Alaskan range and spruce trees
There is one thing about photography that I can count on, always an abundance of things to do and play with. If I am in a slow time for actually being in the field, I certainly have plenty of images and tools to play with on my Mac. Ideas on the back burner that need to be brought to the front.
I have been wanting to explore some warm tone black and white processing on some of my Alaska work. These images were a set where I was so absorbed by the beauty of fall color in Alaska, I processed most of them in color. After all, color was a dominant trait that made the scene so special.
I already know in my head that absence of color allows you to explore other details of an image, textures, more subtle shadows and form. Sounds like it is straight out of a textbook. But it is hard to make that connection in your heart until you can actually visualize it. Get down in the mud and sling it around. With color hitting you in the face like a bat, it is sometimes hard to consider anything else.
I found that working with these images without color, I was getting more intimate with the details in the landscape. I am not working with just straight black and white conversions either. I wanted to pick a warm tone that was just right. I wanted to tweak a little on the trees, a little on the sky. Tweak a little in this nook vs. that cranny. I was looking harder at where shadows were and were not. I was bringing some more unconscious decisions in my compositions to the forefront of consciousness. I was essentially seeing after having seen.
Strip of Light, Alaskan hillsides
I think that is pretty darn cool. It is almost like taking another trip to this fabulous place and a bit cheaper at that. So these are a couple I have worked on lately. I am going back to hunting through my library to find more candidates. The airplane has already left.
Fantastic monochrome work, Mark!
And, the tone you created is inviting and suits the subjects and light very well.
Couldn`t agree with your words more.
Hope you will have a wonderful and creative summer, Mark.
Best Wishes
Seung Kye
Wow, I find it somewhat hard to get that deep red filter effect on my digital b+w imagery, but you have definitely found the key. Beautiful work, Mark. Love the tone, too.
The warm b&w tones, your careful processing and the attention to detail give an almost 3D depth to these beautiful images. What was old is new again under your careful eye. Beautiful and fitting, Mark!
David, your father was a wise man. Thank you for the comments.
It is evident that you spent time on the details in these images. They are well rendered. You had quality images to work with in the first place with a good deal of interest, partly attributable to contrast in just the right places to accentuate the forms and patterns. My father said that color work that relies merely on the shock value of the color will not sustain interest like good color photography based on form, shape and other aspects often best learned through black and white photography.
Mark….very beautiful images for sure. It is amazing how different the same image can appear in color vs black and white. I particularly like the slightly more subtle toning in the first shot.
Just curious what you are using for the conversion these days. I have been using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 and find that it is easier to get really nice results compared to v 1.
Howard, thanks. I am using Silver Efex Pro 2. I really like using it. I was originally quite skeptical about using it vs. conversion in Lightroom or Photoshop. Once I got to know it better, I realized there is simply a lot more control, especially with the localized Control Points feature.
To me, B/W really brings out the power of the subject, especially in landscape photos. To me it digs further beneath the surface, and if done well can bring out the spirit of a place in a very powerful way. These are done very well. Fine work Mark.
Thanks PJ.
Black & white or monotone conversion is always a tricky task for me, I don’t initially see an image as such. There have been maybe 4 images in the last 4 years that when captured I actually did think of black & white. I think we all have specific criteria that we look for in a monotone image but as you stated there is really no way of knowing how it will turn out until you explore the scene with color removed.
Of my own work the ones that I liked the best converted to monotone were not necessarily anything special in color, the conversion actually added something that the color version could not render.
It is definitely something worth exploring on more images Brad.
Simple words from me this morning, Mark: Yes!
🙂
Spectacular scene! I really like the layers of pine trees in the first photo and the scale of the mountains in the background is just enormous. The second photo almost has an infra-red look to it. Well done on these images, wow! Sometimes the editing can be as much fun as the actual photography trip…sometimes.
Thanks Nik. The infra-red looking spots on the second image were some bright yellow areas that were especially bright because of the shaft of light coming through. It wasn’t intentional to try to mimic infra-red, but it does take on a similar look.
These are a treat even for a color freak like me. The tones, details, and composition are all amazing. More, please.
Since I frequently return to my “seasoned” files for photos that I want to rework, I clearly identify with that part of your post. However, like Tomas, I can rarely bring myself to take color out. When I do, I am often quite happy with the results, but it is almost never my first impulse.
Digging into those archives is like taking another trip for me Anita. It’s like visiting with some old friends. Memories are brought up, and new opportunities forged. Thanks a lot for your comments.
Mark, I think that you did amazing job on these conversions, both photos look perfectly – strong contrast, excellent tones and razor sharpness on focus points. You are writing about 2 things in the post which are very hard for me and for which I really appreciate your work – 1) working on older photos, this is always hard for me as I’m constantly drawn to new and new subjects, fully occupied by the immediate vision for that moment, 2) conversion of colourfull photos to BW – in case of simple colour photos where colour can be easily omitted I do the conversion sometimes but in case of colourfull photos it usually don’t even cross my mind to convert it. I would loose so much colours! 🙂
Thanks Tomas. I know the feelings exactly. Lately I have not been out much to discover those new subjects. Yet the yearning to work with my photographs is still there, so this is a way to appease that.
It is quite unnatural to see the world in black and white (at least for humans!). Like I mentioned in the post, with a colorful scene in front of you, it is probably the last thing you would consider. But I do find getting rid of the color allows you to concentrate on many different aspects of an image.
I’ve always liked the look of B&W landscapes, especially ones with dramatic skies. These are great candidates for this type of process. When I was shooting film, I traveled with two camera bodies, one with B&W and one with color. Most of the time I preferred the B&W version where I shot both. Digital cuts down the decision making process in the field and I even think doing the conversions one-on-one is creative and fun at the same time. I really like the tone on these.
Thanks Ken. Yes, fortunately those days of needing to carry extra bodies for different films are long gone. However, now it seems we have replaced that need with wanting different sensor types (ie, cropped vs. full frame). 🙂