NO. 2 – WORK WITH SHADOW AND LIGHT
The interplay between the two is often a key ingredient of successful monochrome
It can be tempting to think that black and white is an expedient means of dealing with situations in which the light is dull or uninspiring, but in some respects black and white often requires precisely the right kind of light, as much or even more than colour photography. This is because, without colour, you often need to give the viewer something else to explore, and the absence of colour enables you to emphasise and even abstract the interplay of shadow and light – in fact, shadow and light is arguably the most practical, real-world way of looking at the concept of black and white photography. This interplay can do many things for your mono images. First of all, strong, dramatic light can help to achieve a sense of contrast, and this is an important element for a lot of the most successful black and white. Strong shadows and distinct highlights tend to produce images with a greater degree of impact.
Secondly, areas of shadow create a strong sense of mystery and intrigue; this is something that works fantastically well in black and white photography.
Thirdly, when colour is present in an image, we are generally distracted to some extent from looking at the striking shapes and patterns that the light often creates, and this is therefore emphasised when colour is then put to one side and the image is presented in black and white. Often, in situations of high contrast, photographers will expose their images so that the shadows are underexposed and the highlight detail is preserved, which tends to make for more effective black and white imagery.