Washing Off Colors In Classic Black And White Landscape Photography
The invention of kodachrome in 1936 introduced color into the erstwhile black and white photography, the classical medium because there was no other choice. With an alternative, the stark world of photography was suddenly alive with colors, the replica of nature. One may wonder just where was black and photography just when colors invade the scene and photographs started bursting with color. It didn't die off.
The colored photography, gave the world of photography another perspective and a point of comparison. Colors are distractions that take away a viewer's attention from the photograph. Contemporary black and white photography is art at its best. Tonal contrasts, forms and shapes, textures and play of lights are the elements of photography that when used correctly can create art. Many photographers regard black and white as the purest form of photography because good quality images are harder to produce in black and white.
How does an aspiring landscape photographer capture a panoramic view in black and white photography? Actually, black and white is an exceptionally valuable medium for landscape photography. The quality of light and the shapes and forms draw the attention of the viewer in a landscape better than in colored art. For shadows and highlights to render tonal contrasts, light must be used to its advantage that makes it extremely important in black and white photography. Clouds are great enhancers but these must not impede with the light. Having an interesting foreground sets the scene and leads the viewers' eyes to the image.
Training one's eyes to see the world in a series of tones instead of colors is the key to successful black and white landscape photography. It takes time but the skill improves with practice. Practice will teach a photographer that a blue sky in one tone will just create a boring gray in a black and white photograph. This implies that one must choose what subject will work in black and white well. Practice and experience teaches a photographer how to search for the right subject and what elements can give tonal contrasts.
There are just too many colored photographs and much are poor in quality. Hence, black and white landscape photography is rarer. "Color depicts reality, black and white is an interpretation of reality which is why it is regarded as art.