Ansel once said, 'You do not take a photograph. You make a photograph.' Those words are so true especially when it comes to black and white. I have several photographer friends who are excellent photographers but they tend to shy away from creating black and white images. They have their reasons for doing so and I certainly respect their ideas and their work.
Black and white to me though is the ultimate when it comes to creative photography. It must stand on its own merits where color will often bolster or support a creative color image, black and white must prove itself through the use of composition, story, contrast, shape, form, and impact.
Although my photography background began in black and white, I rarely shoot in-camera black and white anymore. Instead I will capture a color image that I intend to convert to black and white.
Capturing an image that is suitable for that kind of conversion takes an ability to see beyond our visual range. We see the world in color and knowing what actually works as a black and white image based on the color image becomes the challenge for not all images translate well into black and white. I look for certain elements. Things like dark blue sky with lots of texture created by clouds, or soft and subtle light produced by fog or mist. Snow scenes work well in black and white. Even portraits can obtain a powerful impact when turned into a black and white.
Ansel Adams spent countless hours refining his darkroom technique doing mechanically in the darkroom what we can do digitally on our computers. Even so, I approach the conversion process almost the same for each image varying only in degree and placement of technique. Once I convert the image, I'll look more closely and study what is there, then begin to refine the image by selectively adding a bit of brightness or contrast to a specific area. The idea is to create an illusion of depth by enhancing key elements that need a little more attention drawn to it.
Ansel Adams did this mostly by dodging and burning allowing more light to burn in a spot or restricting the exposure in another. He took meticulous notes on how he created each image and stored those processing notes with the negatives. I mostly just wing it until I get the results I want.
Sometimes I simply sit back and say, "Wow!" when I compare the final B&W image with the original color one. I know I have completed the black and white conversion process when the image perfectly illustrates the powerful emotion the moment of light triggered when I made the shot.
Shooting for black and white is a fascinating art form, one where the photographer artist shares more about what he felt than what he saw. Black and white brings out a different kind and different level of emotion than a color image. It is more provocative and impactful simply because it uses the blacks and it uses the whites in ways our eyes cannot see until the image itself in created.
