TJ’s Daily Blog #67- High Contrast Streets, Part 1

The Daily Blog #67

High Contrast Streets, Part 1

1/640 @ f/16 ISO400
1/640 @ f/16 ISO 400. Trench.

 

1/640 @ f/16 ISO 1600
1/640 @ f/16 ISO 1600. Corporate bros on their way to a meeting and a conference call.

 

High Contrast Street-7
1/640 @ f/16 ISO 400. The all-important dossier, containing top-secret documents and microfilm.

When making high contrast photos there are some things you can do in post-production, but the main consideration is the light. The higher the sun is in the sky, the higher the contrast will naturally be. Make sure that you expose for the highlights and let the shadows be slightly under exposed. Then, in post, you can darken the shadows and highlights to taste. Some will want to add film grain, although I never do. I prefer the cleaner file, unless I am actually shooting film.

When I am shooting in a situation that is mostly highlights and shadow, I start thinking about my compositions in black and white. Monochrome tends to be so much more graphic than color, and shapes and textures are more abstract. Black and white allows me to think about the forms and shape in the scene and helps me focus on creating a more interesting and dramatic composition. Composition is the name of the game when shooting in this style and I try to pay close attention when shooting and editing to make sure that there are interesting elements and balance, along with lines and textures.

Gear used:

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TJ Hansen

Photographer at MPEX.com

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