February 12, 2010..............................................................................HOME................................................................."See in Black & White"
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I’m willing to bet given that many digital photographers today are relatively new to the medium, many are scratching their heads at the title of this post.
“Black & White? Why would I ever want to see or shoot black and white?“
Wasn’t that just around because color photography hadn’t been invented?
Most of us with a long history in photography remember very well the excitement of winding your own 35mm film from a bulk loader, shooting and then processing the film and taking your negatives to the darkroom. It was there that seconds of light in the darkness fell on blank paper which then magically became your art while floating in a tray of developer. It’s actually a shame that millions of photographers will never experience the process, but that is the price of progress.
It doesn’t mean, however, that B&W is dead. In fact, with the digital darkroom and inkjet printers, B&W has found new dimensions.
But the real point of today's post is about B&W for the photographer who shoots almost exclusively in color.
Who is that person? Me.
Why is it significant? Read on.
I’m speaking for myself now, but think that for many of you the process and outcome are the same. When I go out to shoot, any one of a variety of things can inspire me to photograph. But COLOR plays a huge role in almost every instance. Since we see in color we feel most comfortable in that space. Yet a lot of photography is about learning to see beyond what you feel subjectively when you view a scene. Understanding this transition of how your equipment and the process affect outcome is crucial to making fine images.
If you see the wisdom in this, take it a step further. Can you also accept the premise that there can be situations in which the light might be amazing, the subject itself compelling, but even in reality the color not be a significant factor. It might be hard to visualize if you haven’t experienced it firsthand, but that is the point of what I’m preaching. Learning to see objectively. Evaluating all the elements before you and analytically realizing, ”Almost everything is here for a great image... just not in color.“ For some who haven’t opened their minds to this possibility, the result is a nagging undefined sensation that just says, ”Something isn’t right here, don’t bother to take the picture.“ They walk away. But for those will a more refined sensitivity, another end result is out there... a B&W image.
Even if B&W film isn’t in your past, you need only browse a coffee table book on Ansel Adams at the bookstore to be convinced of the potential in this technique. The beauty of shooting as a digital photographer is that with a raw capture, you can have both color and B&W, the latter in a form never available to those who practiced during the traditional film and darkroom era.
So where is this leading? During my last trip to Death Valley, I was observing the valley from a high vantage point (Dante’s Peak). It was late in the day and the sun was beginning to descend. The other photographer and I were having a conversation, waiting for the light to improve, when suddenly I realized conditions had changed dramatically as clouds moved in overhead. Suddenly the sun was doing the ”God Light“ thing we all aspire to capture in our images but rarely get. The dilemma was the angle of light late in the day, back toward our position on the east valley ridge. The result, while DRAMATIC, also washed out the majority of color. There was no way I wasn’t going to shoot this light anyway, so shoot I did. I remember saying to my companion, ”This still might work in B&W.“
When I came to the series in Lightroom I confess my first response was disappointment at the lack of powerful color, since color is typically a mainstay of my work. But then my own words came back to me... ”What about a B&W image?“ First I hit grayscale and saw I was headed in the right direction. Then I remembered a Nik software plug-in Silver Efex Pro and downloaded the trial. After a few more minutes exploring the interface and a variety of B&W options, I was rewarded with what I consider one of the finest B&W images I’ve ever made.
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Technical Details:
Nikon D3x
Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR
Focal Length 90mm
Nikon NEF (raw) capture
ISO 100, Shutter Speed 1/500, Aperture f/8
Manual Priority
Matrix Metering
Gitzo carbon tripod legs
Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead
Wimberly Sidekick Ballhead Support Accessory
Adobe Lightroom v2.6
Adobe Photoshop CS4
Nik Silver Efex Pro Photoshop Plug-In
I’ll be the first to admit I’m not ready to jump off the color bandwagon and shoot B&W with any regualrity, but I hope that the images you see here will give you food for thought. There are instances in which a strong B&W image surpasses color work. Even if it doesn’t become a frequent choice in your photographic armamentarium, experimenting with the technique and considering it in the field will kick your expertise up another small notch.
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Mark Alberhasky is a Nikon Mentor for the Mentor Series Worldwide Photo Treks.
Join him as he travels and share his enthusiasm for photography and learning.
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