{"id":109529,"date":"2018-08-13T11:58:59","date_gmt":"2018-08-13T18:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/13\/how-to-shoot-better-black-and-white-photos\/"},"modified":"2018-08-13T13:10:18","modified_gmt":"2018-08-13T20:10:18","slug":"how-to-shoot-better-black-and-white-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/13\/how-to-shoot-better-black-and-white-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"25 Tips How to Shoot Better Black and White Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Simple tips to take better monochrome pictures. All pictures shot on RICOH GR II<\/a>, with ERIC KIM MONOCHROME preset<\/a>:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

1. Shoot with a flash during the day<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Shooting with a flash<\/a> during the day will darken the background and simplify the scene. I shot this in program (p) mode with RICOH GR II, with the tiny pop-up flash. This helped bring out the details in the flowers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2. Negative space<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Give your photo some negative breathing space, to allow your subjects to move through the frame.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3. Space out your subjects or elements in the scene<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Note the negative space between each of the tree trunks.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

4. Gritty textures<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Photograph gritty textures and look for faces in them!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

5. Diagonal composition<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Start with a simple white background, and put in an arm or a visual element, and make it diagonal!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

6. Shoot with a flash against the sky<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

If your subject is in the shade, experiment using a flash and when shooting against the sky. You can create a cool surreal look, like this plant against the sky (juxtaposed with a skyscraper).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

7. Simple triangle composition<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Look for triangle elements and shoot them!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Also note how great the RAW Ricoh photos look with ERIC KIM MONOCHROME preset<\/a>:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

8. Fibonacci spiral<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Look for Fibonacci spirals, especially with nature like nautilus shells.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

9. Tilt your camera<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

To make a dynamic diagonal composition, all you gotta do is tilt your camera!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

10. Minus exposure compensation<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Shoot surreal photos from a low angle, and use minus exposure compensation to make more mysterious photos.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And often if you shoot a lot, you’ll get lucky with “the cherry on top” in the background!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

11. Keep it simple<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Making simple photos is hard. What we should strive towards is to make simple and elegant compositions.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Silhouette your subjects:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

12. Silhouette\/outline of your subjects<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

If you obscure the faces of your subjects, the photos will look more surreal and interesting!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

13. Arrows<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Simple idea: just photograph arrows!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

14. Look for eyes<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Even in buildings!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

15. Epic light<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

If you see good light shining off surfaces, shoot it!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And try to compose your scenes with a balanced and elegant composition:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

16. Shadows<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Look for simple lines and shadows.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Keep it simple, natural, and look for “beauty in the mundane”:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

17. Experiment<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Experiment shooting with a flash through a window, and try to get all the visual elements (circle, triangle, lines) to balance:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

18. Fill the frame with fun and action!<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Photograph action, movement, hand gestures:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

19. Epic landscapes<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Get really high up and shoot epic landscapes. My favorite is Sapa, Vietnam for the mist, clouds, and views:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And try to get people in the road:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A simple segmentation of the composition:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

20. Layers<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Get simple layers with multiple subjects:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Use black space to block out distracting elements.<\/p>\n

21. Photograph surreal faces (masks)<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Shot with a flash of a Korean face mask:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

22. Photograph things in motion<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Don’t just photograph static things. Photograph moving things too!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

23. Spooky buildings at night<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Try to capture emotion and mood in buildings, like a spooky feeling:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

24. Aim your camera downwards toward the street<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Generally if you want to simplify your compositions, aim your camera downwards to have less clutter on top of the frame:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

25. Shoot thy selfie<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Honor thy selfie by shooting yourself. Experiment with a flash and different reflective surfaces.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Or do a personal documentary, by shooting yourself in hotel rooms or other places, and also include your loved ones in the pictures.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Just experiment and have fun with it:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Or you can always have your loved ones to shoot you, like this portrait of me by Cindy:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Make photos you enjoy looking at, and photos which convey your own emotion, mood, and soul with others:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And when in doubt, remember our #streettogs motto:<\/p>\n

\n JUST SHOOT IT.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

ERIC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simple tips to take better monochrome pictures. All pictures shot on RICOH GR II, with ERIC KIM MONOCHROME preset:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/7AC49268-68DC-4962-8343-F8D7496B6D08.jpeg?fit=2224%2C1668&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109529"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109541,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109529\/revisions\/109541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}