Street photography tip: Set your camera to black and white

Sunday 27 July 2025, 16:32 by Michiel Heijmans | 3,058 views | 7 comments

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

The old masters all photographed in black and white. Not because they liked it, but simply because colour did not exist yet, or was too expensive.

Antwerp - f/2.0, 1/500s, 2000 ISO @ 35mm
Because all those old masters made such fantastic black and white photos, many photographers think black and white photography is better, or more beautiful, than colour. Nonsense, of course. It is simply a personal choice or preference.

If you want to get started with black and white street photography, check whether you can set your camera to black and white. You can often do this using, for example, a creative filter (Sony) or a preset (Fujifilm).

Because you can already see your surroundings in black and white through your camera, it becomes much easier to compose your shot or adjust your exposure.

For example, I like a monochrome (black and white) setting, where I often make the shadows a little darker. This means I lose some detail in the dark parts of the photo, but the lighter parts, my subject, stand out better.

When I photograph silhouettes, they become a nicely saturated black, making them stand out even more from the background.

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About the author

Michiel is professioneel straatfotograaf en geeft workshops en lezingen over straatfotograﬁe. Hij schrijft columns voor Focus Magazine en is erg actief op Instagram. Daar vind je dagelijks inspiratie en tips voor je eigen straatfotograﬁe!

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7 comments

Mac wrote on Monday 28 July 2025 at 11:27 | reply
There is a small mistake in your article.

"Because all those old masters who made those fantastic black-and-white photographs, many photographers find black-and-white photography better, or more beautiful than color. Nonsense, of course. It is simply a personal choice or preference."

you write that most photographers find black and white better or more beautiful. But that is nonsense because it is a personal preference.

Because most photographers "find" it more beautiful, it is already a personal preference, and therefore not nonsense.
it is therefore about the use of the word find in this sentence.
Translated from Dutch.

Jellie van Althuis wrote on Tuesday 29 July 2025 at 12:37 | reply
That's right Mac !
Translated from Dutch.

Johan Huiskens wrote on Tuesday 29 July 2025 at 12:53 | reply
Mac ,,you just beat me to it concerning that ,,b&w nonsense'' ,,I have actually found black-and-white photography sometimes more beautiful than color since 1965 and there are photos among them that are truly the best and therefore absolutely no ,,nonsense'' rg Johan
Translated from Dutch.

Govaerts wrote on Tuesday 29 July 2025 at 13:02 | reply
I always try to ask myself the following question :

does this photo gain added value in color or is that rather the case when it is in black and white? Based on my intuition I then make the decision. So I photograph in color and, if necessary, convert it to black and white in Photoshop
Translated from Dutch.

Fred wrote on Tuesday 29 July 2025 at 15:12 | reply
I would also choose not to set the camera to black and white but to color. You can always turn it into black and white if you want. The reverse is of course not possible and sometimes a photo is more beautiful in color, which would be a shame if you couldn't have it in color. So I don't think it's the best choice to set your camera to black and white.... But that too is a personal choice.
Translated from Dutch.

Mac wrote on Wednesday 30 July 2025 at 08:04 | reply
@fred,
That depends. you can set your camera to black and white, but still shoot in RAW. So you see a B/W photo, but your RAW file is still in color. and then you can still make a color photo from it later if you want.
If you shoot in jpeg, then you can't.
Translated from Dutch.

A.Gooier wrote on Friday 29 August 2025 at 17:25 | reply
Black-and-white and color photography each have their own voice. Fred Herzog is a good example for color photography.
Translated from Dutch.

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