Today we’re going to take a deep dive into black & white portrait photography, specifically how to communicate mood in your photos. Read on to learn how to use light and tone with intention to convey a certain feel in stunning black & white portraits!

 

Tone – What Is It?

Tone is one of the most powerful ways to communicate mood in photos. But first… what is it?

When we talk about tone in photography – specifically in relation to black & white photography – it’s a measure of the lightness and darkness of every element in the photo, including the light.

With respect to tone, there are 3 types of images:

1. Low key – contains mostly dark tones and low light
2. High key – contains mostly light tones and brighter light
3. Midtoned – contains mostly mid tones and light that is not too dark and not too light

And when we say an image has good tonal range, we mean it has a good range of blacks, whites (or shadows and highlights), and a variation of tones in between. So if your portrait subject was in crisp, bright light, and is wearing a black t-shirt with a sky blue scarfe… you’d have a good tonal range. 

The article below has a really great explanation about tone and tonal range which will change what you see through the viewfinder forever!

Related: 5 Ingredients for a Stunning B&W Photo

The next 3 images are an example of the three.

 

How to Add Tone to Your Images

That’s a trick header! Everything in your photo – including the light – will add tone to your image whether you’re trying to or not. For example:

• Dark colours, low light, and shadows will add dark tones
• Light colours and bright light will add light tones
• Mid range colours and light that is not too low and not too bright will add midtones

 

Use Tone to Communicate Mood

The darkness or lightness of a photo has the power to make the viewer feel a certain way, so you can choose to use a predominance of one tone intentionally as a way to communicate mood.

1. Low key – or dark & moody – can convey mystery, tension, drama, and generally feels more emotional
2. High key – or light & airy – can convey a sense of playfullness, fun, happiness, simplicity
3. Midtoned – a midtoned photo is neutral, and can convey a sense of calm or neutrality.

You might notice a lot of photographers are drawn to either low key or high key, and their Insta grid will be filled with a very recognisable style as a result. Let’s learn how to shoot each one!

1. Dark & Moody B&W Portrait

The following images are dark toned B&W’s. They would have mostly black and dark tones in the form of low key lighting, dark colours, with a little pop of high key light, or light coloured elements or clothing. 

In this portrait, there was only a little natural light in the room, and she’s softly lit by window light. Combine that with a light coloured balloon and her tutu and there’s a pop of highlights to give it a little depth. These tones add a sense of the quiet contemplation going on, perhaps a quiet moment after a round of play, or the party is over and the last guest just left.

Related: How to Edit a Moody Portrait

In this scene the light was deliberately kept low for a birth. So even though in reality there are lots of light tones in the walls which take up a big part of the frame, the low key light has muted them to a mid tone and combined together, created a low key portrait. In turn it’s helped convey the mood in the room at the time which is a momentous, dramatic occasion.

Jennifer Magnuson, Advanced Grad