Black-and-White is Beautiful

Black-and-white photography has been around decades longer than color photography and has a very special place in the hearts of most viewers. Black-and-white images are classic. They are offered as an extra special service in wedding photographers' menus, seen as striking photos in today's fashion magazines, and are highly prized by fine-art photography collectors. Unforgettable black-and-white scenes from 1930s and 1940s movies, such as Casablanca and Grapes of Wrath are etched into our collective memories. Warm, glowing sepia brown images also have the emotional impact of vintage photography from years ago.
Black-and-white is beautiful, and your color digital camera can make these traditional monochrome images. If you read your instruction book closely, you'll find information on how to set your camera to produce attractive black-and-white and sepia photos. The instruction guide may call them "grayscale" images, which is computer lingo for black-and-white.
In addition to making your original exposures in black-and-white, you can also use a computer imaging program, such as Photoshop Elements, to change color digital photos to black-and-white or sepia images. Sometimes this may be the safest approach, since you can retain a full-color version of the images and still create a black-and-white version of the file. This is helpful in case you don't like the picture in black-and-white.
A third choice is to bring the camera memory card or a CD with your images to a local photo retailer, or to use an online photofinisher, asking that the color photos be printed as black-and-white or sepia images.
Black-and-white photography is different than color photography because different color hues can separate the subject from the background, such as a girl in a red sweater posing by a green forest. In monochrome photography tones of black, gray, and white are modified by brightness and shadows, contrast, and the quality and intensity of the light.
The best approach is to take some test photos with your camera on the grayscale mode setting and learn how the images are different from color pictures. A good starting rule is to place a light colored subject against a dark background and a dark colored subject against a light background, so that there is a maximum contrast between the subject and the background.
The direction of the light is very important in black-and-white photography. Usually it is best to have the light "wash" across the subject giving it dimensional substance. That way the shape and contours of the subject are accentuated, creating a three-dimensional quality through the light. Usually early morning or late afternoon sunlight has this quality. Sometimes, midday sunlight filtering through an overhead skylight can have the same results.
The opposite effect is flat, or heavily diffused, lighting, such as cloudy-day illumination. This can be very attractive for close-up facial portraits, since the light is soft and flattering. But, unless the subject is well defined, flat lighting produces overall gray-looking images.
Backlighting can be very dramatic. With the light source behind the subject, the subject can be dark, in shadows, or under-illuminated. However, if you are close enough (no more than 10 feet away), you can use the camera flash to illuminate the subject. If the background is at a greater distance it will remain very dark. This technique can be applied to portrait subjects – their backlit hair will almost glow with sunlight, while the "fill flash" from the camera illuminates the subject's face. This approach also eliminates unattractive squinting eyes.
So far, we've been describing outdoor black-and-white photography, but the same techniques can be applied to indoors. If you are interested, you might want to experiment with some standard reflector bulbs and a floor lamp with a moveable lamp socket which permits the bulb to be directed toward the subject. (Be careful, these bulbs can become very hot. Don't try to adjust them when they are lit.)
There are two types of standard 110-volt reflector bulbs, "Spotlight" and "Floodlight". You can experiment with each to see how these light sources illuminate a subject. If you like the Humphrey Bogart look in Casablanca, use the "hard" spotlight alone. If you like the softer look of Ingrid Bergman, use the floodlight and place a white cardboard reflector nearby the subject on the side that is opposite the light.
If you want an even more professional look to your portraits, you can use a second reflector bulb in another floor lamp directed toward the back of the subject's head, keeping the light source completely out of the picture. This produces a backlit "hair light," which helps define the subject's head.
As a digital photographer you'll be far ahead in your lighting learning curve, since you can see the results of your photography on the camera's LCD monitor, and immediately make changes for a better color or black-and-white picture.