CANON SCHOOL

In part 19 of our series: Discover how you can take the best possible black-and-white photos with your Canon gear

Better black-and-white photography

Mono masterpieces with your EOS camera

Canon is renowned for its colour science. The combination of Canon-designed CMOS sensors, DIGIC processors and Canon glass produces rich, pleasing colours that are consistently good across the EOS range. Skin tones are a particular highlight and the reason alone that many photographers and filmmakers stay with the Canon system.

Black-and-white photography enables you to step outside of this colourful reality and focus on the composition in a different way. Light, shadow, texture, shape and form become more prominent, and it's possible to convey a mood or emotion in a more concentrated way. Colour is conventional and black and white is intentional, which means a mono image can draw people in and make them look a bit deeper.

There are two ways to create a black-and-white image: in-camera or in software. Many EOS cameras have a simple black-and-white shooting option in their Basic Zone shooting modes. Some have a Creative Assist function that enables you to apply a colour toning effect for mono photography. But for the greatest control, you need to select a Creative Zone mode such as Aperture Priority or Manual. These give you access to the Picture Style menu and its Monochrome option, so you can fine-tune the way the image is processed - including applying digital versions of classic colour filters for black and-white film photography that enhance the contrast between the shades of grey.

Shoot in colour, convert later