Click Thumbnails to Enlarge

• 
• 
• 

Composition for great graphic mono images

Techniques

24 October 2007 09:33

Without the impact or emotive power of colour to grab your attention, black & white images need to have a strong, graphic quality to work successfully. The main elements to look out for are shape and form, pattern and texture – all of which can be used to help the impact and composition of your black & white shots.

Simplicity is often the key: try to ensure that the subject fills the frame for maximum impact, and try to crop out any distracting elements. This is also a great way of creating abstract images, where shape and form become the most important element, rather than the object you’re shooting.

Low-angled directional lighting, found most readily early and late in the day, can help enhance shape and texture. Strong, directional lighting helps to create shadows and highlights that bring out both shape and texture of the scene. For outdoor images try to shoot when the sun is low in the sky, rather than overhead, and choose your position so the light is coming from one side of the subject. If you’re using a controllable light source, such as a flashgun or lamp, position it away from the camera. On-camera flash creates very flat results and so is very poor at revealing the shape or texture of a subject.

Strong, graphic shapes help to add impact to your mono images – look out for both man-made and natural subjects that have simple, graphic shapes, or subtle curves.

As well as shape and form, black & white is also excellent for highlighting a subject’s texture. Tight framing, so the texture of the subject fills the whole frame, can create fascinating abstract images – such as sand ripples or ridges on the underside of mushrooms. Alternatively, use the texture of a subject as part of the overall composition, when other objects are included in the scene.