I have been experimenting with black and white photography lately. I am still in doubt on what makes a b+w photo a good photo.

I have posted recently the image:
Afsluitdijk .
I received the quite fair comment that the blown highlights on the water are pretty evident (and not necessarily pretty).

My question is: what is more important in a b+w photo:

a) strong contrast with areas of full blacks and full whites, at the expense of blown highlights
or
b) protect the highlights and avoid blocked shadows, at the expense of less impact/reduced contrast

I will be very grateful if you can share your opinion, or point to good resources on the B+W subject.

Rob

I'd say.. both.

To a large extent, it depends on the scene, subject, and composition. I love deep dark shadows, bold black tones, and dramatic contrast. But sometimes, a bit of restraint is necessary, and I'll reduce the contrast. The trade-off is that I might lose some of the immediate visual impact, but the reward is usualy a deeper, more detailed image.

I'd suggest you browse around, both here, and elsewhere. Check out the work of others, and try to take note of how they handled it in a given shot.

Good luck :o)

I could not agree more with Rob. There are very few times that you cannot achieve the contrast and yet retain some details in the highlight and shadow. As Rob suggested, look around and when you see a b/w that you really like look at it hard and try to figure out why you like it. Just remember that great exposure and nice details don't help a poorly thought out composition much. That is I believe the first thing to catch the viewer, then the rest kicks in. I have seen your work and you clearly understand composition and colour, so you will likely have very little difficulty with b/w. Keep the subject simple, and most of all have fun and shoot what YOU like.
regards
Rick

I agree completely with Rob and Rick...you definitely have to think actively about composition, etc. when shooting for a B&W. You might get lucky in converting a color shot after the fact, but you'll be more successful "thinking in B&W" before you start snapping away. Keeping it simple is also great advice (just take a look at Rick's gallery...he knows what he's talking about!)...

Rob - I was this close (-) to just clicking onto the next post without leaving a comment. The only reason I didnt, is because you are trying, you understand where you are having a problem, and you have the wisdom and guts to ask for advice. RATS! now I need to make fascinating comment on a subject other people may think I know little or nothing about. The Masters of B&W did not develop thir skills overnight, they kept at it until they understood that contrast and highlights pretty much are the primary guides to good B&W photos. To understand what I am talking about, look thru old LIFE magazines. Why are the ordinary photos good? because they dont hurt your eyes.They have contrast and highlights without loss of detail and gradiated tones. To achieve this balance they looked at the light and changed the camera angle to achieve their goal. To understand what I am trying to say here, try this assignment. Get a nice clear plain drinking glass with no designs or if you have access to some lead crystal glass (plain) that would be great. Place the glass in front of a BLACK background. Now shoot B&W and try and make the glass visible. Its easier said than done, the glass will become invisible at some point because of the available light. Your goal is to make a B&W photo showing the whole glass and in focus detail. When you master this simple project, you will understand how contrast and highlights work together without harshness to create outstanding B&W photos. If you have no plain drinking glass, try and find a green pepper. Polish the pepper with a soft cloth, and with a white background shoot the pepper without washing out detail. This will teach you how to mentally judge available light, contrast and highlights and work them to blend without losing detail. I hope my rambling has been of help. By the way I have tried using my own advice, I got very frustrated many times. I finally caught on, but the frustration continues, because I cannot reproduce my desired affect consistently. Good Luck

/\ He's my hero. :o)


Excellent advice Jerry. Thanks for your input on this discussion. Learned some stuff myself. Sincerely appreciated.

Thanks to all for responding to this thread and for the brilliant advice given. Very good stuff. I have learned a good deal from it.