What colors of clothing have you found to work best when taking B&W portraits?

Traci Marvel

-- Traci Suzanne Marvel (marvel@digisys.net), February 09, 2001

Answers

I normally just wear my blue denim jeans and a light cotton shirt. The sitter doesn't seem to mind.
I'd thought of wearing a nice silver suit to throw some extra light into the shadows, but that might be considered eccentric.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), February 09, 2001.

silver suit... *lol*

mind you, i'm perfectly willing to give it a try. to be honest, i'm positively fed up with the 'creative-folk-wear-black' approach.

when it comes to the sitter, make him or her wear something you can look at without laughing too much... all else follows!

volker

-- volker plaschke (malvolio@nerve.com), February 09, 2001.

Assuming that the sitter's face is the most important part of the portrait, choose clothes that don't compete for attention. Avoid strong patterns, text, and logos. Long sleeves are less distracting that short or sleeveless. Pants or a skirt that is darker than the top will provide a "base" to support the body. Avoid flashy jewelery unless it is appropriate for the sitter's personality.

I like to have the sitter's eyes be the lightest tone in the image, with (Caucasian) flesh tones next lightest. This makes the eyes/face the focus of the image.

Of course, there are no set rules for any photography, and experimenting is the best way to find your own style.

-- Chris Ellinger (ellinger@umich.edu), February 09, 2001.

I suspect you mean the subject, not the photographer.

I'm of the opinion that nothing can set off a photo like white. It's demanding of the photographer, since it means exposure and development has to be spot-on. It isn't critical that it be a large area of white, but some white in a portrait seems to lift the emotion. But if you're looking for morose, avoid white like the plague.

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), February 09, 2001.

I prefer none.

-- Todd Frederick (fredrick@hotcity.com), February 09, 2001.

Okay...I guess I asked for that! I suppose that I didn't write my question very clear. What we discovered is that there are many smart alec B&W photographers out there!

Chris...thank-you for your response. I agree with you...the sitter's face is the most important. When clients ask me what to wear...that is exactly what I tell them to do...choose clothing that is comfortable...but does not compete for attention.

I never thought of telling them to wear darker clothing on the bottom and lighter clothing on top. I will try that with my client today.

You said Chris that "Of course, there are no set rules for any photography, and experimenting is the best way to find your own style."

That is surely what I have been doing. I have been very pleased so far with my images and thankfully so have my clients. But I know that I can get so much better:)

Thanks again Chris for the serious reply.... and as for the rest of you....thanks for the laugh!

Traci

-- Traci Suzanne Marvel (marvel@digisys.net), February 10, 2001.

That's what we're here for Traci. james

-- james (james_mickelson@hotmail.com), February 10, 2001.

just think on color's contrast. think if you want to use contrasted tones on that people, or by the other hand, soft-tone colors. for contrasted tones, try to group the colors by their opposites (green-cyan, blue-yellow).

-- Celcio (non@non.dot), March 07, 2001.