With black and white photography. I am completely enamored with the work of Sally Gall, Robert Mapplethorpe (http://www.masters-of-fine-art-photography.com/artphotogallery/database/mapplethorpe01.jpg), Karin Rosenthal, Cirenaica Moriera, Sebastiao Salgado, Fazal Sheikh etc. Share how you got started please, whether you took classes, how hard it was, developing pictures yourself, and so on. What camera should I buy (I don’t want a digital camera). ANY tips and experiences. Thanks.
Re: Black & White Photography
There are some very good photographers here on this frum and im sure they'll supply you with good advise, but I just wanted to tell you about what I do.
I buy those throw away cameras..back and white versions and take snaps...give them to small children too 4/5/6/7 year olds and I always get some fascinating/amazing pics from them.
Kids have a different view point (being short helps) and and picturing it in black and white makes it more interesting.
also think pics of people look good in black and white....
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Karin Rosenthal!... I tried to shoot like Karin, but my bad luck, I couldn't find any models .... :(
I agree to the fact that from artistic point of view B&W photos carry much depth and impact then the coloured.
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I take a digital photography class but I’m only in highschool. Yea we did a unit on black and white photos and I had lots fun. People came up with some really good photos, the best part is that you’re able to see the depth, texture, and shadows better in black and white. It also eliminates any bright colors in the picture that you wouldn’t want too much attention drawn towards.
Don’t know much about non-digital cameras, so can’t help you there. InshaAllah I’ll be taking a Spring and/or Summer digital photography course. (They’re offering courses for high school student credits at the University of Maryland, College Park).
It’s better to buy the camera and the accessories (tripod, lenses, etc.) together, since that’ll save you money and it’ll assure you that those accessories are compatible with your camera (well, besides the tripod because that’s compatible with all camera, really). If you are planning on doing some color photos, a good idea for when you’re taking pictures of people is to have brown in the background if possible. I’m guessing it’s because it “warmifies” the complexions or whatnot, but they usually turn out better like that.
Set the flash setting to normal if you have that option when taking black and white photos or else the highlights will be too bright from the center where the flash is directed towards.
Have fun and post when you do get around to taking shots :k:
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^ … 
so that photography course did work for you!
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Thanks guys. The disposable camera sounds good. I will buy a bunch of those and take a trip downtown and start taking pictures to get a feel for it. I am into noir, want to photograph women in despair eventually; prostitutes, drug addicts, mental asylum patients. Turn my obsessions into something constructive. That's the hope anyway. Not sure if I have the vision or creativity or even talent for it.
How much will a good camera cost? Any suggestions about names and kinds (as you can see, I don't know anything about cameras and photography).
And what should I keep in mind when taking pictures in terms of how much light there should be? Anything guys. I don't know jack.
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depends on what you have planned for long term! I mean if you don’t want to go for digital cameras then SLR is your other options. and prices verries from few hundrad pounds to thousands… with SLR you have the flexibility to choose from wider range of lenses and filters. but now you can get anything for digital SLRs as well. so it all depends on you how far you want to go..
for black & white pics don’t reply on single point flash. buy few extra flashes and reflectors if you want to do it professionaly. you will not get the desired results with single point camera.
PS: those kiddie camera are fised focal lenght cameras and you can’t expect any gr8 results from those.
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Well, regular cameras are much more expensive than digital cameras, obviously, so I’m not really sure about the prices for the regular ones. I use a sony and it’s a pretty good camera, plenty of options, but it’s still simple enough to use with ease. I hate Kodaks. They’re all chunky and they’re great for when you’re out to share pics, but they give you all this extra crap software you don’t need and the quality usually sucks unless you buy one with like over 4 MP, which would probably cost a lot anyways.
If you plan on taking night pictures, don’t hesitate to use the tripod for still images, and set it to the night function. By using the tripod, it gives the camera more time to process the light through, so the picture won’t come out dark. In my opinion the best weather to take pictures would be when it’s cloudy. If the sun is behind the object you are trying to take a picture of, use the spotting function if available and point it at your object, and that’ll take out the highlights from the light source in the back (in most cases). When you’re inside a building and there’s tube lights, you should use your flash to prevent the pictures turning out with a yellowish-tint. When you’re under regular yellow light and your object is facing the light, then you don’t necessarily need the flash on. Once again, when you’re indoors and the light is behind the object, use the spotting function as well as the flash function.
It’s good to get a camera in which you can alter the level of flash. (usually they give you 3 options…low, medium, high). At night, use the high flash and the picture’s turn out amazing (even black and white). The flash lights up every last corner of the picture with the high flash level turned up. Medium you should use indoors and during the daytime if you’re in the shade. Low can be used when your object is already under plenty of light, but still just for an extra hint of fill light you can turn on the low flash.
I didn’t know anything about cameras either. I learned a lot of stuff in class, but I learned even more through experience and just taking pictures of different objects in different areas using different settings. Take multiple (when I say multiple I mean A LOT) of pics of an object from different angles using different techniques/functions. That’s what the tripod is handy for, since you can take several pictures of an object using different settings, but from the same exact angle.
