Turn some of your images into black and white - tips for good Photography

When I first started taking and developing pictures it was in black and white. Only required three chemicals and a red lit dark room. Absolutely loved the magic of seeing the latent image appear on the paper. Digital cameras and software make it so easy to get a reasonable black and white image today. The following picture which I call 'The Awakening' is an extreme example of what can be done with an originally not very promising image taken with a rather slow lens, if you want to know what a slow lens is please leave a comment. As you can see I think it made rather a good conversion to black and white.

What is it about black and white that still makes it attractive? I feel it is the simplicity and a clearer sense of depth and separation that you get with just the dark and light tones.

The following landscapes illustrate how this works in situations when the light is bright and with a subject where the colour was not the most important thing.

Architecture can also lend itself to a simplification in black and white. This is the Radisson Hotel lobby in Liverpool which I call 'Black and White Balconies'. The simple geometry accentuated in the pattern, repetition and perspective adds a great deal of interest.

Portraits in black and white certainly have an atmosphere that one could argue is not always there when in colour. I took this last picture at a christening and the purity of the black and white image seemed to reflect better the strength of the mother-daughter relationship.

If more moody is what you are trying to achieve in your photography, then have a go at using the black

and white setting on your cameras controls, or have a go in the software that came with the camera. There are also programmes on the internet that will do it for you very quickly and easily.

Happy shuttering!