choosing your subject:

Although the subject you choose to photograph is always important, whether for colour photography or black and white photography, however, there are special factors to take in to consideration in black and white photography. For example, while some subjects may seem very interesting as photography material in colour, if you take a black and white picture of them, they often turn out looking dull. But then, often a simple scene or a portrait can come out looking quite dramatic in black and white. Many people in fact are opting to have their wedding pictures shot in black and white because of the romantic and timeless quality it gives them.

When photographing people in black and white, the pictures come out better if they dressed in simple clothes, which have solid colours, instead of prints. You can achieve a dramatic and dreamy effect by having as few elements as possible when taking black and white pictures. Landscapes, cityscapes, still life with fruit and flower arrangements also make great subjects for black and white photography. You need to have a keen eye for the unusual, such as the effects of shapes and shadows made by various objects, or buildings or trees.

The Effects of Light and Shadow:

As a matter of fact, black and white photographs are basically about light and shadow. This is the reason they must be used as effectively as possible. For instance, try taking pictures of a scene at various times of the day and you will notice how light and shadow can affect the mood of a black and white photo. Another idea is to experiment with the quality or intensity of light. For instance, you could take a picture of a tree on a foggy day, and then photograph the same tree on a bright day.

Take Shapes into Consideration:

Since black and white pictures lack color, they are dependent largely on lines and shapes to create interest. Try an incorporate a variety of shapes that create different types of lines such as curving lines, crooked lines, or slanting lines. Stark straight lines can also have dramatic effects in black and white photos.

mind your perspective:

Perspective can create some very interesting effects, especially in black and white photography. Perspective can bring alive a standard subject, it can suggest depth and mystery in every day objects, and, in fact, you can make a picture tell a story just by using an unusual angle while photographing a scene in black and white. For instance tall buildings.

take care of the background:

While taking black and white photos you need to make sure that the subject does not get lost in the background. Often, just by shifting your subject a little to the left or right can help in eliminating unwanted elements in your photograph. Or you could try and take the picture from another angle.

add texture... and colour:

Texture can add interest and definition to black and white photos. For example, a black and white picture of a roughly textured wall will certainly look more interesting than a smooth wall, or a road made of cobblestones will look more dramatic than a smooth one.

And yes, colours do matter.  Different colours have different effects on black and white photos. For example, while green and red may look striking juxtaposed against each other in a coloured photo, however, the two colours become almost indistinguishable in a black and white photograph. The more contrast that colours have in their grayscale values, the more interest will they create in black and white pictures.

Keep in mind that you can use the stark qualities of black and white shades to create dramatic and meaningful pictures. You can have a lot of fun, and often get strikingly unusual effects, by experimenting with this genre of photography.

effects of filters:

You can dramatically change the tone of your black & white photographs using, surprisingly, a coloured filter. Changes using the yellow filter are subtle so it's used by many photographers as a lens protector and most benefit is seen in landscape photography where the effect on blue is just enough to make a light sky a shade darker than the print's border. The orange lightens reds so it's favoured by portrait photographers who use it to reduce freckles and skin blemishes. Architectural photographers also find it's affect on bricks useful. This out of all the filters is arguably the most practical and should be a definite first on your shopping list. Red is for the creative photographer who likes contrasty results, as tones are dramatically affected. It's also used by infrared photographers as an alternative to the true infrared filter and very popular with landscape shooters. Green is less popular in the black & white photographer's kit, but would be appreciated by landscape photographers as it affects greens and can help differentiate between foliage making the whole scene come to life. The downside is it lightens the blue in a sky so the overall contrast may suffer. Blue is little used for black & white work and would mostly be considered as a contrast reducer which you can often do satisfactorily using a different paper grade.