Bruce Weber Photographer Discusses the Use of Contrast in Photography

How a photographer handles contrast while shooting will have a major impact on the look and mood of their photos. Diverse types of contrast can be used for distinguished images. Photographers may even manipulate the contrast to create dreamy impressions of a scene or eye-popping visuals.  Bruce Weber Photographer and other experienced professionals are well acquainted with how to use contrast smartly to create impactful photos. The contrast in photography basically implies to the differences, the differences between tones and colors that make up photographs in particular. Contrast is the degree of difference between the darkest and the lightest parts of an image, or even two different colors.

Contrast is among the most crucial elements that photographers must pay attention to during a shoot. To make use of contrast in a competent manner, photographers have to pay close attention to the discerning lighting conditions, as well as the manner distinguished colors affect each other within a frame. There are multiple types of contrast associated with photography, such as:

  • Tonal contrast: This contrast refers to the difference in brightness between varying elements in an image. One can use tonal contrast in both color and black and white images. Unless the photographer is particularly trying to click a high- or low-contrast image, they should be aiming for a photograph that includes tones from dark black and bright white, and everything in between to have a medium-contrast image.
  • High contrast: High contrast photographs have dark blacks and bright whites without too much medium tones. While this contrasting style is applicable to color images as well, it can more commonly found in black and white photos. High contrast images are ideal for making the subject stand out in an image, and can be used when shooting bright colors against the dark sky or going for silhouette photography.
  • Low contrast:  Low contrast images have minimal tonal contrast. Hence, it features more gray tones than black and whites.  When it comes to color photos with low contrast, one can observe that the colors are closer in tone, like red and purple, yellow and orange, green and blue, and so on. Rather than wanting to make details pop, low contrast images are focused on having a dreamy aura without too many highlights or shadows. Low contrast photography is ideal for capturing portraits, moody landscapes or even a scene with warm, soft tones.  As low contrast images do include a good number of middle tones, one must seek out similar colors when planning such a photo shoot. Having a forested landscape of green trees or include blue water against a blue sky are two great examples of a low contrast image.

One of the best ways to understand the ways contrast can be most effectively used in photography is by going through the works of experienced photographers. Images clicked by Bruce Weber Photographer and other eminent professionals can always be found on the web.

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