As a teacher, trying to get my high school students to "think in B&W" is VERY challenging. They see color, they play with color (think video games and all things electronic) and that is all they know. Getting them in a darkroom and trying to make a print, they finally are able to see something they shot in B&W....but they still have issues seeing an image in B&W and what contrast looks like, what the tones will be, how the shadows play with the highlights. Great video...something I may actually use in my classroom to help inspire these rascals!
Hey Matt (and others) if it helps, on the SL2 you can do Menu > Image > jpg settings > saturation > Monochrome (Black & White viewfinder, even if you aren't recording jpg photos to your cards). Also, dude that photo of Elliott by the fridge in the background and Molly on the foreground is great! Like a friend of mine says regarding B&W photos vs. Color: - Imagine yourself retelling a story or describing an event to someone. How often do you mention color?
I need one of those shirts! Those were literally all my heroes growing up as a black skater. Really appreciate the video also I recently stocked up and bw film and after I finish off my color rolls am only shooting bw so this was good food for thought. Thanks Matt
I've been shooting primarily b&w for some years now, even when I shoot digital/mobile, shooting with black and white in your mind definitely makes you think a little bit different when composing and in my case has been helping a lot with my style in general. That shot at
Thanks Matt. With all the light of summer sunrise and sunsets, it is great to have the reminder to go B&W on purpose. So instead of sitting in front of the computer during the hot afternoon, I played around with light, shadow, and patterns. Sitting at my west facing desk window for very bright, harsh, 4 pm sun on a cloudless 100+ degree day was fun making a still life with the patterns and reflections. Thanks for your pictures, insight, and motivation.
The longer the hair gets, the more wizardly your wisdom...🧙♂️😁 Nice video man! I played when a friend's monochrom for a bit, it's amazing. Great philosophy on the topic of B&W 👌🏼
Matt, thanks for discussing this topic. I really liked the images and your thoughts. One thing I realized very recently is that if you put a red filter on an SLR camera, thereby removing every color except red and black, it feels like a good proxy for what the b&w image might look like when looking through the viewfinder. Of course then there’s the caveat of the effects of the red filter on the image. But I thought it helped me find better black and white compositions when I did this recently.
Thanks for this video, just what I needed to see. I’m about halfway through my first B&W roll of film (Kentmere Pan 400!) and am really trying to approach each photo op consciously and purposefully. Sometimes I find myself trying to “stage” a potential comp using my iPhone (setting the filter to monochrome) to see if it could translate well in B&W. Will def be adding to my personal criteria/“checklist” after watching this.
Thanks Matt. I love shooting in black and white. I still work with two film cameras that are compatible with my lens collection. Black and White lets the subject shine without distraction. It allows for minimalist compositions that provide graphic strength.
