Monochrome photographs are timeless, especially black and white photographs.

They enhance emotional substance and have a disposition of making photos look more artistic.

They can be used on many different scenes as it’s not required to think about all the colors that should look good together and match the amount of light available. And for those who love to play with color, black and white photography doesn’t necessarily need to be boring as there are so many different shades to choose from.

Gray scale is a spectrum of black and white which evolves into shades and different depths of gray. So when we speak of gray scale we speak of how we measure tones of gray

Here are some tips you might need to know when it comes to Monochrome Photography.

1. Use RAW

If you have the opportunity to use RAW, do it! It will open up many new possibilities and give you more control of the image’s appearance.

If you use RAW files, your computer, rather than your camera will process the records and generate a picture file from it. You can for instance use Adobe Photoshop to process the images. I personally use Adobe Lightroom but any photo processing tool will make the work.

2. Contrast

With the help of light you can get great contrast. Contrast will bring the tonal differences in your photography as you can’t use color. With side lighting, for instance, you’ll get longer shadows.

3. ISO

In photography, an ISO number is an indication of the sensitivity of the image sensor, where a higher number indicates higher sensitivity. The higher the ISO is the more are the possibilities to take pictures in low light, without the usage of flash.

For black and white photography, use the lowest ISO. When you use high ISO the noise will become more obvious.

4. Subjects

Monochrome photographs are good at bringing a sensitive experience and story into a shoot, they tend to bring depth and give us the chance to explore an object or person more strictly due to the graphic elements that it conveys (especially thanks to a good contrast).

One single subject is the most popular choice for black and white photography. This goes mostly for portraits, here you can really emphasize on the affect that the gray scale will bring to the person’s expression.