How to take black and white photos with an Android smartphone

This guide is brought to you by Dan Mold – a Cambridgeshire-based, prize-winning photographer and author with over 13 years of photojournalism experience. Dan is also a former Adobe-certified Photoshop guru, so you know his tips are worth trusting when it comes to getting the most out of your images.

Depending on your Android device, the available shooting modes and features will vary. On some smartphones I tested, applying picture effects like B&W wasn’t possible when using Pro mode. This can be a bit limiting, as it means you won’t see your scene in monochrome on-screen while shooting. In that case, you may prefer to use the standard Photo mode with B&W filters, or shoot in full colour using Pro mode and convert to black and white during editing. I’ll recommend my favourite Android apps for B&W editing later in this article.

One benefit of shooting in Pro mode and converting later is that you retain all of the camera’s advanced controls – like shutter speed and ISO settings – while also preserving the full colour data. This gives you the flexibility to revert to colour later, if needed.

Some Android devices include a dedicated black and white mode, often labelled Monochrome, Black & White or Greyscale, depending on the manufacturer. On my Huawei device, the Monochrome mode only allowed JPEG capture, but I could use it in Normal, Aperture, Portrait or Pro modes, offering a good level of flexibility.

How to shoot black and white portraits with an Android smartphone camera 

Here’s a step-by-step guide to shooting B&W portraits using the Samsung Galaxy S23, though the process should be similar across most Android devices.

1. Open the Camera app and swipe to enter Portrait mode.

2. Tap the Effect button and scroll through the filters until you find High-Key Mono or Low-Key Mono.

   • High-Key Mono is more contrast-heavy, with fewer grey tones, for a dramatic, graphic look.

   • You can adjust the Effect Strength if the look is too intense, and tap the brightness icon on the right to fine-tune exposure.

   • Note: the effect only activates once your subject is properly positioned in the center circle of the screen.

3. In Portrait mode, you can also control settings like Flash, Self-timer, Aspect Ratio and Skin Smoothness (adjustable from 0–8).

How to ‘see’ in black and white

If your device lets you preview your scene in monochrome, this can greatly improve your B&W compositions. Removing colour helps you focus purely on tonal contrast – black, white and everything in between.

A low-key black and white look emphasises midtones and results in flatter contrast, while a high-key look pushes contrast to the extreme, often reducing the image to stark blacks and whites with minimal midtones for a striking, graphic aesthetic.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 offers both High-Key and Low-Key options in its B&W Portrait mode. You can also tweak the Contrast slider manually to refine the effect.

Embrace minimalism

Black and white photography is all about stripping back distractions. Try composing with a single, strong focal point for a clean, minimal look. Alternatively, use the rule of odds: having an odd number of elements (like 1, 3 or 5 trees) tends to create more balanced compositions than even numbers. That said, symmetry with just two subjects can also work beautifully – rules are meant to be broken.

Since black and white images often rely on strong shapes and contrast, it’s helpful to turn on the rule of thirds grid. On the Galaxy S23, this can be done by tapping the settings cog, scrolling to Grid Lines and turning it on. This overlays a 3x3 grid to help you line up horizons or verticals precisely.

Don’t forget about leading lines – things like railings, fences or paths – that naturally guide the viewer’s eye through the scene. In black and white, these lines can be even more prominent, especially when bright tones contrast against a dark background.

Injecting motion

Black and white images don’t need to be technically perfect. In fact, they often benefit from a more artistic, abstract and even ‘imperfect’ approach. This makes B&W photography a great opportunity to experiment with motion blur.

• On the Samsung Galaxy S23, you can create motion blur in Pro mode by lowering the shutter speed.

• Start by reducing your ISO to a low value, then slow the shutter speed to around 1/30 sec – this is usually slow enough to capture blur while still allowing for handheld shooting.

• Modern smartphones with sensor-based stabilisation make this even easier, but you can also use a tripod for more dramatic long exposures.

(Note: this technique is different from the Motion Photo setting, which captures a burst of sharp frames for moving subjects.)

Turn up the noise

While digital noise is usually something photographers try to avoid – especially in colour images – it can actually enhance black and white photos. The grainy look can evoke the texture of old film, adding a nostalgic or gritty aesthetic. You can introduce noise by manually increasing your ISO in low-light conditions. Alternatively, add it during post-processing using one of the editing apps listed below.

Best black and white apps for Android Smartphones

Lightroom Photo Editor

Lightroom is a powerful mobile editor that syncs with Lightroom Classic on your desktop. It’s ideal for applying your favourite B&W presets on the go, and then refining them later on a bigger screen.

Hypocam

Touted as the ultimate black and white photography app, Hypocam is free (with optional in-app purchases). It offers a variety of film-like textures and B&W effects for creating images with retro flair.

BlackCam

BlackCam is a dedicated black and white camera app offering a wide selection of monochrome styles and real-time filters. It also features solid editing tools for enhancing your B&W shots after capture.