Seeing in Black and White

It feels like it’s been a long time since I went out with my camera to make photographs. Friday, with overcast skies and occasional sprinkles of rain, I headed to the Como Park Conservatory. The clouds in the sky created a perfect softbox, diffusing the light beautifully for outdoor photography. I spent most of my time outside by the water lilies and in the Japanese garden.

My goal for the photo outing was seeing in black and white. I thought that the colorful flowers and plants there would be a good challenge for me as it’s hard (for me) to imagine a black and white photograph being more beautiful than the images of flowers in living color.

Yet there is something intrinsically different in black and white photographs. I can’t explain it but often it feels as if the essence of the subject is portrayed much more powerfully in black and white images.

“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!”
― Ted Grant

Color version of these leaves is not nearly as interesting to me as the dramatic B&W version above.

Here are some my experiments. The first is of a flower that refused to yield its essence in black and white.

This gorgeous flower wasn’t as beautiful in black and white (to me) as the color version. Sometimes black and white simply doesn’t work as well as color for a subject. In this image I think that the luminance of the pink was too close to that of the white making the black and white less interesting to me.

I was surprised by this image and how well it translated into black and white.

I like the color version of this image almost as well as the black and white, maybe even a little better.

One of the keys to a successful black and white photograph is the variations in luminance in the subject. In this image the petals of the flower are lighter and brighter than anything else in the image and the dark center of the flower adds lovely contrast. The leaves of the water lily are a nicely lighter than the dark water but not as dark as the stem of the water lily or it’s center.

I loved how the image below turned out in black and white and definitely prefer the black and white version to the color version.

Here’s the color version. In my opinion it’s not nearly as interesting or dramatic as the black and white version. Because there is little variation in color but significant variation in light in this photo, black and white works beautifully. It was the raindrops on the leaves that drew me to make this image. And the raindrops on the leaves stand out much more in black and white than they do in color.

As I review my black and white images I can see that I like to make them low key and darker. This often obscures distracting elements from the background and helps keep the eye focused on the part of the image I want the viewer to see.

The way that one edits an image can change how it looks significantly, changing a seemingly banal photo into something dramatic and interesting. It truly matters that the photographer spends time playing with different ways to edit images and to discover his or her own personal style.

When you show others how you see the world, you may be helping them to see beauty in a new way. The way that I edit my images is as important a part of my artistic voice as is the way that I frame the image in the first place. The difference between a truly compelling image and a so-so image is often the edits that the photographer makes on the image after it is taken. (This is no different from the film photographers making choices in developing and printing their images, often dodging and burning to guide the viewer’s eye.)

Each of us has a unique point of view. By expressing my unique point of view I hope to shine a light on beauty, grace, and form, helping viewers feel wonder and gratitude for this beautiful world we live in.

May you walk in beauty. May you use our unique voice to share the beauty you see.