A Beginner's Guide to Black and White Photography I've never really been asked for advice from beginner's, so I thought I'd take it upon myself to offer some. The following are some little pieces of information that, based on my experience, might be of use to anyone trying to get started with B&W photography. So what is a beginner? In a lot of ways, I'm still very much a beginner. There are always things to learn in any field, and because photographic subjects are constantly changing (is the sunset you saw last night the same tonight... probably not), there's always something new to grasp hold of in photography. But, for the sake of this little blurb, let's call a beginner someone who has an interest in photography, but is having trouble getting a "look" that they like, or isn't really sure where to get started when it comes to taking pictures. So, here are a few suggestions to get you going: 1. Buy an all manual camera... be it 35mm SLR, Rangefinder, or Medium Format. Using an all manual camera forces you to learn the basics of exposure, either by trial and error or by going to the library and getting a book that explains things like the relationships between shutter speeds, aperature and film speeds. And don't cheat... an all automatic camera that has the potential to be used manually lends itself to being used on automatic most of the time. And for now, YOU need to be doing the thinking, not the camera. 2. If your camera has interchangeable lenses, don't go hog wild and buy a 28-400mm zoom lens and a 5x teleconverter. Get a 50mm lens. They're cheap, they're sharp and they're fast... meaning you can take pictures in low light situations without flash where the guy with the zoom lens is wishing he had a tripod. The 50mm lens forces you to move closer or farther from your subject, encouraging good technique in the sense that you need to be very aware of what it's the frame. You're the photographer... you're responsible for everything that's rendered in your final image. Don't want that funny looking tree in the way of your picture of a nice sunset? Move around. Find a better angle. 3. Develop your own film. It sounds daunting at first, but it really isn't a difficult process, and the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks (which, other than time, don't really exist as far as I can tell). You'll save money, and you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that, if it's ugly, it's your fault, not the labs. And if the shots are beautiful, then you take the credit and have all the control. I'll skip the details, but if you want some help getting started in this area, don't hesitate to email me. 4. Learn the Zone system. It's a crucial bit of knowledge, and if you don't have it, you'll be frustrated by mediocre results. Pick up Ansel Adam's book The Negative at any bookstore... it'll save you heaps of time. 5. Get out and use your camera! Take pictures. Take lots of pictures. Take pictures of your family members. Go for walks and take pictures of sewers, or fire hydrants, or buildings. Learn to understand what things look like when photographed. Be honest with yourself about what works and what doesn't (this is tough... I still love shots of my cat, but they're probably not really all that exciting). The more you photograph, the more you learn. Don't be afraid to shoot an entire roll on an idea. 6. There's a whole world out there. What are you interested in? Go find it. Take its picture. Go back to it over and over. Personally, a large part of why I take photographs is because I love that I can make ordinary things extraordinary when I put them on film. If you photograph what you're excited about, you'll learn how to present it in a way that might make others excited about it too. So... keep shooting. You'll get it. Want to read some of my other Technical Articles?