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PHOTOGRAPHY BASICS
Save bad photos by converting them to black and white
By James Booth
Not everyone has the eye for photography, particularly when they first start taking photos beyond the realm of snapshots. Black and white is an image format that can convey a lot with very little. The real catch to black and white photography is being able to "see" in black and white, and not everyone can do that, me included.
A recent visit to my sister's house showed me that in this age of digital imaging, you don't really have to be able to see in black and white in order to get good black and white images. An image that's rather mediocre in color can become an excellent artistic offering when converted to black and white. The picture in Figure A is a good example of a rather ordinary, mediocre image.
FIGURE A
 
A mediocre color image. Roll over picture for a larger image.
This picture was taken with a Brownie 620 box camera, a glorified pinhole camera. Obviously, this image isn't going to win any awards. It has poor depth of field, isn't very sharp, the color is washed out, and it just isn't that impressive. In Figure B, the same image has been converted to black and white.
FIGURE B
 
Converting to black and white can help some images. Roll over picture for a larger image.
Although converting this image to black and white doesn't necessarily make it a better image, it improves its palatability by making it look vintage. This image very well could have been taken when that Brownie camera was new, and not last year.
Take this next image for example. Figure C was taken with a Kodak Ektar 110 film camera in 1983 at the Booker T. Washington National Park in Hardy, Virginia.
FIGURE C
 
Another rather sub-par picture. Roll over picture for a larger image.
This picture really isn't much to look and is a good example of how unimpressive the images taken with that format were.
Now let's make this image black and white. The setting and period attire of the subjects make you believe this image of a blacksmith and his apprentice actually could have been taken in the late 19th century.
FIGURE D
 
Is it a daguerreotype or a print? Roll over picture for a larger image.
How it's all done
Now that I've given you a few examples of how converting an image to black and white can help make it more presentable, I'll show you how it's all done.
You'll need an image editing program. In this case I'll be using Adobe Photoshop, but there are a dozen other programs that are just as capable. If your wallet can't take the Adobe hit, which a lot of them can't, GIMP is a free Photoshop alternative that can do just about everything Photoshop can at a budget price.
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