Black and white fashion photography is elegant and classic. That includes high fashion/haute couture, ready to wear, active wear, footwear, and more. Here are some things you need to consider to get it right:
LIGHTING CONSIDERATIONS
Will you use hard or soft lighting?
In other words will the transition between the shadows and highlights be abrupt or fade effortlessly into each other.
How many lights will you use?
You can use as little as one light or multiple lights and reflectors to shape the shadows. Using multiple lights go eat you more control over the end image, but is also more difficult to problem-solve. You can highlight the hair, contour the face, shape the thigh and back, and make the eyes really pop.
CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES CHOICES
COLOURS
You don’t want the colours of the clothing and other elements of the image like the background to clash. This mean understanding the world of black and white.
We see in colour and it may seem simple to just think converting to a black and white image is a piece of cake, but it isn’t. For example, when you convert green and red you get the very close shades and sometimes the exact same. It’s worth keeping an eye out for anyway. Here’s proof:
TEXTURE
You can have simple shapes and lines with the help of smooth textures. On the other hand, you can create intricacy through more complex textures of clothing and accessories.
This was just a simple rundown and to give you some black and white fashion photography inspiration for your own photoshoot. If you have any questions drop us a line or comment below!
Jonathan How is the photographer behind Made by Ten and calls Milton his home. He specializes in creating beautiful, creative portraits of real women. He uses photography (and this blog) to help them build confidence and love for themselves and creates artistic images for their homes and offices. You can see him driving around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Ontario, Canada from portrait to fashion shoot and back again.