Architecture in photography is a very interesting subject because it will help you highlight a lot of details and textures in an image. Photographers use various techniques to photograph architecture which is why they produce the best shots that are unique and creative. One of their techniques includes black and white photography. Such a photography technique allows a viewer to see the image in limited colors, such as black, white, and gray.
In case you want to learn about black and white architecture photography and you are interested in learning about the composition techniques most photographers use, then this guide is for you. We have covered all the important aspects of photography in this black and white architecture photography guide.
Similar Articles you may like to read –
A guide to Cityscape Photography. How to do it? tips and ideas
How To Capture Photos At Carnival? Carnival Photography Tips
What is Monument Photography? Tips to Capture the best shots
What Is Noise In Photography? How to Avoid and Reduce Noise in Your Photos
What is the best method for black-and-white architecture photography?
Generally, there are two ways to produce B/W architectural images: In-camera method and through post-processing. The best method is to shoot colored architectural photos in RAW format and convert them to black-and-white images later during the post-processing stage.
Quick Camera Settings for Architecture Photography
Aperture – f/8 – f/11
Focal length – 35mm to 200mm
Contrast Parameter – +1
ISO – 100 – 40
B & W Effect – On
Shutter speed – 1/25, 1/250
Exposure Value – 0
White Balance – Automatic
What Characterizes a Black and White Image?
A powerful, impactful black-and-white photograph can be captured in a way that is very fulfilling. A solid grasp of tone, texture, and contrast is essential for creating outstanding black and white photographs. If you know what you’re doing, black and white photos may be dramatic and evocative, far from being dull. You should thoroughly appreciate and comprehend how tones in B&W function in contrast to colored photos before embarking on a B&W technique.
This is due to the fact that when a photograph is taken, and all the colors are changed to shades of gray, the lighting, tone, contrast, shape, and texture suddenly become the most prominent striking characteristics.
How To Do Black and White Architecture Photography
Beginning with a Vision
Everything in fine art photography begins in mind. It begins inside of you, in your mind and soul, not in the outside world. Consequently, in order to communicate your vision in black and white, you obviously need to have a “black and white intellect” and a “black and white spirit.” This implies a variety of things, and the important among them includes the capacity to go deeper into your creative tasks and access the substance of things in order to identify what is crucial.
You do that because you need to identify your subject in order to perceive your internal concept outside of yourself. This will help you decide which scenario, angle of view, subject, and lighting conditions will be the greatest starting point for capturing your vision in a black and white image.
Multi-Point Perspective Shot
You will take multiple points of view in your mind before capturing architecture with your camera. Never forget that compositional principles like the Rule of Thirds or the Golden Ratio reveal more about how spaces are used around or between items and their proportions than they do about the actual object itself. They don’t particularly relate to the subject at hand. Such customary rules ought to be viewed as very much supporting in architecture.
The primary guidelines for composition in architecture are those of linear perspective. They will help a viewer to get up close and personal with the architecture through the image that you captured and shift to a black and white effect.
Add Feelings To The Image
Black and white photography has the remarkable capacity to evoke emotions in the viewer and tell a narrative. Black and white architecture photos are sometimes taken to convey feelings of emptiness, misery, and loneliness. Consider dark rooms, old wooden huts, broken windows, or a door of an ancient temple. Black symbolizes mystery, power, fear, and intimidation. These can be used to engage your audience and influence their emotions.
Elegant and contemporary photos can be produced while also adding more depth and perspective. Your black and white architecture photos will consequently develop into extremely potent, dramatic, remarkable, and striking works of modern art. Particularly in gloomy areas, keep an eye out for bright or lit buildings. It will help you capture crisp, clear images, and you can apply techniques to give a feeling to the image.
Utilize A Modest Aperture And A Minimal ISO
Sharp, steady focus and little to no digital noise are essential for black-and-white portrait photography. These objectives can be accomplished with a narrow aperture and a low ISO. With various lenses, you might need to combine and match your settings. If you are shooting architecture in low light, you might want to keep your aperture to f/8 or high and ISO values to about 200 – 400.
Pro Tip: A good photo’s histogram will show that the bulk of pixels is located away from the image’s most extreme blacks and whites.
Colorize The Image Before Editing
Another good technique for black and white architecture photography is to simply capture your image in color and then transform it into B&W to keep things basic and straightforward. As a professional, you most likely have experience shooting in color. Use applications and software for editing to edit and improve your photo if you are not very familiar with black and white photography.
