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CONTRAST FOR CREATIVITY – LET’S BREAK SOME RULES!

Quick Guide
Written by Teddi Tostanoski

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 Breaking the rules is always fun, right? Funny enough, the rule I
love to break is literally eliminating a grey area! What I’m talking
about is contrast, and lots of it! Over the past several years, I
have found myself drawn to high contrast photography, and I
thought it was time to share my fondness for the subject.

I’ve found that the emotions created by an image with lots

of black, white, and very little grey areas can be remarkably
engaging. I’m always asking questions about what’s hiding in
the black or white of an image, and the purpose of the negative
space created by the relationship between the black and white
areas.

I know, that’s a little bit of bourgeois speak, but those are the
questions that I enjoy asking. I also enjoy seeing others ask
those questions, and that intrigue is what drives my creativity
– using contrast to make my viewers wonder what’s going on
within an image.

My history with high contrast photography stems from accidently

(not having a clue) misusing professional lighting equipment
in photography school. I set up a scene with only one light,
and it was very close to a particular object. Only a portion of
my subject was illuminated, while everything else went pitch
black. I’m sure my camera settings were also horridly off, but the
resulting image was quite alluring.

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 Photo by Teddi Tostanoski

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 The photo of an open book on the previous page is In the early days of photography, exposing
from this first series of images. The abrupt difference photographs could be extremely problematic. At the
between the dark background and my well-lit time, this was due to the primitive design of many
edges of the pages of the book are what made me cameras and the lengthy process to take a single
fall in love with contrast. This image, among other photograph. You didn’t want to overexpose your
photographs taken that day, catapulted me into photograph because then it would print extremely
trying to find myself in other similar pieces of work. light, but you also didn’t want to underexpose your
photograph because then it would print extremely
Just to be clear, for the rest of this tutorial, I’m only dark. If you messed up your initial film exposure,
talking about black and white high contrast. you could use two techniques called dodging and
High contrast, in regards to color, is a completely burning to bring back some of the details in your
different animal! final image – this was through the darkroom process;
however, that could be tedious and not the easiest of
tasks.
Key Lesson: Black and white contrast is
also known as tonal contrast, and refers to the What’s tough about correctly exposing a photograph
difference in tones from the whitest white to is finding the right balance between your ISO,
the blackest black. High contrast means the aperture, and shutter speed settings to achieve
difference between the whitest white and the perfect exposure. Finding the correct exposure
blackest black is large, while low contrast trifecta became the obsession of photographers, and
photographs have minimal differences art critics, as they pursued to judge a “correct” black
between the blacks and whites and ultimately and white photograph.
look very grey.
In almost all my photo classes, I was taught that
Well, you can’t break the rules unless you know the I need a balance of blacks, whites, and greys (as
rules! So let’s talk about the rule I enjoy breaking. explained above).
I want to make it as simple as possible for you
to understand how a “good” black and white
photograph has traditionally been determined.

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 Photo by Teddi Tostanoski

Take a look at this photo of Half Dome in Yosemite. You can

pick out each of the tones (indicated in the grey scale on the
right) within this image, correct? That’s all fine and dandy
in a darkroom class that’s teaching you techniques about
exposure and post-processing.

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 I passed my classes by bending to the Goals and Objectives
rules, and the harsh critiques. However, I
By the end of this guide, and the
never quite got why my classmates and I
two subsequent assignments, you
were all trying to find the same balance in
should be able to do the following:
our images.
As an emerging
photographer, you have to 1. Identify why high contrast is
We are now in the digital era, and
push your boundaries. working, or not working, for
anyone can take a trip to Yosemite and
any particular photograph.
come home with a perfectly exposed
photograph, eerily similar to an Ansel 2. Spot opportunities that
Adams image. Does that mean we are all will create interesting high
as good as Ansel Adams? I would say not! contrast photographs, and
then be able to set up
As an emerging photographer, you have
your camera to take those
to push your boundaries. The boundary
photographs.
that I’m pushing is to eliminate the
greys in my images in order to create 3. Edit almost any photograph,
high contrast photographs that are both so that it becomes a
striking and creative. magnificent high contrast
piece of artwork.

