I love black and white photography and love to watch work of others but for me it’s a very difficult task. I try to avoid. I tried to work on it in my earlier days and even particiapted in Leanne’s Monochrome theme but then I was not satisfied with my own work. In a way I gave up on that.
In the 10th lesson of learn photography series, Raj has discussed various issues related to black and white photography. I decided to give it a try.
I like to take pictures while travelling even though the conditions are not often supportive but then it is easy to get a black and white or at least a monochrome photo during winter. HEre is my first photo taken on Monday while travelling. The blur tree is the proof.
- 1/320 sec. f/4,5 34mm, ISO 3200
I tried to work on flowers but could make it with only one rose. When the colour of petals and stamen are similar it is difficult to get a perfect balance of grey.
The second is the statue of mother with her dead son by Käthe Kollwitz taken in Berlin. Tourist are not allowed to enter the room and respect it. I kept the space around the statue just to show the size of the room.
Next is a bright colour perfectly locked bicycle.
- 1/10 sec. f/5,6 55mm, ISO 100
The top and the roof.
I took this picture for the bright colours and I don’t want to miss the fun by converting it to black and white. Would you like to turn it to black and white???
Now it’s time to listen to Raj.
mazeepuran (माझे e-पुराण) 
Very nice.. 👌📝📝📏📚📖💞
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Thank you Alpesh.
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I agree … not all photos make good B&W images. These all work in their own way with my favorite being the statue.
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lovely & beautiful photograph.
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Thank you so much.
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Thank you Rupali for the contribution, you are on fire these days! Keep them coming!
Pic1: Beautiful landscape there! I can see the details of the sky which is also preserved nicely. Reflection is good too. The tree in the foreground also contributing to the scene. But I see lots of dark area in the picture. I would bring out the shadows and reduce the contrast a bit if needed. Basically, there are more blacks here.
Pic2: it’s very difficult to do a justice to a rose in black and white! It’s a great capture, I can see the fine details on the petals too. But picture overall is a bit underexposed. Also, the black background is making the picture look dark. You have to do the balancing of shades of grey carefully in post-processing.
Pic3: Since your intention is to show the statue, I feel you should have taken the closeup shot. Slower shutter speed also caused the softness to the image. Here the story is “mother and the son” other details are not required. Only need to have the sharp and closeup view of the statue.
Pic 4: Again there is a slow shutter speed and the softer picture. The levels are not checked before clicking. Looks like it’s a shot taken with flash if so the details get lost easily. To make things difficult you have a reflective surface on the cycle for which it’s impossible to control the exposure.
Pic 5: Great shot and nice details everywhere. The picture looks sharp all around with the chosen aperture. As an improvement, you could try bit more contrast to the image?
Pic 6: Good question! That’s what everyone should ask before converting to black and white. Also, I want to add, it’s not easy to create a good black and white picture. Black and white require more time on the post-processing. Do not choose those automatic black and white profiles these photo editors offer, just use them as the starting point. To answer your question, I would definitely try the b&w. But the story changes drastically. Right now the story is what is behind that grilled wall when you convert to black and white, the grill becomes your story.
This critique is part of XDrive’s Photography Learning sessions. Thanks for being here Rupali.
Raj
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Thank you for your comments Raj. I tried to improve the images in this post following your valuable advice.
I am writing a new post including your comments.
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Thanks Rupali, yes, I did comment on that post already!
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Pingback: Learn Photography – 10 – Black & White – XDrive
B&W pics have a special charm. Lovely Rupali!
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Thank you Radhika.
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Nicely done. You are so right. B&W photography is a completely different way of thinking.
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Yes, which I am bad at 😦
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I try from time to time to turn some of my photos into b&w but it rarely works well for me. There must be anyway not too much colours on it and the light shall create sharp edges on things (contrast between bright and dark areas). Otherwise the whole picture ends with greys and is simply not interesting.
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