Important Components of Black and White Photography
Black and white photography is not a simple task. A successful photographer must know the following 4 important components to successfully make a perfect click.
Composition
Composition in photography describes where things are placed in an image. When choosing a subject in black and white, look at the composition to see how much is dark and how much is light. You may make a black and white image more fascinating by rearranging the elements and balancing them with the available space.
Shapes
Shapes instead of color dictate how we recognize and enjoy the items and scenes in a photograph. The most effective black-and-white images help viewers better understand their themes by combining fascinating shapes and textures.
Contrast
Tonal contrast, or the difference in hues from light to dark and their relationship to one other in an image, is more prominent when color is removed from the scene. Look for subjects that offer a high dynamic range, or a broad range between the darkest and brightest tones, and are in sharp contrast to one another or their surroundings.
Shadow
Shadows aren’t only darker areas of a picture in black and white photography; they can also be important parts of your subject or even the topic itself. Shadows affect the mood and impact of your photographs, whether they include details or are completely black.
You can learn more about the ” Creative Water Photography Ideas Every Photographer Should Try ” in our article:
Low Key and High Key In Black And White Photography
The High Key and Low Key, these phrases describe how much light and dark there is in a photograph. When an image is predominantly black and white (or light and dark), with few or no medium gray tones, the condition is known as a high key. High-key photographs that are light and tidy-looking should have a bright background and diffused lighting on the main subject. The attract more vision and add attention to the viewer’s mind.
The final shot should be well-cut and organized. To attain that high-key look, though, your subject’s outline needs to be clearly defined and compelling. Keep an eye out for anything with strong shapes, such as mountains, trees, and structures.High key photos are ideally captured with small apertures, such as f11-f22, to boost contrast and seamlessly transition between white and black tones. Wait for sunny skies high above you if you don’t have any bright lighting.
A low-contrast photograph known as “low key” has relatively comparable tones for the highlights and shadows (mostly very dark tones). Intense images with extra mood or emotion can be made with this technique, which is especially helpful. This is the reason why low-key, dramatic black and white portraits are more common. Make an effort to make your background dark and free of any light (even black if possible).
Your core theme should be the sole item that is lit. Keep in mind that your subject will appear darker the further it is from the background. Low-key black and white photographs are better suited to soft lighting. You just need an even distribution of light that you can position your subject in, so gloomy days or regular domestic lighting should be adequate. Wide apertures between f4 and f5.6 will allow the camera to capture more light, extending the time between the transition from the shadows to the highlights and resulting in a low-contrast image.
In light of this, stick to one light source and, if necessary, block out others. A low-key black-and-white shot will appear menacing and mysterious. The allure of the shadows compels a spectator to look closer in search of additional information. If you’re attempting to generate mood or atmosphere, which we’ll discuss next, these alluring photos work beautifully.
More articles you may like to read –
How To Do Night Street Photography? Camera Settings And Expert Tips
How to Photograph Architecture? 10+ structure photography tips
Street Photography Tips, What To Capture? And How To Take The Best Shots?
Best Tips for Photographing Architecture in Black and White
There should be a distinction between the subject matter and the object matter. To get better photos of architecture in black and white, we have listed some tips that might help you.
- A photograph of high art should convey and evoke an emotion or feeling. If your goal isn’t to make the viewer feel anything or go through something, then you’re just a talented worker with a camera.
- You can search for authenticity in a shot, which means that it needs to reflect your personal aesthetic and your own message, too.
- A quick and efficient technique to learn new skills is to copy other photographers. But eventually, you have to let go of it and develop your own visual language.
- The photo’s title, if applicable, or the sequence of photographs’ theme should convey the message (or subject matter). Simply remove your title if not.
Editing Black and White Pictures
Black and white photography, like all other types of photography, benefits from post-processing, especially if you shoot in RAW. Here are some suggestions for black-and-white photo retouching outside of a darkroom.
- Adobe’s well-known photo editing program can help to enhance shadows or highlights if you use Lightroom or Photoshop.
- You may even try tinting a monochrome image to mimic the look of old film photos by boosting the shadows in one layer and the highlights in another.
- You may enhance mood in a variety of ways using editing tools like dodge, burn, and curves; experiment with the settings to accentuate brightness or darkness.