The Art Of Black And White Photography

The times when photography had just come into being it was essentially monochrome. Later, with advance in technology colors came into ‘picture’. Today the whole world of photography is dominated by color.

Some decades ago monochrome photos were completely out and photography was mainly colored. But black-n-white photos came back into the limelight. A lot of photographers consider it as the purest form of photography. 

So why did it come back? What is so special about this black-n white photography that we missed it dearly and brought it back?

In this article, I will present you with my views on the beauty of monochrome photography and why it is loved so much by modern photographers.

Colours are a Distraction

Black and white photography is treated as the "deprived version" of color Photography. Why would anyone limit their imagination to a mere combination of black and white when he has a wide range of colors to choose from? But the fact is that black-n-white photos can time and again look more startling and appealing then colored photos. Colours can add to distractions and viewers don’t focus on the areas where a photographer’s imagination wants them to. Hence removing colours can help build this focus and captivate the imagination of the onlookers. 

When you remove colour from an image you can no longer rely on it to provide significance or a crucial point in an image. Even with it colour photos don’t last long in the memory but black-n-white images do.

Shape, Form and Contrast

What is of utmost importance in black and white images is the shape and form that are depicted. So while clicking, the photographer’s attention shifts from colours and he is more concerned with the angle and shape that will ultimately be seen in the image. Another major aspect of monochrome photos is the contrast that is seen vividly. This contrast cannot be achieved so successfully in a colored image. We can use this contrast as a focal point in an image or photo. Apart from such tones in images certain patterns can be captured beautifully using shades of black and white only. 

Lighting

Lighting is the heart of photography. The word photography derives from the ancient Greek for ‘painting with light’. In black and white photography it affects all of the above elements - shape, contrast, pattern and texture.Side lighting frequently helps produce the most impressive black and white images. It highlights the edges in the image and increases contrast by adding highlights, and the shadows it creates add interest to the scene as well as enhancing textures and patterns.

K.I.S.S.

You may be familiar with the KISS principle which is - Keep It Simple, Silly. Cluttering a black and white photo with too much minutia will defy the very purpose of back and white photography. Keep it simple and limit the focus to a single well defined subject.Black and white photography is an entire subject in itself and covering it in a single post is like trying to capture an ocean in a single pic. Also, these are only an amateur’s views on the art of black and white photography.

Here is a post on getting started with black and white photography that is a pretty good starting point for photography beginners. 

Would love to hear your views on my post. You can also share your own black and white photography tips in the comments.

Wildlife Matters:

What does it mean? And wildlife  matters to whom?? It matters to all those who
understand the ecosystem and the fact that man is no supreme but a part of this very ecosystem.Since a lot of time man is seen giving a sympathetic approach towards saving the other living animals around.It has become more of a moral responsibility or a deed of humanity. The dependence of human beings on the very food pyramid and the ecosystem seems to have lost meaning with man becoming ever more powerful.

But have you heard about the butterfly effect? if you mess with one small thing, it has the potential to have a great effect. like, if all of the insects of a certain variety die off due to insecticides in a certain area, animals that eat those insects would have their diet compromised and would have to move or die off. either way, it leads to more and more animals dying off or moving away. it messes with the ecosystem and natural balance of things.Many habitats are directly influenced by the way animals live. Grasslands, for example,exist partly because grasses and grazing animals have evolved a close partnership, which prevents other plants from taking hold. Tropical forests also owe their existence
to animals, because most of their trees rely on animals to distribute their pollen and seeds. Soil is partly the result of animal activity, because earthworms and other invertebrates help to break down dead remains and recycle the nutrients that they contain. Without its animal life, the soil would soon become compacted and infertile.By preying on each other, animals also help to keep their own numbers in check. This prevents abrupt population peaks and crashes and helps to give living systems a built-in stability. On a global scale, animals also influence some of the nutrient cycles on which almost all life depends. They distribute essential mineral elements in their waste, and they help to replenish the atmosphere's carbon dioxide when they breathe. This carbon dioxide is then used by plants as they grow.

The balance of nature is a theory that says that ecological systems are usually in astable equilibrium (homeostasis), which is to say that a small change in some particular parameter (the size of a particular population, for example) will be corrected by some negative feedback that will bring the parameter back to its original "point of balance"with the rest of the system. It may apply where populations depend on each other, for example in predator/prey systems, or relationships between herbivores and their food source. It is also sometimes applied to the relationship between the Earth's ecosystem, the composition of the atmosphere, and the world's weather.

In the name of development, we remove trees and vegetation, change how we use land, and keep expanding paved areas. All these not only affect the soil ecology, but also the water balance. Increased urbanization also requires more water to feed the city'spopulation and industry, often requiring deeper and deeper wells to be drilled or water to be moved from even more distant locations.Increase of pavement area not lonely lessens the amount of water vapour that transpiresback from the vegetation but also contributes to groundwater pollution if the salt used to melt road ice were allowed to runoff into the natural drainage system.Over the last 1,000 years human impacts on the land have increased, mainly through deforestation and increased use of pastures.
Such problems have intensified over recent years with unprecedented population growth and urbanisation since 1920, resulting in increased human impacts not only on individual pecies, but also on whole ecosystems.