Bruce Weber Photographer Provides Tips On Shooting Black and White Portraits With Natural Light
People see colors in their everyday life. In fact, they are bombarded with an endless succession of color photos in the media. Starting from television advertisements to social media images, color can be found everywhere. As a result, black and white photos manage to stand out from the crowd owing to their non-conformity. They also have a nostalgic appeal, which reminds people of previous eras. Bruce Weber Photographer especially is fond of capturing black and white portraits in natural light.
Bruce Weber Photographer talks about capturing stunning grayscale portraiture in natural light
Simply speaking, when capturing a portrait, the photographers should prioritize the aperture, focus on the eye and take their photo. This simple, yet effective approach works well for most portraits, including the ones in black and white. However, to take truly amazing grayscale portraiture in natural light there are many aspects a photographer needs to pay heed to. Firstly, they must try to keep colors in the scene separate, as they are likely to translate into different tones. Diverse hues translate into shades and tones of gray when the photo shoot is done in black and white. The make sure that the ultimate portrait is appealing and impacting, checking whether all these shades translate properly is imperative.
Metering for the skin of the subject also becomes important while shooting black and white portraits with natural light. A lot of cameras tend to be set to evaluative metering with aperture priority. However, spot metering is always a smarter idea when trying to meter for the skin of the subject. After doing so, the photographer can just lock the exposure and refocus. This issue can also be fixed just by using manual exposure mode as well.
One of the best aspects of black and white portraiture is that sticking to the golden hour is not necessary for it. Photographers can simply step out and shoot whenever they want; based on how the scene looks and the type of mood they want for their portrait. Shooting in mid-day sun is not a problem while trying to capture grayscale portraiture in natural light. Even though hard shadows are not always flattering in mid-day light, they look fine in black and white. In fact, shadows can actually be used to the advantage of the photographer in black and white photo shoots. They can search for natural shadows to get the desired that soft-lit look. These shadows can be created by cars, buildings, tarps, tree coverage, awnings, and more. Photographers should also consider getting a softener rendering lenses for their black and white portraits. While shooting in color, the sharpness in the image can get hidden among the colors. However, contrasts pop up more prominently in black and white, and images may look sharper than needed at times. The use of softener rendering lenses can be quite advantageous in such a situation. Photographers can also choose to explore the works of Bruce Weber Photographer to gain inspiration for their black and white portraits. Bruce often did his shoots outdoors, in natural light.
