Shadows & Soul: The Bali B&W Series
Colour is easy.
It’s beautiful, forgiving, and loud.
But strip it away… and suddenly, it’s all on you.
Your light, your composition, your timing… they’re “ups” naked.
That’s what this Bali Black & White series is about.
Not just photos, but seeing differently.
When I removed colour, I found clarity.
And trust me, Bali doesn’t need colour to breathe… it already has rhythm, contrast, and life in every shadow.
1. Why Black & White Still Hits Different
When you shoot in B&W, you stop hiding behind colour.
You start chasing tone, shape, and emotion.
In Bali, the streets are pure visual overload… colours, fabrics, flowers, smoke, faces, temples, full of culture and peace… but still, it’s chaos and stillness.
So, I stripped the colour. Suddenly, I could see structure, Flavour.!!.
How light hit the smoke. How shadows stretched across faces. How rhythm existed in footsteps and clouds.
Technique Tip: Shoot RAW and decide later if you’ll go B&W. You’ll keep all your tonal data, and that’s your playground when editing in Lightroom.
Try this:
Profile: Monochrome
Contrast: +20 to +40
Blacks: -10
Whites: +10
Clarity: +15
Grain: Add just enough to feel cinematic, not crunchy.
Mindset Tip: B&W photography isn’t about nostalgia, it’s about truth.
You can’t fake emotion when the colour’s gone.
2. Light Becomes the Story
When you take away colour, light becomes your entire narrative.
Every image I shot in this series was built on one question: Where’s the story hiding in the light?
In the rice fields, it was the way the clouds swallowed the mountain, turning softness into drama.
In the ceremony, it was the smoke, thick, moody, unpredictable, wrapping everything in mystery.
In the streets, it was light bouncing off white shirts and wet stone.
Pro tip: Use your histogram. I know, not sexy. But when shooting in harsh daylight, it’ll save your highlights.
If you blow your whites, B&W editing becomes pain. Keep your peaks around mid to high range.Shot example: That ceremony shot with the smoke cloud, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/800s.
I underexposed by half a stop to keep the smoke textured, then brought up the shadows in post.
And do not forget… So mnuch Fun.!!
3. The Power of Patterns & People
In Bali, movement is everywhere: ceremonies, dances, offerings, and scooters.
So I looked for rhythm. The repeating steps of the march. The symmetry of temples. The chaos of order that somehow made perfect sense.
How I shot it:
- Lens: Canon 35mm f/2 IS (perfect for tight alleys and street scenes)
- Shutter: Around 1/250s for handheld, but drop to 1/60s to let a little motion blur sneak in.
- Aperture: f/4–f/5.6 enough to keep multiple subjects sharp but still separate them from the background.
Try this: The “Repetition Hunt”, pick a street, a market, or a temple, and look for patterns in steps, fabrics, hands, or gestures. Once you see it, shoot it three ways: wide, mid, and close-up. You’ll find rhythm even in chaos.
4. Editing B&W: Don’t Overcook It
Here’s where most people go wrong: they slap a B&W preset, crank the contrast, and call it “cinematic.” Nope.
Black & white needs restraint. Think elegance, not aggression.
My Editing Process:
- Convert to B&W manually in Lightroom, skip presets, and you’ll learn faster.
- Start with HSL (Colour Mixer), even though there’s no colour, each channel still affects tones. Pull down - reds and yellows for darker skin contrast.
- Play with the Tone Curve; a soft S-curve adds depth.
- Use the Radial Filter for subtle spotlights; it gives emotion without screaming.
And for the love of all that’s moody, don’t oversharpen.
Grain + clarity + over-sharpening = crunchy disaster. (No matter what, we all do that, so don’t be too harsh with yourself; it’s just part of the process)
Editing tip: Zoom out while editing. If it looks good small, it’ll look even better full screen.
5. Why Bali Was the Perfect Place to Learn Again
Every photo in this series reminded me why I fell in love with photography.
The balance of discipline and chaos. The patience to wait for a shadow. The curiosity to see life unfold instead of chasing perfection.
Photography teaches you humility. You’re not the director, you’re the witness.
I met a woman sitting by an offering table, quiet, still, surrounded by smoke. She wasn’t performing for the camera. She was being. That frame, more than any technically perfect shot, reminded me what it means to see.
The Real Lesson
Every trip reminds me why I do this, not to make things look perfect, but to feel them again.
Every frame became a conversation with light, people, and myself.
Photography teaches you patience, humility, and timing… the same things life’s been trying to teach us all along.
Sometimes the best shot isn’t the one you took… It’s the one that changed how you see.
Just have fun, enjoy, and live every frame.
Some Kaz love
If you ever get stuck creatively, switch to monochrome. It strips away all the noise, forces you to see differently, and helps you fall in love with light again.
Just don’t forget to enjoy it. You’re not fixing the world… you’re framing it.
Thanks for sticking around, legend.
Now close this tab, grab your camera (or your phone, I don’t judge), and go make something that feels alive.
Don’t wait for perfect light… create it.
Catch you out there, chasing shadows and stories.
– Kaz
Let’s Grow, Frame by Frame
This is just another chapter, but a special one.
KazVisuals isn’t only about photography; it’s about vision, growth, and finding the courage to see the world differently.
If you’ve read this far, it means you’re curious, creative, and ready to dive deeper.
📌 Here’s what you can do next:
Subscribe to the KazVisuals Journal → get raw visuals, behind-the-scenes stories, presets, and lessons you won’t find on socials.
Follow along on Instagram @kazvisuals.co → for daily frames, motion, and experiments.
Check the Gallery → explore my curated highlights across Automotive, Travel, Lifestyle, Street & Culture, Branding, and Projects.
Photography is a journey. One frame at a time, one story at a time, we get better, sharper, and more confident.
I’ll keep sharing lessons and stories here so you can take what you need and build your own vision.
Remember this:
The best shot isn’t just taken with your camera, it’s taken with your eyes, your heart, and your guts to press the shutter when it matters.
This is where the journey starts.
Ready to frame yours?
