Locked and Loaded Hummingbird

Something different. When hummers are getting ready to fight, tail flares are the standard move.  I shot this one intentionally as a silhouette in direct backlighting without exposure compensation, roughly +2 stops.  Anyway, I like the effect, and I like to take it to black and white with the contrast kicked up, and a blue filter to improve the sky.

Try Black and White Hummer Photos

Why Not Black and White?

Days like today are great for working on your ideas and learning some new things. I took the river crossing image into my preferred  BW plugin and played around with it.

I applied a red filter to bring up the deer. Took the tree trunk and roots behind the deer down darker so the deer would pop out a bit. I lightened up the deer still more. I burned down the foreground water, again to lighten up the deer.  No formula, just eyeballing the end result.

Why not play with black and white?  It will teach you about how to work with darkness and lightness in the same composition. What you learn in black and white readily translates to your color post processing.  In some ways you might find experimenting with only black and white will help you better manipulate color values. There is the chance you will get hooked on black and white, not a bad problem to have. Whatever makes your photography enjoyable is what matters.

Whitetails Crossing at Ponca Low Water Bridge BW

Late Fall Color -- Why Not Try Black and White?

Steel Creek like you never see it. There are plenty of different ways to interpret the place. I found myself draw to this odd tree -- very geometric and eccentric.  This is late fall color when tree trunks emerge to provide form and interest. 

I think this compo is better as a BW.  I could spend an afternoon interpreting this in black and white with different filters and presents.  This conversion is pretty straight ahead.  Maybe more contrast would be better with a mild red filter. I use Silver Efecs 2.0 from NIK for conversions. Easy to work with, and you can focus on the end product. (And no, I don't hype anything I don't use and like.)

Not Your Standard Steel Creek Compo

Maybe a Touch More Contrast

Work on your Landscape Photography Skills in Black and White

In my world black and white is far from dead. When I get a color photo that frustrates me, often I will kick it over to black and white to overcome ishy colors like blue greens. If the photo is any good, often a black and white interpretation will show you what you thought you saw. Some photos are great both in color and black and white, others are not.

I am very pattern oriented. In landscapes I like strong lines and good vanishing points. I work in HDR quite often because I like very long tonal ranges.

So why bother with black and white? One reason is that it can help you strengthen your compositional skills. It forces you to find lines and shapes, and highlights and shadows. This will help you pre-visualize better whether you shoot color or black and white.  Black and white makes you work harder to get a great composition.

Because we are in a digital world now, you can retain your color negative so why not interpret your landscapes as black and white and deconstruct your voice.?  If you look at a few pictures you will see your patterns in your work and perhaps think more deeply about composition.

Looking East from the Ponca Low Water Bridge

The picture above had foreground sharpness giving way to softness at the distant point there the Buffalo River.  There are lines and curves, and implied forms. Fall color is always a plus, but it can be a distraction too.

Color is never the whole game. There are lines, textures, rhythms, and so on. Maybe looking at the landscape that has frustrated you for years will be more understandable in black and white.  Try deconstructing your photos by removing color. It can provide a lot of insight.

9/23/13 Walking the Wild River

Sometimes you get what you get.  I like black and white and intend to devote a year to it.  I call this image "Along a Wild River Pool".  This is classic Hailstone (the uppermost Buffalo National River).

I like to stalk elk along the river even though I often come up empty.  Pooled water and rock are inspiring to me and not a bad fallback.  So this is what I got today.  A study in light, texture, and reflections.  A nice break from antlers and fur.

A Wild Pool on the Hailstone

11/29/11 Elk Viewing Remains Good

Elk viewing remains very good as we near the end of the 2011 rut. On the 29th there were 3 herds in Boxley Valley. The largest, nearly 50 animals were down by Moore Creek in the south end. We watched the herd move from its grazing area to the bedding area across 43.

Down by the Ponca Access at the north end a herd composed mostly of yearlings played in the field closest to the access. They were springing around like baby goats for a while. The young bull in the group was fighting an imaginary opponent now and then. Great stuff.

The third herd was in the middle of the valley back near the cane line, too far to see much unless you had high-powered lenses of binoculars.

Frost, Dead Leaves, Grass, Rocks & Shadows
Explore These Textures in Black and White

At the mill pond we saw an otter churn the water around a fish, creating a bubbly wake at least 4 feet in diameter. He swam away continuing his hunt.

Two trumpeter swans were in the pond as well.

This is the season when elk viewing is outstanding but there seem to be few takers. The cold has extended the viewing periods now. Leaf-off makes spotting elk much easier. There are new photo opportunities with frost blossoms and frozen puddles. Late fall is also the geology season.

Nature is now gray, brown with patches of green and steel blue. I recommend spending time working in this environment. Shapes and patterns now trump colors in most compositions. My own preference is to capture pattern in my photos. My eye goes to shapes and lines animated by shadows. If you spend some time examining these opportunities it will strengthen your compositions with all subjects.