Seeing in Black and White for Digital Photographers
© Kai McBride
ONLINE COURSE

Seeing in Black and White for Digital Photographers

Interested in this class? Email us and we'll notify you next time it runs.

Have you experimented with shooting in black and white but were not quite happy with the results? Do you love the depiction of the world in black and white photographs and want to harness that abstracted quality in your own work? In this class, students will learn to make monochromatic photographs of depth and clarity that rival the masterpieces produced in a darkroom. We go beyond thinking of black and white as a digital filter, and explore how an image’s tonal range, balance, and contrast, affects the mood, emotion, and meaning of the picture. Additionally, students are exposed to the powerful tools available in Adobe Lightroom Classic to make purposeful conversions to black and white—superior to the flat desaturated images that are produced by default. Through weekly tutorials, assignments, shooting exercises, lectures, and instructor feedback, students will improve their visualization skills and gain confidence in a black and white digital workflow.

 

Please note: Students should have a basic understanding of Adobe Lightroom Classic (import, crop, basic adjustments, export).
 
Kai’s classes were terrific. The group was a good mix of levels of experience. I learned a lot, and realized how much I have yet to learn. I was inspired!
—Bob (New York City)
Just wanted to let you know that Kai McBride's class on B&W Digital Photography was GREAT. He structured and conducted the sessions in a very organized way and provided an abundance of useful information. The assignments were useful and creative. I would definitely take a class with him again.
—Barbara (New York)
Kai's class was brilliant — he's such a good teacher and I hope he does more classes for you. He was so organized with the content and assignments and he left us with some outstanding resources. Wonderful to have met him and I loved rediscovering Black and White photography. Brought me back to the days as a teen in my parents’ basement, developing my own photos on our washer and dryer!
—Jennifer (Monaco)


Kai McBride
Kai McBride

Kai McBride is a photographer, musician, teacher, and avid cyclist who recently uprooted from Brooklyn to sunny Santa Fe, New Mexico. He spent the last ten years teaching photography and managing the photo facilities at Columbia University, his alma mater, where he received an MFA in 2008.

Born on the island of Kauai in 1972, by his 18th birthday Kai had lived in California, Oregon, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Texas, Oahu, North Carolina, and Massachusetts. He sharpened his powers of observation while adjusting to life between suburban ranch-style homes, cabins with no running water, and a 20-foot teepee in the field of a commune.

His photographs have been exhibited in museum and gallery exhibitions, and are held in public and private collections. His first monograph, About Face: Picturing Tampa, was published by SPQR Editions in Fall 2016.

Kai teaches black and white photography, photobooks, and more for StrudelmediaLive.