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oh and then there's the concept of metering which is really amazing and can be used to make objects that are a certain distance away from the camera appear clearer, while making the background a bit blurrier. (this creates focus on the main object). The main object can also be in the background and you can make the objects farther back in the picture clearer than the pictures up front. You do this by using different lenses on non-digital cameras. There's just different types of zooms and everyone. The good thing about those cameras is that the zoom is completely under your control (since you physically move the zoom lense yourself), while on a digital camera, you zoom with the press of a button, which isn't always a good thing because you can't get it to stop at an exact.
The metering technique can be done on most cameras by changing the setting (the directions for changing setting obviously vary by camera brand). Search through the directions booklet. It's really easy, you simply have about 10 different levels of metering that you can choose from. The closest being around .3 meters, and then ranging up to about 10 meters. The farthest could also possibly be a little "infinity symbol" (looks like a sideways '8'). You just estimate how far your object is and set the metering to that level, to make that object appear the clearest, while the rest are faintly blurry. The good thing with LCD screens is that you can check if your estimate on metering was correct by seeing if your object is coming up clear in the screen.
....omg i'm such a dork.
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oh yeaahh duh. haha yea so when i was talking about the flash level earlier about the different settings, I meant the different flash reflectors that you can attach as KK is explaining. I dunno why I was referring to the digital camera flash setting rather then the non-digital 
Re: Black & White Photography
Instead of flash reflectors, invest in a flash with a movable flash head. Indoor photography can usually be greatly improved by bouncing the flash light from the ceiling.
A good digital camera is excellent for learning photography as it gives you the ability to instantly see the result of your composition. Invest in a camera which gives you manual control over shutter speed and aperture size.
Later if you like, you can move on to Digital-SLR or non digital SLR which are more bulky and expensive but excellent for professional photography.
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pick anything.. the tool doesn't matter as long as u have the vision..
i'd say use a digital camera cuz it's inexpensive to shoot.. (no film or development charges) and u're not forced to keep the frames u don't like...
plus B&W is easy when u post process your images on your computer...
but if u wish to remain a purist then get the cheapest film SLR u can afford, slap on a 35mm lens, stuff some Kodak Tri-X in it and go to town..
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PA is correct. the tool doesnt matter (much)A film SLR is not expensive nowdays au contraire to digital SLR’s.
But its expensive to develop the pictures especially if you are planning to shoot alot.
Just buy a camera with manual settings, nothing else for you want to take pictures of people in their natural environment. You wont need extra flashes nor will you need any kind of tripods 
Only a camera.
Read the manual, check out some photography websites. And just try. It s all about practise.
some camera which you should check out:
Canon EOS IX
Canon ESO 500
Canon Eos 650
NIKON F60
Olympus IS-100s
Canon EOS 3
You should check out a used camera Try ebay. You can pick up an SLR for 100-150 dollars including lens. Disposable camera s suck :rolleyes:
I adore B&W photography. Especially after adding some warm and/or cold tones
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Digital SLRs are not very expensive as well these days. These two are really good entry level D-SLRs:
Nikon D70s
Canon EOS-350D
Again, with digitals no films to buy and develop and lots of software tools to manipulate your photos right out of your camera.
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This one is hauntingly addictive.
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i thought for a sec that the subject was black and white pornography
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dude that’s like around $850+.. i’m sure it’s not what the OP intended to get into.. but i could be mistaken.
dp has good recommendations.. sans the EOS3 which is a pro model and still sells for over $400 used.
look for old film Pentax cameras.. or if u want to go REALLY cheap.. a Vivitar Manual focus would be great.. no batteries required.. just put film and lens and shoot.
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True dat..
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that picture isn’t black and white. they just lowered the saturation level and re-did her eyes. amazing picture, though. :k:
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Sarah. Why don’t you want a Digital Camera? Any specific reason?
You can get a normal SLR camera. Eventhough the prices of DSLR’s have gone down lately. But still the cheapest DSLR at the moment will not be cheaper than a normal SLR.
You could also buy a nice second hand SLR camera for less, though it does bring along extra costs for films and developing with it. And if in the learning stages, having a Digital SLR is the best option. Digital is actually a really good way to learn. There is immediacy. You can see the results of your shot on the LCD on the back of the camera. If it looks wrong, you can take another shot. . Just make sure it has a full range of capabilities, including manual modes.
Here I have a few links for you where you can learn the basics of photography and how to handle a Camera:
Nikon SLR learning center:
http://www.nikonslrlearningcenter.com/home.html
Nikon Introduction to SLR:
http://www.nikon.co.jp/main/eng/feelnikon/kumon/
Canon SLR Camera’s introduction:
http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/enjoydslr/index.html
Building a SLR Camera:
http://www.photo.net/equipment/35mm/building-an-slr-system