If you’re a budding photographer, there are no limits to the camera skills you can learn. And when it comes to animals, the results can be truly mesmerising when working with different colors and filters. Whether you’re taking cute snaps of your puppy at home or you’re out in the wild shooting some candid animal photography, here’s 5 reasons why you should make the switch from color to noir. You might even learn some cool animal photography tips on the way!
1. It Helps You See Differently
Who says that everything always has to be colorful? With black and white effects, you’re capturing more than just a photo. But why does it work so well with our furry friends?
With animals, it can be tricky to portray the mood and feeling of a photograph. But by making the switch to black and white animal pictures, you can provide more emotion. The subtlety of tones that black and white images can have helps us to feel more connected to a subject over a colored version. This one simple color change removes any distractions, and helps the viewer to focus on other aspects of the photo, such as the textures, shapes, patterns and the composition. It’s just like magic!
2. It’s Timeless and Classic
Black and white takes everything back in time, and is still looked at as the purest form of photography by most professionals.
Another reason to give black and white animal photography a try is that the black and white effect is timeless and elegant. This impact completely transforms your photos, and might even spark ideas for the future. After looking at animals through the black and white camera lens, you won’t want to look back.
3. It Tells a Story
Our whole world is in color, so it’s easy to see how colored photography depicts a more realistic view. But when you experiment with black and white tones, your work can be viewed as a rendition of reality – or how you interpret what you see. This helps you to explore a subject more and create different ways to tell a story. If you’re working on wild animal photography for example, you can’t rely on movement, position, angles or expressions for the best visuals. In this scenario – and any other animal photography scenario – pictures really do paint a thousand words. And when you take away color, you’re encouraging viewers to discover the stronger, more powerful elements of the scene.
4. It Makes You More Creative
Photographers are always looking for fresh new ways to enhance their camera skills. But when you’re shooting with animals, it can be a challenge to make the most of your talents, as you can’t afford to be picky about lighting, camera angles or positioning – and it’s not like we can ask them to sit nicely and smile for the camera! With black and white animal photography, you can still capture something that gives you a bit more creative edge, even if the shot is a little blurred and they’re not directly looking at the camera.
5. It Makes Candid Animal Photography a Breeze
Have you ever tried to take a photo of an excited little puppy that just won’t stay still? Or a beautiful, majestic bird nestled on a tree who flies away as soon as you press the shutter? Working with animals isn’t a walk in the park, but this is where candid animal photography really shines. With a candid, you want to make sure that your subject is in its natural element and living in the moment – which is all you really can do with animals. But when you’re aiming for the best black and white animal photography, try introducing a prop or getting more of a landscape view. That way, the candid is made up of several other elements that a viewer can focus on without the distraction of color.
<h2>Black and White Animal Pictures: Nixplay’s Favorites</h2>
Are you a budding photographer? And an animal lover? If your answers to both are yes, our hand-picked selection of gorgeous black and white animal pictures is perfect for you. Look through them below for some inspiration and ideas!
When you’ve achieved the perfect visual masterpiece, you’ll want somewhere just as perfect to show it off. Check out our range of Nixplay Smart Frames for a unique spin on displaying your photographs.
All pictures selected are free to use and download. Feel free to upload them on your Nixplay Frame!
Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.
