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Black and white photography tips

Today’s tips come from the winner of our Black and White photography challenge that was held on Facebook. It was our largest yet with over 400 entries and there were some absolutely amazing ones.

Mybaby

Vicky is a mum of 1 little boy who is the subject of her wonderful entry and is also a photographer and sports marketing specialist! She has been kind enough to give us an insight in to how she achieved her shot and also some general photography tips so over to you Vicky…

This shot really wasn’t intended from the outset, which is sometimes the best kind of shoot in my mind! Just as nights out with your friends and unplanned gatherings are always the best, unplanned shots can lead to amazing results.

It was Halloween and I was painfully trying to get my 10-month-old son to ‘pose’ for the camera in his lovely bumblebee outfit. As most of us learn in life, asking babies/children to do something can be very difficult, almost impossible once they’ve figured out the art of ignoring. Although, I do have to stick up for my son to an extent, he has been photographed so much since his first days, I can’t blame him for trying to get away from me, especially as I had him dressed as bee…however on reviewing the images, I found the ones where he wasn’t just sat smiling on the floor to be the best, in fact the ones where he was just being a baby were the ones that stood out most. The fact this shot isn’t perfect, makes it even better to me.

I have based my business off this notion, capturing moments as they happen, not having them completely staged or in a specific pose. If it isn’t natural most of the time it will show through the image.  Perseverance is key, it can take time but when you get ‘that shot’ you know it has all been worth it.

I would love to say I took this picture with my fantastic Canon 7D but in fact this was taken on my first ‘proper’ camera that I bought years ago, the Canon 1000D and on top of that, I used the standard lens (don’t judge me!). So I hope this shows budding photographers that you can get the best out of your cameras if you spend time getting to know them.  

Baby dressed as a bee

My Top Tip: ‘I love natural lighting; I would have it all the time over artificial lighting. Specifically when it comes to black and white photography. How the light plays off your subject can be magical.’

If you’d like to participate in one of our photo challenges and have your chance to be featured on our blog, head on over to our page where we have a new one running bi-weekly!

Last modified: 37months ago

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