The Colors in Black and White Photography

Black and white photography continues to be very popular. This is also reflected in the field of street photography, which takes on an important role in photo communities such as Flickr or 500px. Old masters like Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson or Ansel Adams, whose works still strongly influence modern photography, are certainly also responsible for the persistent popularity of black and white photography.

The fundamental idea of black and white photography is based on the reduction of the color of an image to contrasts and graphic structures. Black and white photography is far more than just the omission of color. On the contrary, in black and white photography the colors play an important role in the selection of the subject of the image. Additionally, the colors are also important for the image composition of a black and white image as well as in the subsequent post processing.

Selection of the subject

The conversion of the colors into the black and white abstraction begins with the selection of the subject. There are many subjects that work very well in color, but often lose the attraction after the conversion to a black and white image. Monochrome scenes with many details, such as a green landscape with many plants and trees are a good example. The transformation of such scenes in black and white often looks like the mere removal of the color from the picture. As opposed to this, a monochrome scenery with rather large unstructured areas, such as the silhouette of a mountain range at dawn, can achieve an exceptional effect in black and white. The same applies to portraits and faces: a portrait in black and white is only perceived as attractive if the gray tone of the face is significantly different from the gray tones of the background. It is important for the choice of the subject to interpret colors as contrasts. The subject is perceived as an abstract form with the light-dark transitions of the gray tones.

Post processing phase

It is advisable to shoot the picture in color and in RAW and do the conversion in black and white later in the subsequent post processing phase. Beginners will probably prefer to follow the “trial and error” principle, as opposed to experienced photographers, who might already control the black and white image when taking the shot by influencing the image composition. Setting the digital camera to “black and white” directly when shooting is more suitable for street photography. In this configuration, the corresponding shades of gray, contrasts, and shapes of the scene can be controlled in the viewfinder. However, you lose many creative possibilities of the subsequent image editing phase. This is why this approach may be better reserved for the enthusiasts.

Possibilities of conversion

The conversion of the color image into a black and white image is usually processed in image editing programs such as Lightroom or Photoshop. Inexperienced photographers often use the function “Save as grayscale” and remove only the color information of the image. This approach produces small image files, but the photographer has no control on the result of the black and white conversion. Sometimes people use the color saturation slider to get a black and white image. Setting the slider all the way to the left or to -100, which means completely desaturating the color, creates a black and white image, but the result is very sluggish because the converted shades of gray based on the color are not displayed correctly. It is much better to follow one of the following approaches: convert the image using the black and white wizard of the image editing program, convert the image based on a custom workflow, or use a special plug-in for the conversion with a variety of controls and presets.

Usage of color filters

The black and white wizard of the image editing program allows you to simulate color filters, such as the familiar yellow, orange and red filter of analog black and white photography. This offers a great control of the converted gray tones based on the colors. The effect is often used for the sky; the blue tone is rendered in a very dark gray tone, and the strong contrast to the white clouds gives the picture a dramatic expression. The output is an RGB image file with identical red, green, and blue channels which display the black and white image in a neutral tone. Thanks to the RGB mode, the picture can also be toned, usually with a slight sepia, blue, or brown tone. However, experienced photographers tend to ignore the wizard and prefer to set up their own workflow for conversion. They often work with layer masks. The goal is to control the color filters during the conversion and to use them partially if necessary. Thanks to this approach, it is possible to optimize the gray tone of the skin or even only the gray tone of the lips in a portrait.

Plug-ins for conversion

There are many very popular plug-ins for the black and white conversion. The most well-known is certainly the plug-in “Silver Efex”. With the help of these plug-ins, the conversion can be optimally controlled partially or in the entire image and stored as a preset. Basic out of the box presets can easily be adapted and expanded to the photographer’s own needs. The biggest advantage is that, based on the presets, it is very easy to get consistent results. In addition, these plug-ins usually offer analog black and white film emulsion simulations. These simulations for the grain effect of the classical SW film emulsion use scanned grain templates and include them into the picture. Technically speaking, the picture loses some of its resolution. But that should be accepted, as the grain effect gives the “clean look and feel” of the digital image a pleasant, organic finish.