Photography is an art, an expression of creativity and often used as a means to escape from what we perceive as reality. Black and white photography takes away the normality of what we see and further enhances that expression of creativity.

Since I first became serious about photography, the passion for black and white has always been there. At first however it was used as non intentional, an after thought at processing when saving an image intended for colour that didn’t work out. What this did however is train my eye to understand what worked and what didn’t when it came to a monochrome conversion.

The relationship with different colours and to understand the impact of the different colour combinations plays an important part of composition. The same applies to the different tones and shades in black and white photography. The proportion of each tone including greys, darker shades and highlights also has a great impact. A wide range of tonality can however make an image less impactful and not hold the viewers interest. High contrast black and white photography, with a good proportion of the deeper shadows and highlights, does however deliver a better chance of success.

Simplicity is key and high contrast black and white imagery can deliver that. Take away the distractions and minimise the complications. These sentences play an important part in achieving good photography. Reality is however that this mantra is easily forgotten when you’re in ‘snap’ mode. Experience trains the eye and with that comes an understanding of what works. The best advice is to shoot and take advantage of the black and white profile on your camera with its preview. Visit my B&W gallery for inspiration.