Photography Foundations: Black and White

In this Foundations of Photography, Ben Long shows photographers how to develop a black and white vocabulary and explains the considerations to take into account when shooting for this medium. The course follows Ben as he goes on location and explains what makes good black and white subject matter and how to visualize the scene in terms of tonal values and contrast rather than color. Along the way, he demonstrates some exposure strategies for getting the best images. Back at the computer, Ben demonstrates techniques for converting the resulting photos into black and white using Photoshop and other imaging tools, and offers tips on printing and output.

Learning objectives
Why shoot in black and white
How to recognize good black-and-white subject matter
Preparing the camera
Shooting a tone-based subject
Exposing for black and white
Understanding grayscale
Converting from color to black and white using Photoshop CS4 or CS5
Converting to black and white in Camera Raw
Vignetting
Toning and split-toning
Comparing high key versus low key images
Preparing a black and white image for print