Using Filters in Black & White

Your camera’s black & white Film Simulation modes can be set to Red, Green and Yellow variations, with each one giving your monochrome photos a different look and feel. Let’s look at how they work.

You may think that black & white is just a simple conversion of colors into equivalent shades of grey, but the actual situation is more complicated than that. Ask yourself: should red be the same shade of grey as green? Should yellow be a lighter grey than blue? Or should all colors be the same shade of grey?

• © Bobbi Lane
• 

This matters, because different objects will contrast against each other better if they are different shades of grey – for example, grey clouds in a blue sky, or the blue petals of a flower against green leaves. But which grey translation scheme do we adopt?

© Karen Hutton

Well thankfully, you don’t have to pick just one. Traditionally, photographers changed the tonal response of their black & white films by using different colored filters in front of the lens. Such filters subtract color, in the same way that a filter in a coffee maker subtracts coffee grounds. Cutting out the light in this way means opposite colors appear darker.

By ‘opposite colors’ we mean the contrasting hue in the color wheel:

For example:

• A yellow filter makes blues appear darker by subtracting yellow light so these colors appear lighter.
• A red filter makes light blues and greens appear darker by subtracting red light so these colors appear lighter.
• A green filter makes reds appear darker by subtracting green light so these colors appear lighter.

This makes yellow and red filters popular with landscape photographers, since they darken blue skies, which lets clouds stand out better. Equally, a green filter can give skin a smoother look and feel in portrait photos and lighten green foliage when photographing plants.

© David Kingham 

While you can use optical filters on your X Series camera’s lens, there is a more convenient way to create the same effects. Both of the MONOCHROME and ACROS black & white Film Simulation modes have Red, Yellow and Green options that mimic the effect of putting those filters in front of the lens.

These sub-options are more convenient than having to physically switch over an optical filter and can be used for similar purposes.

• Many photographers use MONOCHROME+Ye and ACROS+Ye yellow filter modes to darken blue skies a little to help clouds to stand out.
• MONOCHROME+R and ACROS+R red filter modes are used to darken blue skies even more and lend landscape shots a more dramatic look and feel.
• MONOCHROME+Gr and ACROS+Gr yellow filter modes are used to lighten foliage and look great for portraits.

But these are only guidelines. Experiment and combine each of these modes with H Tone and S Tone adjustments to come up with your own personal black & white films.

Your Next Steps

•  CHALLENGE Post your favorite filtered black & white image to social media with the hashtag #MyFujifilmLegacy and #mono. You can also submit your work here for a chance to be featured on our social media channels.
• LEARN Download our booklet See the World in Black and White with FUJIFILM X Series

Header image © Seth K Hughes