Night photography tip: try black and white too

Thursday 24 March 2022, 15:30 by Nando Harmsen | 4,621 views | 1 comment

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

We are quickly impressed by all the coloured lights that push back the darkness at night. We often forget that these lights create a beautiful contrast in the dark.

Light and dark, light and shadow. These are the perfect conditions for black and white.

Let me first talk about colour casts. Although many traditional sodium lamps are being replaced by energy-efficient LED lighting, the yellow and orange lamps are still very common.

They give the photo an ugly yellow and orange colour cast that is barely, if at all, possible to remove.

Sodium lamps produce an unpleasant colour of light that is difficult to correct.
Converting the colour photo to black and white solves this problem. Suddenly the colour cast is gone, and all you have left is light and dark.

Of course, this is a lazy solution, but it simply works well. Also try to look beyond removing colour because you do not like the colour.

If you do not like the colour of the light, why not try black and white? But that should not be the only reason to choose black and white. It is almost always suitable for this type of photography.
Black and white is perfect for night photography. In the dark, with all the lights, the contrast is always greater than during the day, when light is present everywhere.

In the dark, you have places where the light barely reaches, or does not reach at all. Mysterious places that can fire the viewer's imagination. What might be hiding in the darkness?

Then there is the light, which chases away the darkness in some places. What is better suited than black and white for telling an exciting story in a single photo? It is light with shadows, or rather, darkness where the light penetrates.

Using black and white in night photography creates a pleasant atmosphere in your images. Give it a try yourself.
Black and white is extremely suitable for night photography, precisely because of the strong contrasts. Besides, you no longer have the distracting coloured lighting that can give the entire photo the wrong feel.

So do not be tempted by all those colours. Try thinking in black and white instead.

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