BW Photography and Why I love it!

BW Photography

Since I've started photography I've loved the look of BW photos! They are high contrast, beautiful, and from my experience.. they tend to be my clients favorite photos! I've seen and heard a lot of comments from other photographers about how black and white photography is in terms "taking the easy way out". In my opinion, black and white photography is just as complex as color toning photos. It isn't just setting the photos to black and white...it's the lighting setup you use during the photoshoot, how you do the models makeup, and the methods you use in post processing that create the final retouched image!

I enjoy experimenting with different lighting setups and post processing techniques for different looks! Even things such as using color filters on my flashes for black and white images (yes that will change the outcome of the converted images)! I also tend to choose more harsh lighting than soft lighting for my BW's as it creates more striking and crisp images. I use a lot of curves in Photoshop to create the final results in the photos below. I don't do much dodging and burning as I apply the makeup to the models to give the shine where it needs to be!

Here's an example of a BW image I edited today:

This photo was taken using an Alien Bees B800 flash unit with the ring reflector attachment that came with the unit along with a small flash unit firing at the backdrop from behind the model

Photographer: Jeff Hiedeman | Model: Katie L. | MUA: Sarah E.

Photographer: Jeff Hiedeman | Model: Alexa D. | MUA: Jeff Hiedeman

Photographer: Jeff Hiedeman | Model: Katie L. | MUA: Sarah E.

Photographer: Jeff Hiedeman | Model: Nicole P. | MUA: Sarah E.