HOW TO TAKE MONOCHROME PORTRAITS
Monochrome portraits can make a very strong portrait, tell a story or convey deep emotion because they help the viewer focus on the people. The contrast and deep tones of a monochrome image can make it very expressive, full of meaning, depth and mood.
How to do it:
- Set your camera's shooting mode to Monochrome
- Shoot in RAW and jpg. This means you have more flexibility for fine tuning things like skin tones later
- Use 'Live View' to compose your portrait and preview the lighting
- Look for contrast, shape and texture. These give monochrome images their power
- Set your exposure for whites to create a low key, moody image (under-expose)
- To bring detail out in the mid tones and shadows or create a high key look, expose for the blacks (over-expose)
- Focus on the eyes particularly if your subject is looking at the camera
- Control the contrast with your light source. For more contrast and strong shadows, choose a harder source of light, or bring it closer to your subject
- If you like soft tones and subtle shadows, then you want a softer light source