How to Shoot… Black & White – Shadow Play and Bad Weather

Shadow Play

When the sun is lower in the sky, such as early morning or late afternoon, it gives a softer light as well as some nice long shadows. For these reasons it is worth timing your mono shots for early or late in the day to avoid getting too much contrast, and therefore not enough detail, in your shots. Besides which, long shadows look great in mono.

Bad Weather

When the weather looks bad it’s tempting to leave
your camera safely tucked away in your camera bag, but this is often
when the best shots are taken. Dark and stormy skies, minutes before or
after a heavy rainfall; even a grey drizzly day can turn into something
special with the right composition and conversion to black & white.

 This snowy scene and potentially grey sky is transformed thanks to the mono conversion. Canon EOS 350D, 1/125sec at f/8