For a few seconds, close your eyes and think of a lion walking staring at you. You have certainly imagined the beast in color, isn’t it? Most of us will be visualizing the image in color. However, are the colors essential for producing an image? Colors are always attractive but can be hindrances that interfere with the observer’s capability to notice the contrasts, patterns, lines, textures in an image.

With black and white photos, we divert the attention away from the colors and display an emotional portrait of the wildlife. Black And White Animal Photography focuses on shadows, lights, and tones and adds drama to your images that color can hide from the observer. It is an excellent way of seeing nature differently, and to help you get started, here are some Animal Photography Tips and Tricks.

Subject choice

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Choosing a subject is very important when you want to create remarkable black and white images. Check out these themes that will guide you to select images that will work perfectly within the medium.

Contrast –In monochrome, contrast enables subjects to grab the spotlight in the frame while shooting. On sunny days, highlight areas and dark shadows offer amazing contrast for black and white photography. Focusing on images that have portrayed black and white sections within every frame can help in creating spectacular portraits.
Tone –Pictures can look beautiful in color – for instance, a person is wearing red color attire standing at the backdrop of a snow-capped mountain. However, this will not look stunning in black and white due to red and white close in tonality. This alikeness in tone results in a lesser contrast between the correlative grey in a black and white image.
Line and Pattern – Recurrent patterns and lines gel beautifully in black and white due to their thick contrast. Patterns are charming to the eye when dealing with such a medium, thus creating magnificent images that can easily attract a viewer. For instance, it can be the repeated leaf veins or fur of a mammal or bird’s feather.

Composition

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One may think that composing Black And White Animal Photography is similar to color image; however, there are several extra elements that one should consider.

When you shoot in black and white, eliminating color lowers the viewer’s capacity to lead the eye around the frame when it consists of distracting elements.
With black and white, you should focus on utilizing lines, highlights, shadows, and structures for directing the movement of your viewer’s eye.
As soon as the distraction of color is eliminated, you should focus on the compositional methods and the core of image production to make the image effective.

Lighting

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When capturing in black and white, lighting can modify any image and is one of the best Animal Photography Tips and Tricks.

Low dispersed lighting focuses on the precise changes in tone, while bright light results in potent images with sharp contrast.
Side lighting helps to produce dramatic pictures.
The direct lighting from the side brightens the forms and edges of shapes generating highlights, while the others fall into a deep shadow to magnify the contrast of the position.
One interesting fact when opting for black and white is even on cloudy days, you can create superb results.
The arrangement of the darker tones of a bird on a light sky amplifies the impact that results in the observer’s awareness being drawn to and held by the bird.

Low and High- Key images

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The stark contrast enhances compositions and, if used correctly, can produce extraordinary results.

High–key is efficient in nature as there are different ways to create bright backgrounds ideal for balancing a darker subject.
Birds flying provide ample opportunities on cloudy days are perfect for Black And White Animal Photography, as well as winter snow, which can alter a place into a high-key wonderland.
Likewise, low-key images with pitch-black backgrounds also provide exemplary photoshoots.
To get high-quality results, harsh and low lighting from the side falling onto the main character with a pitch dark shadow behind for a background produces an ideal setting.
This helps to create impactful low-key black and white photos.
A leaf floating is an excellent template of how a dark background and a low-key image can direct a viewer onto a plain element in a frame, thus creating a more impressive image.

ISO settings

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In black and white photography, noise is very evident. So, the best Animal Photography Tips and Tricks here are to set the lowest ISO that your camera supports; this, in turn, will record the maximum picture quality.

Color Photography

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You may think it is odd, but do you know to get the best images in black and white capture in color mode. The latest cameras have a black and white option but result in the loss of tone and details.

Shooting in RAW format, which is the highest quality in your camera, before changing it into black and white later can produce a far cleaner outcome.
Moreover, the image will look better on the screen and also when printed.
During post-production, it helps to add a bit extra contrast to the picture, pulls the tonal curve towards a rough S shape, and concentrates on the black slightly for adding more details to your final Black And White Animal Photography.

Learning to notice in black and white

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If you keep following black and white pictures, soon you will begin to perceive the world slightly differently.
As a photographer, you will begin picking up on tonal changes such as forms and shadows within a setting and will improve gradually.
By restricting yourself to focus only on the fundamental parts of an image, you can improve your black and white photography.