Tag Archives: black and white

Exploring Different Creative Looks Right Inside The Camera

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One of my favorite things about photography these days is the extremely wide range of creative looks I can achieve right inside the camera. Back when I was a strict RAW shooter, I captured everything flat and then spent time later on tweaking the colors, tones and other visual effects of the scene in order to produce a captivating, final image.

Thankfully those days are long gone.

My preferred style of shooting now is to make creative decisions right there on location, when I’m immersed the mood and environment of my scene, adjust my camera settings and capture a final JPEG that matches my own mood at that time.

Fujifilm shooters know just how good the straight JPEGs look that come out of the X Series cameras. In addition, the Fujis contain an awesome set of creative tools, film simulation profiles and other effects that let you come up with unique looking images without having to resort to later processing.

In fact, most modern cameras produce great looking JPEGs and they all have some internal settings that allow you to modify the look of your scenes.

This approach helps keeps your creative process in the moment when you have your camera in your hands. It also keeps your photography rooted in the actual picture taking process as opposed to the “sitting at your computer process.”

Although I recognize that some photographers love the digital darkroom aspect of photography, I’ve found wonderful satisfaction in the fun challenge of trying to walk away with a finished image that I love.

To give you an idea of the kind of style diversity I enjoy with my photography lately, here are a few recent images all captured with my Fujifilm X-T3. For most of these, I’m using different film simulations, varying between rich, bold colors, subdued colors and the warm/cool monochrome settings.

With some of these shots, I’m using Miniature Mode, or customizing the color and exposure by playing around with the Highlight/Shadow Tone and Color controls.

Here’s another post that shows more examples of this technique. Hopefully these examples help spark some ideas of your own. I encourage you to try playing around with your camera controls and see where the fun takes you!

 

Shooting the Great Smokies in Black and White

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I just got back from the Great Smoky Mountains, where we just finished our third Fujifilm X-Photoraphers Nature and Travel Summit.

These 4-day intensive workshops are specifically designed for Fuji shooters. We teach photographers how to get the most from their X Series gear and also give them a chance to try out different X/GFX cameras and lenses in the field.

This was my third time photographing in the Great Smokies, which is by every measure, a fantastic location for landscape photography. It’s also the most popular National Park in the entire U.S., with 10 million annual visitors, most of who come to peep autumn leaves during the fall.

After all, this region is known for its amazingly beautiful fall colors, with brilliant hues of red, orange and yellow that paint all of the hillsides and thick forests.

So, what did I do with all of this vibrant, saturated scenery? I ran around shooting in black and white.

Wait… huh?

That’s right, I captured about a third to a half of my scenes in monochrome.

I’m always trying to stretch my own creative boundaries, and I enjoy playing around with different techniques as I try to create unique images that excite and inspire me.

As much as I love color photography, I love shooting in black and white on my Fujifilm cameras, mostly with the ACROS film simulation. I’m also endlessly fascinated by the notion that photography is a representational medium where you’re trying to tell a story or evoke ideas and emotions with a single still image.

One of the most most powerful creative techniques in photography is to abbreviate your scenes. This engages your viewer’s imagination to fill in the rest of the story inside their own mind. When your narrow down to very simple compositions with just a few key elements, you incite an immediate connection between your photo and your viewer that triggers a much different emotional response.

By rendering the scene in black and white, you’re accentuating that notion of photographic abbreviation. Since most people don’t see in black and white, they can’t help but perceive the scene in a different light. Without the distraction of all that pesky color, they’re allowed to focus more on the elements of shape, shadow, tone and the placement of your subject matter, and hopefully extract the message you’re trying to present.

I’ve also been having fun lately with the new B/W ADJ. setting on the Fujifilm X-T3. Found inside the IMAGE QUALITY menu, this new feature lets you apply a warm or cool tone to your black and white images right inside the camera.

I love this feature, and aside from the faster autofocus, it’s pretty much my favorite thing about the X-T3. It’s like adding a whole new brush to your creative kit. The results remind me of classic warm, sepia-toned platinum prints, and gold toned prints, which impart a very slight blue cast.