4. Learn techniques for locating

great photo opportunities with
high contrast photography.

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 RECOGNIZING CONTRAST

I want to give you an example of how I spot my

high contrast photographs, and then I will teach
you how to see high contrast opportunities for
your photography.

Let’s look at this archway photo on the left. I was

walking around this historic site on a pretty busy
weekend in the middle of July. I spotted this
gem of a photograph. Even in color, there was
a stark contrast between the first arch and the
sunny walkway beyond. Then, there was also a
high contrast situation in the next archway and
the window with the bars.

I had to wait five minutes to snag this moment

when no one was walking into my frame.

In the end, the resulting photograph was

entirely worth it, because I have never seen
another image taken at the Colosseum in Rome
that looked just like this. Did you even know
that’s where it was taken? How many images
of the Colosseum have you seen like this? It’s
one of the most visited and photographed
places in the world, and just by noticing the
contrast between these spaces, I pulled off a
photograph that no one else has.
Photo by Teddi Tostanoski

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 Then, with some minor editing to transform it into a black and white
image, viola: a creative, high contrast photograph, and a vastly
unique image of the Colosseum in Rome!

Now it’s your turn!

Let’s start by thinking about what sort of situations will aid you in taking
a great high contrast photograph. The best advice that I have for you is
to look around your surroundings right now. Pick out the brightest area
in your field of view and then the darkest area in your field of view.

What did you find?

If you’re indoors, your brightest field of view is likely going to be a

light or a window. If you’re outdoors, the brightest field of view is
likely wherever the sun is shining. If you’re looking around and it’s
at night, the brightest field of view is probably going to be a street
light or a light in a building.

Right now, in my kitchen, my brightest area is the light on the ceiling,

and my darkest area is the shadows under some pillows.

Obviously, my example on this page isn’t the most amazing

photograph, but it demonstrates how you can practice looking for
both light areas and dark areas in your everyday life.

Recommended Reading: Aside from contrast,

understanding other composition concepts including color,
shape, space, etc. will help you improve your photography.
Learn more about these topics by grabbing a copy of Photzy’s
Advanced Composition guide by Kent DuFault.
Photo by Teddi Tostanoski

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 SETTING UP YOUR CAMERA

To create images like my Colosseum shot,

you’re going to need a camera with some
manual functions, and/or editing software like
Lightroom!

I use my smartphone as my camera much of

the time, because most of my images get
posted to social media, but any DSLR will work
too!

Unless whatever you’re photographing is

already lit in such a way as to provide you
with high contrast, here are my recommended
camera settings and why.

ISO: I try to use ISO 100 (or as low as possible)

not just to decrease the amount of noise in my
image, but also because it helps highlight the
brightest parts of an image by making those
areas the only areas that get exposed.
Illustration by Teddi Tostanoski
Shutter Speed: Make this setting as fast as
you can, without losing the brightness around
your main area of focus. What I mean by that
is, don’t make your shutter speed so quick
that you’re just getting a black image and not
letting in enough light to see your subject.

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 Aperture: I generally keep my aperture as wide
open as I can (low f/stop number), because I
generally don’t care about my depth of field
(DOF). Short DOF adds another creative factor to
a high contrast photograph, but you’re the artist
so don’t let me persuade you to do otherwise!

The photograph on the left is from the Mission

District in San Francisco. Let’s determine why the
settings help make this photograph work.

