Black and white photography made easy: tips for pro-quality results from start to finish

Try using in-camera filters to enhance your black and white photography

Your camera’s built-in filter effects hark back to the settings used in traditional black-and-white film photography, where coloured lens filters were used to change how colours appeared in an image. But the names and effects can be confusing to those new to black-and-white photography.

Each filter lightens the colour specified by its name, and also darkens the opposite colours. So, for example, a red filter lightens any red areas, but darkens blues.

Here’s a quick guide to the filter options – what they do and when to use them…

Yellow
Lightens yellow and slightly darkens blues.

Use it for
Lightening skin 
tones or adding contrast to white clouds against blue sky.

Orange
Lightens orange and darkens blues a little more than yellow.

Use it for
Adding more contrast to skies than with 
the yellow filter setting.

Red
Lightens reds and darkens strong blues to almost black.

Use it for
Adding maximum contrast to skies in your landscape and outdoor shots.

Green
Lightens greens and darkens yellow and orange.

Use it for
Darkening skin 
tones in portraits and lightening foliage and grass.

PAGE 1: How to compose for black and white photography
PAGE 2: Good subjects for black and white photography
PAGE 3: Try using in-camera filters for your black and white photography
PAGE 4: Shooting images you can easily convert to black and white
PAGE 5: Black and white conversion in Photoshop Elements
PAGE 6: Black and white conversion in Photoshop CS
PAGE 7: Master Photoshop Levels and Curves
PAGE 8: Using the Levels sliders
PAGE 9: Master the Dodge and Burn tools
PAGE 10: Toning techniques for black and white photography

READ MORE

8 alternative ways to convert to black and white in Photoshop
The black and white landscape: make a mono masterpiece
Best camera settings: the right way to set up your DSLR

Posted on Monday, November 5th, 2012 at 2:00 am under B&W, Photography Tips.

Tags: black and white photography, photo ideas, Shoot Like A Pro