Black and white photography:
why, when and how

Black and white photography is enduringly popular across genres for its timeless quality and ability to focus the gaze on a subject, without distractions. But what's the best way to capture images when you have mono in mind?

Of course, shooting RAW is always a good idea as it gives you the freedom to explore editing treatments at your leisure, but there's no definitive 'right way' to shoot black and white. You switch your camera to black and white mode if you're the type of photographer who prefers to see an accurate preview of your final image. But equally, converting colour images into black and white is easier than ever thanks to editing presets in programs such as Canon's Digital Photo Professional (DPP).

Photographers André Teixeira and Clement Kiragu are both adept at creating striking black and white images – André in his wedding work and personal street photography, and Clement in his wildlife images. Here they reveal how and why they turn to black and white over colour, and their different approaches to capturing and processing their striking images.

"Using a mono preview means that I can focus on the light and the composition and the moment, instead of worrying about whether the colours will match across a set of images or any unwanted colour casts. The Canon EOS R is amazing in this regard. It's so incredible that these days we have electronic viewfinders that can show what you're shooting as the camera sees it, which makes it much easier to compose and even to check the exposure.

"I set up one camera for black and white photography and another for colour before I start shooting, as I hate having to make technical adjustments during a wedding. I don't think too much about colour temperature and white balance and all those sorts of things even when I shoot colour, because you need to be very focused for hours during the day.

"When it comes to converting the RAW files to black and white, I simply use an off-the-shelf profile I bought for Lightroom. One click and the image is almost ready. I sometimes add a little bit of noise or grain, just to add a timeless quality to the image. I like the classic black and white analogue look, and it's very easy to achieve that digitally."

When it comes to processing his RAW files, Clement says he does very minimal editing. "I just open the files in Photoshop, maybe add a little contrast, a bit of brightness, then I'll just go to the black and white conversion," he explains. "I will sometimes push the magenta and yellow a little bit, and perhaps add a vignette if the shot needs it, but that's about it. I really don't do much to my black and white wildlife images.

"There are always scenarios where a shot that you intended to be in colour works better in mono. I photographed a cheetah hunting a topi antelope and expected it to work well in colour because the grass was very brown, which gave the scene some contrast. But shooting with a telephoto lens in the middle of the day meant that heat waves distorted the image. Even though I had captured a great moment, it was not pin-sharp, and the only way I could get it to work was to convert it into black and white and add a little sharpening.

"Equally, there are some situations where black and white does not work at all. For example, leopards live in very dense forests. This kind of rich, green territory really brings out the animal's markings, and removing the colour would make the image so flat. You would lose all those rich colours, and the contrast and depth would disappear."