Is monochrome black and white? Is black and white monochrome? You may be surprised at the answer. I was after I did some research. Here’s what I found.

Black and white is the result of only using black or white and shades of. The shades of meaning grayscale.  Here are some black and white photographs.

Monochrome photos contain variations of only one color and nothing else. Meaning, different shades of one color like blue, red, green, etc. Here are some of my examples.

Now here’s something I learned from my research. Since black and white photos contain variants of the color gray ranging from absolute black to absolute white, all black and whites are monochrome images. But not all monochrome, by nature of their dominate color are black and white photos.

Here are some of my photos shot in color, converted to black and white and then I added a sepia tone. This process puts them in the monochrome category.

How do you shoot black and white images? My research suggests that we shoot in color, so we get the additional tonal range that color provides. Then convert your photos to black and white when you process. I photograph in color. If I see a great deal of contrast, I use Lightroom to take a quick look at how it would look in black and white. Then I edit in NIK Silver Efex.

There’s so much more to editing black and white images, but let’s save that for another post. Here are two of my favorite black and white images.

Are you ready to show off your black and white or monochrome images? I’d like to see them. Did you shoot them in color and how did you process them? When you post, remember to link to this post and use the Lens-Artists tag so we can find your wonderful images.

I enjoyed seeing all your photos using primary colors. Sofia gave us such a fun challenge. Next week, Donna will be challenging us. Be sure to look for her post.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info. 

178 thoughts on “LAPC #265: Black and White or Monochrome”

  1. Pingback: Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #265: monochrome – MyBlog – solaner

  3. Interesting challenge. I especially liked the owl photo and the first photo. Was that a photo of sandstone with honeycomb weathering? Actually, I also liked the sepia and the black & white photos. All showed how the coloration affects what is being photographed.

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  4. Hmmmm. Inscrutable. But of course! Mono Chrome means One Color, but not necessarily black and white or grayscale, like I automatically assume it to be. GREAT photos. I like ’em! Game on!

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    1. Thanks PR! That’s not the only flower I’ve done in B&W. If you look at the tonality of the flower you can decide if it will make a good conversion. At that point, you’re looking for drama and not delightful color.

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  33. Anne, thanks for the technical explanation of black-and-white vs. monochrome. I hadn’t looked at the term “monochrome” like that before, instead, I used it as a synonym for black-and-white.
    Somewhere along the line, I’d seen the term “monocolor” used to describe color images with a predominate color or tone. I appreciate the clarification.

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  40. B&W and monochrome are true art forms, and much harder to achieve than it sounds. Great examples in your post. The contrasts in your last two photos are astounding.

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  48. I really liked your last two images, monochrome images can change how you view a scene or subject. I usually prefer flower photos in colour, but I have taken up the challenge and converted some recent photos into black and white. The post will be up on Wednesday. Hope you find it interesting.

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