When you select this setting on the X-T3, you can dial it up or down + or – 9 steps in either direction. It’s fun to experiment and see how the feel of the image changes, depending on the level of adjustment you make.

Then, after going warm and cool for a few frames, it’s always fun to go back to a straight neutral black and white tone and see what you get.

What do you think? Does the message of “fall” come across in these B/W images?

One thing to note, if you’re bracketing film simulations on the X-T3, the B/W ADJ. setting is not available to you, even if one or more of your chosen film sims are set to ACROS or Monochrome. Also, if you shoot RAW, it’s almost guaranteed that your RAW conversion software will trash the nice warm or cool color look you’ve applied as soon as you upload the image.

However, if you’re shooting RAW and doing in-camera conversions on the X-T3, you can apply the B/W ADJ. setting in the conversion menu, but only if you’re already using a black and white film sim. If your original RAW was shot with a color film sim, this option is grayed out.

As I mentioned above, I did capture a wide range of color images during the past week. When I look through my library, though, it’s the monochromes that seem to jump out at me. Those are the ones that make me go “oooh” and “ahhhh.” Probably for the exact reason I discussed in paragraph #3.

I encourage you to try shooting or processing in black and white, at least some of the time. It’s fun to see and show the world in a new way, and digital photography makes it really easy, since most modern cameras have some kind of monochrome mode tucked somewhere in the menus.

Try Photographing in Black and White for Added Impact

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AK-AERIAL-CHU-01844Here’s a recent photo I shot of Eagle Peak in the Chugach Mountains of Alaska. End of the day, dramatic subject matter, vibrant colors, great light, what’s not to like? A scene like this is the reason we love color photography. Imagine how this would look as a large format metal print?

Hold on a minute, though… What if we shot this in black and white?

You mean get rid of the color? Why on earth would we want to get rid of that beautiful pink light? Simple; when you reduce a scene to black and white, your bring the elements of shape, shadow and tone to the foreground. This forces your viewer to focus on the simplicity of light and form without being distracted by all the pretty lights.

Also, by removing the “realistic” aspect of color, you create a symbolic representation of your scene, which increases the mental engagement of your viewer’s imagination. No matter what you’re shooting, that’s the real power of photography. It isn’t about perfectly reproducing a subject, but rather representing it in an artistic way that matches your own creative vision.

So, by removing the element of color, you can actually increase the impact of your photograph and create a more powerful image. Basically, if it works in color, it should work in black and white, because drama is drama, and great light looks just as good in BW as it does in color. At least that’s what Ansel taught us.

With that in mind, here’s the same scene shot in black and white. What do you think? I guess the important question to ask is, if you looked at this version only, would you miss the color?

AK-AERIAL-CHU-01848

Of course, there are some scenes that look strikingly better in black and white. These are usually scenes shot under less dramatic light.

Here’s a mountain I shot a few hours before the good light hit. It doesn’t do much in color, but the black and white version is a little bit better. Add in some adjustments in Lightroom, and suddenly I’ve got a much more remarkable image!Aerial photo of Bounty Peak at the top of Whiteout Glacier, Chugach Mountains, Alaska

Aerial photo of Bounty Peak at the top of Whiteout Glacier, Chugach Mountains, Alaska

Aerial photo of Bounty Peak at the top of Whiteout Glacier, Chugach Mountains, Alaska

Of course, this is all subjective. Ansel Adams shot in in black and white. Galen Rowell shot in many of the same places, but exclusively in color. There is no right way, there’s only what excites you and your passion for photography.

Whether you shoot in black and white mode on your camera, or if you shoot in RAW and convert on the computer, the next time you have a dramatic scene, try creating some black and white images, it will make you perceive the scene a little differently, and that can help improve your creative eye and your images.

Bush Flying Photo Adventure on The Kahiltna Glacier

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A day away from the office. A day away from writing, editing and marketing, and a day away from assignment work. Thats what I needed. My answer: A day of bush flying and genuine exploring. Where to go, though? Checking … Continue reading →