More about Black and White Photography

Last week I posted a blog entry about shooting photos with the sole intent of converting them into black and white photos. (You should be able to scroll down to see that post, if not, you can find it here ). In that article, I discuss using a little advance planning in creating a black and white image, in opposed to just simply converting color images to black and white.

Below is a photo I shot that relates to this topic. In planning this photo, I had the sole intention of it being a black and white image. When I was prepping the makeup artist (the awesome Kristy Jahn) I told her I was concerned with lightness and darkness and not with color. I also told that I was looking for a retro makeup scheme reminiscent of the 1940s. I think she did a fantastic job. The Model (Peyton Drew) had this fabulous dress that was the inspiration for the shoot. It was beaded in black with gold bead detail around the collar and shoulders. So when I selected a fabric to cover the bench she was sitting on, I wanted something that offered enough contrast to differentiate the dress from the fabric. The key was to not provide too much contrast as to be a distraction. I used a piece of red fantasy cloth (fantasy cloth is semi-opaque gauss-like material). Since the image was black and white, I wasn’t concerned with the color, only how it appeared as a shade of gray. As it turned out the fabric looked much like crushed velvet, which worked well for the mood of the photo.

Photo Copyright Ken Rieves Photography

I chose to use a lighting scheme that was more common in the 1940s, but instead of using spot lights with fresnel lenses, I used strobes with honeycomb grids. This allowed me to use very directional lighting, but created softer shadow characteristics. The softer shadows gives the photo a more contemporary look, but stills pays tribute to vintage glamour lighting. As a whole, I think it worked out well.

Thanks for reading and I should have another post ready later this week.

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-Ken.