monochrome

Color Filters for Black-and-White Photography: A Complete Guide

Lens filters are one of the most affordable yet also most versatile accessories you can stow in your lens bag. Some of them, like polarizers and UV filters, are practically ubiquitous in modern-day photography, used both to lend images a unique look as well as to protect your costly gear.

Black and White Photography: The Beginner’s Guide

In this era of ubiquitous high-resolution color screens, it seems hard to recall that photography established itself without color. The medium earned its position in the worlds of journalism, popular culture, and fine arts long before Kodak introduced color film. But this does not relegate black-and-white photography to the basement. The genre remains powerful, present, and widely practiced today, with both film and digital cameras.

10 Reasons to Shoot Black and White Photos (and None are Nostalgic)

One of the more divisive positions that I find in photographers is their rationale for, or dislike of, black and white photography. “I love color,” I hear often. “I’m all about the colors.” Absolutely, color is cool. But I think the arguments in support of black and white are strong (some better than others!).

Ricoh GRm: My Custom ‘Monochrom’ Camera

For a long time now, I've been looking a little enviously in the direction of Leica because of the monochrome versions of the M and Q models.

Nikon D850M vs D850: A Comparison of Monochrome and Color DSLRs

Nikon introduced the Nikon D850 in 2017 with a 45.7-megapixel backside-illuminated (BSI) Nikon-specified/Sony-designed/TowerJazz manufactured sensor. The Nikon D850 is regarded as one of Nikon's best cameras and continues to range at the top of consumer DSLRs.

How to Master Exposing for Dramatic Black and White Photos

The black and white aesthetic can sometimes be a contentious issue among photographers. The decision to shoot monochromatic images is, for some, an afterthought in a way that other choices like filters, focal lengths, and exposure settings would not be.

I Shot Nothing But B&W Photos for a Year, and I’m Better For It

I’m not sure on what day I realized that my street photography work had become overly homogeneous, and sometimes asinine. “Oh look, a red car and a red shirt. click.” I’d been in love with the look of Fujifilm’s Classic Chrome (based off of Kodak Kodachrome) and had begun to shoot a lot of color for color’s sake.

3 Tips for Choosing Between B&W and Color

Something I’ve always found difficult was knowing when an image should be converted to black and white and when it should be left in color. It’s one of the more contested discussions in photography and there really isn’t a “black and white” or cut and dry answer to it. After much trial and error, I’ve come up with three questions that I consistently ask myself when trying to determine if a color image is a good candidate for B&W.

How to Colorize a B&W Photo Using Only Lightroom

Photo colorization is usually done in programs like Photoshop, but did you know that you can achieve good results in Lightroom as well? In this 21-minute video by tutvid, learn how to colorize a black and white photo using only Lightroom.

These Fujifilm Monochrome Cameras Are $4,800+ Cheaper Than Leica’s

The Leica M Monochrom is special in the Leica lineup due to the fact that it lacks a color filter, which improves image quality and restricts the camera to shooting black and white. If you'd like a monochrome-only camera but don't want to shell out $7,450 for the latest Leica M Monochrom, there are now converted Fujifilm cameras for a cheaper alternative.

How Color Filters Affect B&W Photos

If you're new to film photography, chances are that you'll get into shooting black and white sooner or later because you have been inspired by the masterpieces of old masters. But before you become the next Henri Cartier-Bresson or Sebastião Salgado, there are a few introductory things you should know.

Pulse: A 4K Storm Time-Lapse Film in Black and White

Storm chasing photographer Mike Olbinski is known for his gorgeous time-lapse films of thunderstorms, tornadoes, and monsoons. His latest project, however, was a bit different from the rest: it's one of the first storm time-lapse films to be entirely black and white.

Photoshop of the Future May Be Able to Auto-Colorize a B&W Photo

Colorizing old black-and-white photos with Photoshop has been a popular subject on the Internet over the past few years, as skilled retouchers use their time and skills to offer a new view of vintage images. In the future, though, software may be able colorize B&W photos with the click of a button.

How to Make Color Photos Using Only B&W Shots

Before the introduction of color film, Many photographers experimented with ways to record color images using black and white mediums. One of the more famous examples comes from Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky and his photos of Russia from the early 1900s.

The American Southwest in B&W

From the days of Jack Kerouac to the culture of Route 66, it is common knowledge that America is best experienced from its roads. That’s why I decided to grab a friend, rent a car and head off into America’s beautiful southwest to see what all of the fuss was about.

Is Black and White Photography a Gimmick?

In an age where digital photography is ubiquitous, and post processing allows everyman to bump saturation levels and create hyper-real images, black and white photography seems like a curious anachronism.

Color film went mainstream in the 1930s with the introduction of Kodachrome, but black and white has stubbornly persisted not only in newspapers, but also as an expressive outlet for many photographers who choose to shoot photojournalism, weddings, portraits and more by converting color digital files to black and white.

Rumor: Samsung Working on a Black-and-White Only ‘NX Achromatic’

Black and white-only digital photography is, at this point, limited to those who own either a Leica M Monochrom or anybody brave enough to (literally) scrape the bayer array off of their digital sensor. But that might not be the case too much longer.

In July, we shared the rumor that Sony was working on a black-and-white sensor/camera, and now, rumors are beginning to swirl that Samsung is doing the same thing.

Striking Black & White Photographs Capture the Chaotic Streets of Tokyo

While he was born in 1965, it wasn’t until 2008 when Tatsuo Suzuki first picked up a camera with the intent to be a photographer. Since then, he’s been traveling around, camera in-hand, capturing the turbulent street life of Tokyo. Deep in contrast, strong in grain and often paired with a dragged out shutter, his monochrome images seem to paint a perfect picture of the world around him.

‘Racing Age’ Photo Series Smashes Frailty Stereotypes Surrounding Old Age

Documentary and portrait photographer Angela Jimenez' series "Racing Age" is not your typical 'photos of old people' photo series. There is no frailty, no struggling with day-to-day tasks or close-ups of wrinkles. The subjects in Racing Age are competitive athletes that could probably out-run, out-jump and out-throw most people half their age.