Master the art of modern photography

This month: Black and white

It’s time to leave our colourful world and embrace the joys of monochrome

Black and white is a wonderfully evocative medium, often far more powerful than the reality of colour.

Will Cheung

Will Cheung

An imaging journalist and freelance photographer based in London, Cheung has a wealth of experience over several decades. www.williamcheung.co.uk

We’re blessed to live in a colourful world so you may be wondering why bother making black and white photographs. For me, though, the question is not why make them, but why not? In the spirit of openness, I am biased. My photographic upbringing was at a time when shooting black and white film was the only affordable option and, even in the digital age, I find it magical exploring my images in shades of grey. Not only that but my influences, all photographic greats in my view, excelled at monochrome. Check out the work of Ansel Adams, Bill Brandt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Irving Penn, Tony Ray Jones and Sebastiao Salgado. If their work doesn’t fire you up, nothing will.

So we’ve got your creative juices flowing – what next? For monochrome newcomers, there are some technical considerations – and this Camera Clinic is here to help – but the biggest challenge is ‘seeing’ pictures in black and white, which means enhancing your visualisation skills. Consciously or subconsciously, you are already imagining the final composition every time you lift the camera to the eye. All you must do is think a little differently and be active in your seeing. In colour photography, you are looking at the interplay and harmony of colours and delicate hues but in monochrome, it is how contrast, the variations of highlights and shadows, patterns and texture work together.

Your skills will develop with practice but to enjoy a flying start, set the camera to a monochrome picture mode so you see previews in black and white. In the menu set the camera up to simultaneously record jpeg and raw format. This means you’ll get a finished monochrome jpeg and a raw file that you can edit later. It’s a risk-free approach and one of the benefits of digital capture. So now you’re ready to begin your magical mono journey.

Get the knowledge

Enjoy the world in shades of grey – it’s really easy

Most digital cameras can shoot out-of-camera black-and-white photos by using the monochrome picture style setting. The result is in jpeg format only, which means you’re stuck with the effect and have limited editing headroom. Remember that if you select monochrome with jpegs, you can’t change your mind and revert to colour later. To get the best of both worlds, set the camera to shoot jpegs and raw – even though this consumes more storage.

Set monochrome mode and you will get a mono preview so you can instantly assess and enjoy the effect. You will also have a finished, out-of-the-camera file and another that you can edit to your heart’s content. If your preference is for raws only, the preview image will still show the selected picture mode.

Ideal kit for monochrome