How to Apply a Creative Approach to Black and White Photography

Black and white photography is a creative form. Anyone who has reflected on the work of Ansel Adams knows that the delicate manipulation of the gray scale requires sensitivity to light's interplay with subjects and perfected camera technique. Creative black and white photography, as art, seeks to stir the spirit of the individual and society. Creative black and white photography does not merely amuse nor decorate. It speaks to the soul in all its variations.

Things You'll Need

• Camera with manual settings
• Digital camera
• Black-and-white film
• Photo processing equipment

Instructions

1. 

   Learn basic camera operations and practice. You need to understand how light translates through the viewfinder and onto a finished print. F-Stop, shutter speed, focus and film speed are tools to control the final image and your statement about that image.

2. 

   Experiment with dry shooting. Turn your camera on a great variety of subjects. Experiment with "seeing" in a compositional sense. Visualize the many effects of value and texture. What do you see through your lens? How do the elements of your subject come together? Nobody "sees" how you do. That is the beginning of art.

3. 

   Depart from reality. Factual approaches to photography differ in that they are reality-based. Creative approaches spin away from the thing as it is, to the thing as it may be. A creative approach establishes a purpose to reveal something about the subject. In black and white photography, the story is told with light and shades of gray. If, for example, you want to tell a story of mystery, you might light a subject so that it radiates within a more mundane gray landscape. The possibilities are limited only by imagination and skill.

4. 

   Analyze your subject. Practice visualizing what is interesting about the subject. Does it have potential to reach people with the message you want to communicate or that the subject inherently communicates? Can you create an aesthetically exciting image through composition and camera and lens control?

5. 

   Practice camera and lens control. Above all, creative black and white photography demands increasing camera skills and technique. A photographer must be a skillful technician with her camera and in the darkroom. It begins with the ability to adjust camera settings to control light. Use light for its effects on and around your subject.

6. 

   Simplify. The more simple and direct your statement, the clearer and stronger it will communicate. Isolate the subject.

7. 

   Develop your own film. Considering the subtleties of black and white photography, you need to develop your own black and white film to maintain light variations. A standard photo lab will reduce shades of gray to a middle gray and subtleties will be lost--your art will be lost.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider taking a creative photography course.

• Read Ansel Adams' books on black and white photography.

• For digital work, software can alter black and white photographs to the desired effect.

Resources

• Black and White Photography
• Black and White Photography Tips
• Inspiration and Influence: The Visions of Ansel Adams
• Demystifing Ansel Adams' Zone System
• Digital Black and White Photography