Black and white photography: 8 expert tips

In today's colour-saturated world, Canon Ambassador Helen Bartlett focuses on capturing memorable moments by taking photographs solely in black and white. Specialising in family and children's portraits, Helen has built her successful career around capturing images that people will treasure. Here she shares the tips and techniques she has learnt over the years, as well as her advice on the best Canon camera for black and white photography, to help you take more striking black and white pictures.

1. Set your camera to black and white mode

Black and white photography is very different from shooting in colour, so you should take advantage of any settings your camera offers to help your immersion in it. "I have everything set up in black and white," Helen says. Not only does it help you while shooting to see the monochrome image on the screen, but "it also means my processing is faster," she explains.

2. Get the best camera for black and white photography

Helen mainly uses a Canon EOS-1D X Mark II, but her favourite camera today is the Canon EOS R, which she says offers her a unique benefit. "On the EOS-1D X [as with most cameras], in monochrome mode, the picture on the back screen is monochrome, which is fantastic, but looking through the viewfinder, you still see in colour. Over the years I've trained myself to 'see' in black and white, but with the EOS R, you can set the [electronic] viewfinder to black and white, which to me is a total game-changer." Particularly for those less accustomed to black and white photography, Helen recommends using the EOS R. "So much of it is about the light and how you sculpt the light around your subject. Being able to see what you're doing in the viewfinder really, really helps."

3. Use the light

4. Look for light in unexpected places

"When I go into a house, I will wander around. I'll look in people's bedrooms, loft extensions... I'll be looking for the spot where the light is the best. And I find it's often not in the places my clients expect to be working. The living room, for example, might be dark and cavernous, whereas the bedroom where Grandma is staying at the top of the house might have a skylight with fantastic light."

5. Learn to see in grayscale

"You have to be a bit careful with in black and white when you don't have the differentiation of colour – similar tones can blend into each other. For example, if you've got a child in a bright-red t-shirt running around in a garden where everything's green and you look at it with your 'colour eyes', and it's really obvious – they pop. Whereas in black and white, the two tones are quite similar. So you have to get used to seeing those things."

6. Work with contrast

"You need to be able to differentiate between light and shadow," Helen continues. "If you've got a dark-haired person in a shadowy area, they might blend into the background. You need to manoeuvre them into a spot where you've got a little bit of light behind them, just to create a bit of differentiation there."

7. Watch for distracting hotspots

In the same way, Helen says, "look out for distracting light when you're shooting in black and white. For example, a picture frame can catch the light and become an annoying hotspot in the background, so you need to look out for them, and reflections. You don't need to worry so much about that red toy fire engine!"

8. Don't worry about trends and fashions

Helen recommends having simple actions set up for your post-processing, for several reasons. As you develop your technique, you'll find what produces pleasing output (black and white prints can look quite different from digital images on-screen) but also, this will help the end results stay consistent with your style, and prevent your images looking dated because of isolated trends. "I like to keep things very simple, very classic, and my processing really hasn't changed much since the early years, so I know the pictures will work well together."