How to Take Better B&W Film Photos

How to Take Better B&W Film Photos

Black and white photography is a whole different language from color. It’s no wonder why new photographers struggle with creating awesome photos when first trying out this medium. Here are the top 5 tips that are going through my head every time I put a roll of black and white film in my camera, including how to choose the right film for your situation, as well as a few of the techniques and services that I use.

Take better black and white photos:

9 tips for shooting better black and white images

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How to create long exposures and calculate for reciprocity failure:

The Complete Guide to Shooting Film at Night (with photos)

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The Definitive Guide to Ilford Delta 3200

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38 Comments

  1. @cantinabandstudios8360 on October 29, 2024 at 9:03 pm

    Shooting in B&W has made me be more patient and choose my shots more carefully. I enjoy it. Really pulls me into the moment and allows me to not feel as though I’m wasting shots

  2. @TheChicoRios on October 29, 2024 at 9:03 pm

    Very very very nice content. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

  3. @huntrrams on October 29, 2024 at 9:08 pm

    Thanks for this video and channel!

  4. @MarcoRoepers on October 29, 2024 at 9:08 pm

    I love ilford FP4 it has more contrast and its lower film speed is no problem in every day situations. In fact it has an advantage when you want to use a flash to highlight the subject.

  5. @collincourtois8587 on October 29, 2024 at 9:10 pm

    Great video! Subscribed immediately! Thamks.

  6. @kevlarnegative on October 29, 2024 at 9:10 pm

    Good tips 😊
    That stock footage was cringe worthy though 🥲 I’d rather see some of your images instead of people pretending to photography.

  7. @RobertLeeAtYT on October 29, 2024 at 9:11 pm

    I find the antipathy toward editing in some photography communities really head-shakingly odd. Pressing that shutter button is only a third of the work. The rest of the journey toward print is in the darkroom. With exception of documentary photography, that has always been the case and for very good reasons.

    I’m glad you brought up Adams. The zone system he pioneered is precisely and ultimately all about _the print_. The same applies classicists like Fan Ho, and even the original run-and-gun street photography god like Winogrand.

    I used to shoot a lot of B&W on the RB-67. The usual kit would have a couple or four film backs. All TMY2, but marked on the back for "push 2", "pull", etc. The development regime would follow suit.

    The general goal was to have the scene dynamic range span the full density on the film. This gives the highest resolution tonality data to work with in post.

  8. @seralegre on October 29, 2024 at 9:12 pm

    Just a little comment, I think background music is a bit too much, maybe -2 -4 dB helps

  9. @lewiya7439 on October 29, 2024 at 9:12 pm

    I love that "meter for the highlights" tipp!

  10. @alponton on October 29, 2024 at 9:22 pm

    great ideas thanks

  11. @Ortopedija1989 on October 29, 2024 at 9:23 pm

    thanks. great.

  12. @Kylejphotographer on October 29, 2024 at 9:23 pm

    I’ve shot digitally for about 6 years and I’ve done 35mm and 120 film for a little over a year now and I gotta say I shoot 90% black and white just because I like it much better. My years of being a photographer have already made me see the world as a photo opportunity every where I look, but from shooting mostly black and white film I can almost tune my brain to see in black and white to get the best photos 😅

  13. @djhinton570 on October 29, 2024 at 9:28 pm

    Great information for someone getting back into an old Minolta XG-7 I’ve been learning on for years. Going to explore some B & W film, I noticed an online developer said they could not develop "true" black and white film. What is the difference?

  14. @richardsimms251 on October 29, 2024 at 9:29 pm

    Great video

  15. @Leicashootr on October 29, 2024 at 9:30 pm

    👍🏻‼️

  16. @xcx8646 on October 29, 2024 at 9:30 pm

    If you only use a film camera then set your phone to b&w.

  17. @adventurecoalition3690 on October 29, 2024 at 9:33 pm

    Great video, so inspiring. Thx for sharing

  18. @Chonica on October 29, 2024 at 9:34 pm

    This is incredibly informative! Thank you so much!

