnesium filaments. A blast of light ensued that would have you seeing a giant blue dot in your field of vision for five minutes and was hot enough to make the glass bubble. You would set the exposure on the camera.

Flash bulbs were replaced by flash tubes and eventually the camera and flash units learned to talk to one another across the hot shoe. The flash could “see” the scene through the camera lens and the flash power and duration were set automatically. It wasn’t long before someone came up with a connector cord that let you put the flash on a bracket handle with a diffuser.

One advantage wires had was the ability to act as an extension of the hot shoe. The camera and flash could still work together, albeit thorough a coiled cord connecting them. The camera could tell the flash the proper exposure and flash power, just as if the flash was reading the scene through the camera lens.

The wires connecting the camera to the flash unit were eventually replaced with wireless transmitters and that’s where the confusion began. Companies like Canon had their own proprietary wireless e-TTL technologies and, for a long time, no one could figure out how to get that to work across a radio link. It was either buy a Canon flash or forget it.

Early on, and in most inexpensive wireless flash controllers today, all the wireless connector does is tell the flash to fire. The flash fires at maximum, unless you manually scale the power back.

wireless flash trigger
Cowboy wireless flash trigger

Even today professional photographers don’t use anything more complex than units like this Cowboy Wireless Flash Controller because they still prefer to use a light meter and set the flash power manually. Shooting that way is perfectly okay.

Some of the newer units like these can give you control over the sync and flash power (not full TTL support) over the wireless link.

But along came a photographer who was annoyed that his e-TTL would not work across a radio link and, even though many others had failed, he partnered up with an engineer and figured out how to get it working. They called it The Radio Popper.

RadioPopper JrX studio kit

Other companies have since figured out the wireless TTL magic and now wireless TTL is available for almost any combination of camera and flash, if you want to spend the money.

Some people, even those who have the money, still prefer to use a light meter.

infrared flash controller
Infrared flash controller

A wireless data link is not your only option. If line-of-sight is not an issue, you can still go with an infrared transmitter. There really just isn’t much incentive to buy infrared over radio these days. It’s so convenient to be able to put a flash unit out of sight in the background that limiting yourself to line-of-sight seems silly.

Nikon Updates My Picturetown

Nikon Picturetown
Nikon updates My Picturetown with new features

Nikon announced the release of its latest version of its photo sharing service called My Picturetown. Aimed squarely at the consumer market, new features include greater sharing and creativity features including some tailored to some of the new software features of cameras like the Nikon System 1.

The latest iteration of Picturetown expands GPS support to display log data from cameras like the Coolpix AW100 which has built-in GPS support. The log data will be displayed in map view, allowing users to track their route and share the adventure with friends and family. There’s also an altitude graph and capability to display heading information and location names.

Another new feature is the integrated movie playback option that automatically packages video for streaming instead of download. There’s also a feature to display the new Motion Snapshot files, the new feature in the System 1 that combines still images and a few frames of video to create motion graphics reminiscent of the paintings in a Harry Potter movie.

One interesting feature serious photographers will appreciate is Picturetown supports NEF and NRW RAW formats besides JPEG and TIFF.

Picturetown comes packed with variety of options to share photos, including PhotoMovie which combines photos, music, and messages that can then be shared with family and friends. Other social features include shared albums with a slideshow feature and if the photos include location info, users can toggle between the slideshow and map view.

There is also built-in integration with Facebook and permalink features to embed photos in blogs and web sites.

The storage may prove a bit anemic for pro shooters with free accounts limited to 2 GB and a scaled price point up to $29.95 a month for 200 GB.