Photography Article Another February, Another Black and White Book Club!|Photography Artist Statement

Last year, a group of photographers on 365Project and Flickr came together and participated in a Black and White Book Club for the month of February. This year we are back with a new book and new weekly themes! Consider joining365Project and sharing a daily picture or jump in with the Boost Your Photography 52 Weeks Challenge for a once-a-week go at black and white.

Interested in learning more about last year's Black and White Book Club? Last year we discussed Michael Freeman'sThe Complete Guide to Black and White Digital Photography (or theBlack and White Photography Field Guide). Check out each week's posts: theoverview andweek 1,week 2,week 3,week 4, and week 5.

Black and White Book Club 2015: Overview

This year, we are sharing and discussing Andrew Gibson's The Magic of Black and White, Vol 1. This packed PDF contains 60 pages of amazing black and white photography and advice for only $5. We will be breaking it down by week into the following pages and areas of emphasis:

• Feb. 1-7, pages 1-21: Develop your ability to see in black and white, with a focus on simple shapes and forms.

• Feb. 8-14, pages 22-31: Develop your ability to see the details in your pictures. Choose one of the following to feature in your pictures: texture, lines, foreground, negative space, or contrast

• F eb. 15-21, pages 32-44: Develop your perception of light. Choose a single subject and put it in different lighting situations: soft light, hard light, dramatic light, back light, sunrise/sunset, natural light or interior light.

• Feb. 22-28, pages 45-58: Macro (with a twist if you are following the book). Develop your ability to see the minute details of your subject.

Black and White Book Club Week 1: seeing in black and white

Black and white pictures is a distinctive beast than color images, and it requires a unique ability set and a extraordinary way of approaching your final picture. As a rule, people do no longer literally "see" in black and white, so the digicam (or our put up-processing) will interpret a scene in a different way in monochrome than we experienced it firsthand. As Gibson says on page 3, "By removing shade, the photo will become an inventive interpretation."

Do you practice pre-visualization when photographing in black and white? Do you stop and think about what your composition will look like when you no longer see the color? Spend that extra few seconds this week trying to pre-visualize your image, then shoot and use your LCD to preview your black and white creation. (I still recommend shooting in RAW + JPEG so that you retain the color in the RAW file if you want it back later.)

Gibson emphasizes several unique strategies for considering black and white, including listening to tonal assessment, reading the highlights, aiming for simplicity, and suffering with complexity. He then wraps up this week's segment with a brief dialogue of shape and form. (Read greater about those elements of visible layout: shape and shape.)

My thought to you this week could be to attempt to tackle a number of these recommendations in my opinion. Spend a day considering and looking to photo examples of tonal evaluation. Then a day seeking out simplicity and eliminating distraction factors. Throughout, maintain coming back to that idea of pre-visualization. Work on trying to align your expectancies to the actual output of your black and white pictures.

We look forward to having you join us this month via either 365Project (daily) orBoost Your Photography 52 Weeks Challenge (weekly). Please also consider sharing your thoughts about this week's topic in the comments below.

Boost Your Photography: Learn Your DSLR is now to be had from Amazon. Get the maximum out of your digicam with sensible advice about the technical and creative aspects of DSLR pictures so that it will have you taking stunning pix proper away.