Why Choose Black and White Photography with Geffrard Bourke

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Why Choose Black and White Photography
with Geffrard Bourke

 

“There’s something so beautiful about a black and white image
- the detailing, the tonality.”

Anything Looks Good in Black and White

• Street Photography - even at night!
• Landscapes
• Macro and Close-ups
  - Geff loves taking black and white images of flowers - white blossoms seem to glow.
• Portraiture

- Color can really be a distraction, it pulls your eyes away from their face.

“When you photograph a person in color, you photograph their clothes. When you photograph a person in black and white, you photograph their soul.”

Tips for Black and White Success

• Lighting

- Color images are best when the light is right - early morning or evening.

- Black and white images can be taken at any time of day - even in the bright afternoon sun!

- Harsh light helps to bring out the contrast and tones of the landscape.

• Spot-meter on the brightest part of your subject.

- Make the subject stand out and be separate from the background.

• Shoot in RAW (color) to capture as much data as possible.
• Set Live-View to Black and White to help you learn to see without color.
• Bracket your images

- Stack them later in Photoshop, or choose the best exposure from the set.

- Choosing the lightest of the set creates a “high-key black and white”.

• Leave the white balance in Auto

- White balance really only affects color images.

- You can adjust the contrast of the image in post-processing.

• Look for contrasty scenes

- Examples: A white fence against a deep green
pasture

Bright birds or flowers against a dark
background

Architecture against a blue sky

• Look for interesting and detailed subjects without distracting backgrounds.
• Concentrate on composition - use leading lines.
• Look at the work of other photographers - LEARN from it and get INSPIRATION.
• Practice makes perfect - and helps develop your eye.
• Try to get it right as much as you can IN-CAMERA so you don’t send hours in post-processing.
• AFTER processing - step away for a day - don’t post or print it immediately.

- Look at it again - your perspective or mood may have changed. Tweak accordingly.

- Mood affects the way you see an image - work on it when you feel GOOD.

• Join a photo club and enter your images in competitions. Getting feedback helps you learn.

Geffrard’s System

• Fuji XH1 system, Fuji Mirrorless and Medium-Format Film Camera
• Will occasionally use ND filters, but not Polarizing filters.
• Photoshop is his primary post-processing program.

- Started using Nik Silver FX, but has developed his own actions and pre-sets

Finding Geffrard

Photography Website Instagram
Roadrunner Photography Tours