Do you want to become a better landscape photographer? Trying out black and white landscape photography might push your composition skills to the next level. Without using colors, you are forced to look at more basic elements in the composition. Today, we can create photos in color, use digital cameras, and edit our photos straight after taking them. Many photographers have forgotten the challenge of composing their photographs at the point of capture and without the help of color.
To capture beautiful black and white landscape photos, you have to see beyond the beauty of a blue sky and the orange of the autumn foliage. Instead, noticing tonal values becomes more important. You have to see the world in lines, shapes, and textures, bright and dark, and construct your compositions like an architect. It’s hard, but the result is so artful and dramatic that it’s worth the work. Black and white landscape photography requires dedication, practice, and profoundness.
Commit to Black and White Landscape Photography
Today, it’s straightforward to capture photographs in color and convert photos to black and white in Photoshop. However, no matter how easy it is to convert a photo to black and white, the results become much better when considering black and white conversion when capturing the photo.
Landscape photography requires a deep connection with the environment. You have to be out there, enduring anything the weather has in mind for you, willing to wait for the perfect moment, and aware that you might end up with zero good photos. Setting the camera for black and white landscape photography only increases the difficulty of your quest. Yet, it eliminates any distraction and takes you to the root of photography.
You can’t rely on nice colors anymore. You can’t rely on color contrast to create layers and add a sense of depth. It’s a pure experience, and there is no way back. It’s just art. So setting your camera LCD to using a monochrome display can be a good idea when you start in black and white landscape photography.
Even at the point of capture, you still have some useful tools at hand. For example, you can use color filters to control how the colors of the landscape convert into shades of gray.
Each color produces a different effect. For example, the yellow filter will make blues look darker (e.g., the sky) while yellows, oranges, and reds look slightly brighter. It’s great for making the clouds stand out. The yellow filter is the most subtle of the color filters. The red filter, for example, will make the sky look black and the landscape will become dramatic. The green filter makes the greens look lighter, and it is suitable for photographing foliage. Because the blue filter darkens the yellows and brightens the blues, it’s a good option for enhancing fog and creating dreamy morning landscape photos. If you think that color filters are old school, you can also control how colors convert into black and white in post-processing.
Focus on Geometry
In black and white landscape photography, geometry is your ally. First, decompose the scene into geometric elements such as shapes, forms, and lines. Observe textures and patterns. Compose your frame, adding the significant elements. It means changing your viewpoint, moving the camera, and exploring unusual angles and perspectives.
When you eliminate color, leading lines become the elements that capture the viewer’s attention. For example, in most landscape photos, you have the horizon which is a solid horizontal line that separates the image. Although, you may also have shorelines, the curvy edges of the hills, sharp lines of the mountains, vertical lines of the trees, and much more. Not only the edges of elements or the separation lines between them can be leading lines. You can also create implied lines by aligning similar elements (e.g., clouds, rocks, plants, etc.).
To make a leading line stronger, you have to pay attention to where you position it (i.e., use the composition rules) and create a contrast between dark and bright areas (e.g., the line should be either black or white; medium shades of gray are less visible).
You should also look for recognizable or interesting shapes and forms. They are excellent focal points and help you add depth and regain the 3D perspective of the scene.
Add a Sense of Depth Using Contrast
Black and white landscape photography is a great way to explore working with different types of contrast. Contrast can be of many types. The popular color contrast only works for complementary colors when shooting for black and white conversion. Other types of contrast are luminosity, shape, and texture. High contrast enhances the drama, creates a conflictual atmosphere, and adds dynamism. On the other hand, low contrast creates a peaceful atmosphere, a smooth and minimalist composition that invites the viewer to reverie and meditation.
Contrast is beneficial for adding a sense of depth and separating elements too. When the sun is low on the sky (e.g., during golden and blue hours), you benefit from low-angled, lateral side lighting, enhancing shadows and contrast. Backlighting is also efficient for increasing contrast and adding depth. And while you don’t want a wide dynamic range and high contrast in color landscape photography, here, it helps you separate foreground, middle ground, and background.
Create Artful Compositions
Black and white landscape photography is artful by default, but you should push the boundaries even further. For example, you usually avoid taking landscape photos at midday when the sun is high in the sky. That is because you don’t want washed-out colors and deep shadows. Yet, in black and white, the same deep shadows may look strange and amazing. They may add value to your visual story.
The same applies to low-key and high-key photography. With black and white photos, you don’t care so much about achieving the correct exposure. You have the freedom to experience unorthodox exposure settings and produce abstract landscape photos with a lot of white or black. Take, for example, a bleak winter landscape when you experiment with black and white landscape photography.
Try Long Exposure
You may also want to try long exposure for more artistic photos. In black and white, the long exposure looks distinctive and elegant. It creates a dreamy atmosphere, with smooth patches of light or darkness. Furthermore, it’s easier to create long exposure photos in black and white because the lack of color filters and eliminates otherwise distracting elements.
When you go for artful compositions, you should be very careful what elements enter the frame. A minimalist composition with few but distinctive elements can be a strong and meaningful artistic expression. Negative space in black and white photos acts as a binder between elements. Minimalist compositions work very well with long exposures and low-key or high-key techniques. So, you can combine multiple compositional techniques in the same frame.
Concluding words
Black and white landscape photography is an artful genre that combines your love for the environment with your passion for authentic photography. By eliminating color, it gives you access to otherwise unseen or overlooked elements of the scenery. Of course, you still have the help of modern gear and post-processing tools. But at the same time, you have the freedom to compose using basic shapes and lines and express your artistic vision in a more straightforward and complex manner. Black and white landscape photography allows you to feel the drama of a thunderstorm, the delicacy of a winter morning, or the strength of the mountains. It also makes you more confident in your artistic abilities and empowers you to take the next step in your photography career.