Using a low ISO of 80, the fast shutter speed of

1/8000, and an open aperture of f/1.7 helps to
produce the deep blacks and shallow depth of
field that defines this image. The girl with her
phone is outlined flawlessly as the subject, and
you can see each individual brick because there
isn’t any noise to muddle your view. Even though
I used a low ISO, and the shutter speed is not
letting in much light, the very wide aperture of
f/1.7 exposed a lot of light onto the sensor in
the brightest areas. These settings give subtle
highlights to the top of the bricks and maintain
the gradient of light from the sun across the sky.

This is another image (similar to the archway

photo) that required very little editing due to
my use of the right camera settings and the
available light!
Photo by Teddi Tostanoski

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 Definitions: Shutter speed is how fast the
camera’s shutter opens and closes
ISO is the sensitivity setting of your in a single exposure. The slower
camera to light. The lower the ISO the shutter speed, like 1/30 of a
Learn the basic camera – like 100 – the lower the sensitivity, second for example, the more light
settings to be able to and in turn your camera sensor is allowed to expose the sensor. And
effectively create high picks up less light. Your image will vice versa for a higher shutter speed
contrast images also have minimal noise. A higher like 1/8000. (With a higher shutter
ISO – like 6400 – makes your sensor speed less light is allowed to pass
more sensitive to light. At high ISO through and expose the sensor.)
settings, your camera can record
almost any visible light, but with the Recommended Videos: If you’d
caveat of increased digital noise. like to know more about ISO,
aperture, and shutter speed, watch
Aperture is the size of the opening these videos:
inside your lens when you take a
photograph. The larger the opening ·· Understanding ISO
(aperture), the more light the camera ·· Understanding Aperture
will let in, and vice versa (the smaller ·· Shutter Speed Explained
the opening, the less light passing
through).

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 EDITING YOUR PHOTOS TO
HAVE HIGH CONTRAST

Let’s be honest, the ability to achieve an excellent

high contrast image with just your camera can be a
bit tricky. I even have difficulty!

Obviously it can be done, as the above examples

demonstrate, but I think it’s also crucial for you
to know how to edit a photograph to create this
look. After developing my interest in high contrast,
I went back through a massive amount of my old
photographs and edited them to give them a new
edgy look! You might be inspired to do this as well.

So, I have this egg, right? Fun fact about me: I love
to photograph eggs. It’s my “thing,” besides high
contrast black and white photography. It has to do
with family heritage and whatnot, but I’ll save that
for later! I chose this image because I wanted to
show you that high contrast photos could really be
of anything. It doesn’t have to be just outdoors, or
just lights.

Here we go! I edited this photograph in Lightroom,

but you can also transfer any of these concepts to
Photoshop, other editing suites, or even smartphone
apps!
Photo by Teddi Tostanoski

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 Screenshot by Teddi Tostanoski

The camera settings that I used But, this image doesn’t look high Once in Lightroom, make sure
for this photo were ISO 50 (low contrast, does it? There is black you’re in the Develop module.
sensitivity, which is what we want), shadow behind my hands, and the Remember, Lightroom never alters
a shutter speed of 1/500 (fast, top of the eggshell is quite bright, your original image, so feel free
which is what we want), and an but this just isn’t cutting it...so let’s to play around with the settings as
aperture of f/1.7 (wide open, take the image into Lightroom. much as you want!
which is what we want).

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 Screenshot by Teddi Tostanoski

Convert your image to black and white. You

1 can use a preset on the left-hand side of the
workspace. I generally go straight for the Black
Recommended Reading: If you’d like to
effectively convert color images into black and
white, take a look at Photzy’s premium guide
and White “Treatment” button on the panel on
“Better Black and White.”
the right-hand side. I end up changing the settings
so much that a preset doesn’t do me any good.

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 Screenshot by Teddi Tostanoski

Play with the settings in the Treatment If you’re not a pro at Lightroom, feel free to stay at
2 section on the right-hand panel. If you
originally set your ISO to a low number,
Step 2 and continue playing with your settings until
you find something that you love.
you should barely have to touch the
Exposure slider. I almost always end up If you want to learn another new trick, keep reading!
bumping up the Contrast slider to close to 100 (slide
the slider to the right). By doing this, you increase
the difference between your blacks and whites, and
ultimately eliminate a lot of grey tones.