  19. @seanymilk on October 29, 2024 at 9:34 pm

    Absolutely fantastic!
    Thank you so much for this!
    I’m definitely subscribing for more ^^

  20. @lucacastiel on October 29, 2024 at 9:40 pm

    this is a really good video and it helped me immensely, my question is just about the longer exposure. how did you do a 4min exposure of the sea without overexposing it? did you just wait for it to be darker?
    thank you 🙂

  21. @mueslimuncher1950 on October 29, 2024 at 9:41 pm

    Wow! Where do I start? I’m nearly 72, and I’ve been shooting film since before you were born. You crammed a lifetime of experience and wisdom into a fairly short video. I’m deeply impressed!

  22. @michaelbuckley8986 on October 29, 2024 at 9:43 pm

    Wonderful presentation.😊

  23. @josephheili718 on October 29, 2024 at 9:43 pm

    I wish you had more example photos of all your points rather than unrelated b roll of people holding cameras

  24. @PedroLeitao on October 29, 2024 at 9:44 pm

    interesting video!

  25. @regezas on October 29, 2024 at 9:44 pm

    nice video, I am a beginner so love this kind of content.

  26. @miklosnemeth8566 on October 29, 2024 at 9:46 pm

    Excellent video, but I wouldn’t say color is disctracting, no way. Exectly the opposite, since we have no color in BW (film) photos color will not help us to separate the elements on the resulting BW photo, and it is burtally challenging how to take meaningful photos without colors. Your number one tip is the key, I think: simplify your scene, since colors will not be available in the final photo. On a digital camera, it is easy since, you simply disable colors in the screen or EVF, but in a film camera, you really have to learn to "see" without colors.

  27. @nickdattner8680 on October 29, 2024 at 9:46 pm

    My top tip is stay within five stops and avoid the sky or any area of constant tone.

  28. @azatbay6701 on October 29, 2024 at 9:47 pm

    I haven’t seen Vancouver through film, especially black and white, the way you captured it! 🙌

  29. @Redfox_UK on October 29, 2024 at 9:47 pm

    Great information 👌🏻. I’m about to start doing film photography after 3 years of digital. Brilliant content.

  30. @animegeek6118 on October 29, 2024 at 9:48 pm

    Just picked up a Nikon F3 with 3 rolls of b&w iso 400 film. I can’t wait to get out and learn to shoot this classic camera.

  31. @babenberg on October 29, 2024 at 9:48 pm

    With respect, but not PC, I want to stress a previous comment about showing example photos instead of unrelated images. But most important is the absolute disconnection with the different elements of your speech. Composition, but get closer… well, maybe not for the composition I want. Vignetting the corners, this is a software thing, not a shooting thing, unless you could use quite expensive lenses for that specific effect that probably won’t be necessary or adding value every time, and work for both color and b/w. Simple compositions, well, that applies to any kind of photography too… Level up your videos if you want to get any benefit from them.

  32. @dewantorofathoni7679 on October 29, 2024 at 9:50 pm

    "simplified the composition" great tips & video mate👍🏼

  33. @jocknarn3225 on October 29, 2024 at 9:51 pm

    gr8 tips mate .. grew up with film in 80s & resuming the interest but film’s rare & expensive now post Covid-supply & vintage cameras need servicing so, now resorting 2 expired film & B&W.

  34. @d.cassarino on October 29, 2024 at 9:55 pm

    I’m glad that YT suggest this channel

  35. @LINDAOZAG on October 29, 2024 at 9:56 pm

    GREAT TEACHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  36. @henkvrieling9586 on October 29, 2024 at 10:00 pm

    Unnecessary annoying music.

  37. @imitdiu on October 29, 2024 at 10:01 pm

    hi, unrelated to the video but, the shot at 1:05, what is that shot call, is it real? or is it just editing

  38. @RubberKid100 on October 29, 2024 at 10:01 pm

    I’m colour blind so I’m already one third of the way there

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