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 Screenshot by Teddi Tostanoski

One of the great things about Lightroom, and Right now, there is a fair amount of grey tone there,
3 Photoshop, is that many of their functions are
based off of photo editing from the film days,
and I want there to be simply dark shadows.

including dodging and burning. To accomplish this, on the right-hand panel, I will click
on the Adjustment Brush (see screenshot above).
In my egg photograph, I want to have more contrast
where the tips of my fingers meet the top of the This nifty tool can change your settings based on
eggshell. where you “paint” with a brush.

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 The Adjustment Brush panel has the same
settings as in the main panel. However,
when you paint a mask with the brush,
only those areas are affected by any
change that you set in the panel. What I
did, as illustrated in the screenshot on the
previous page, is I dropped my Highlights
down to -66. This created an effect similar
to the old-school film technique called
“burning” a photo print in the darkroom.

Then, I painted where the egg meets my

fingers, and that area there became even
darker, creating more contrast and drama!

Recommended Video: If you’d

like to learn more about enhancing
your images in Lightroom, including
how to use the adjustment brush,
grab our bestselling Lightroom video
tutorial by award-winning
photographer, Mitchell Kanashkevich
- “Understanding Post-Processing
Video Course.”

Screenshot by Teddi Tostanoski

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 SUMMARY

I’m assuming that you’ve found some interest in Shooting Assignment

using high contrast in a creative way. It’s not the go-
to method for all photographers and artists, but it Step 1: Go someplace that you think might
will help set you apart from a good number of other have high contrast photography possibilities,
photographers. but don’t take a photograph right away. I
recommend taking some time to plan your
Thinking about the difference between blacks and shot. Think through what your ISO and shutter
whites is also a great exercise for you to apply to the speed settings might be. Ask yourself if you
rest of your work as well. are planning a mostly black or a mostly white
image. What’s going to pop off the print once
When you’re looking at old photos, think about how you take the photograph? Can you set your
contrast could improve, or possibly take away from, camera up so that there will be minimal post-
your existing work. Find your blacks, whites, and grey processing, or will you have to go in and play
tones. Determine how they are helping or hurting with the post-processing to get just the “right
your images. look”?
For me, I was breaking the rules that were set out Step 2: Once you have an idea on how you’re
by a fine arts education. I hope, for you, this guide going to photograph your high contrast image,
provides a tool toward creativity, and not hard-set go for it! Take the photograph the way you
rules. planned it out, and then change your settings
so that when you get to the post-production
phase, you can compare the images and see
how changing your settings affected the overall
look and feel of the photograph.

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 Editing Assignment

This is a fun one. Go back through some of your old

images and edit them so that they become high contrast
masterpieces! There are probably photographs in your
archives that were tossed out because they were dull or
uninteresting. Think about how you can use your newly-
developed high contrast skills to make those images pop
and draw attention!

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 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

University of Colorado, she found her

love for high contrast photography, whilst
also digging deep into her family heritage
and exploring alternative photographic
mediums. Teddi supplements her artistic
endeavors by contributing to many areas
of the photography industry. Besides
writing and reading up on photographic
art history, she has carved out a space IF YOU’D LIKE TO
for herself within the marketing realm for CONTINUE LEARNING
companies like Canon and Ricoh Imaging- AND IMPROVING YOUR
Pentax. PHOTOGRAPHY PLEASE
If you liked this guide, VISIT PHOTZY.COM
connect with Teddi here:

Like many photographers, Teddi Instagram 1: @tteddles

Tostanoski has been creating Instagram 2: @thelightingbug
photographs since she was very young LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/
and has continued her passion into tedditostanoski
early adulthood. During her time at the Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
teddles.t