Black and White: What Makes It So Appealing

 The first time I gazed across and through an Ansel Adams photograph, I, for the first time, discovered the power and strength of a black and white photograph. Ever since that time so many years ago, black and white photography has held an appeal for me. Putting into words why that is, is much more difficult than actually creating the images, for black and white does not always appeal to everyone. It seems to take a deeper grasp of the revealing nature of black and white, one that comes from within as opposed to a simple visual connection. The roots of my journey into black and white photography flows back to my first attempts at photography as a youth when I first used my grandparents old Kodak Nbr 1 box film camera. From those early days until now, black and white inspires me to see the world through a different set of eyes, and that inspiration helps me to lift the veil inherent within a color photograph to reveal the hidden graphic nature of black and white.

We live in a world filled with color, yet even today with all the technology available to the photographer, there is still a place for black and white. A black and white image is timeless in that what is captured and printed could very well be a throwback to a hundred years before. The distraction of color has been removed and what is left is the vision the photographer encountered during a single moment in time.

It takes a different way of seeing to look past the color world and identify the textures, shapes, forms, compositional elements, contrasts, and power of the light, that remains. Finding it is often illusive. Capturing it not always easy. Yet when it is there, the trained eye can look past what nature shows us in color, to identify a hidden appeal where all of those elements just mentioned come to life. Knowing what will translate well into a black and white image comes with experience and that is gained through a willingness to try something new.

Walking away from what we see naturally, is not always readily accomplished. Yet, when it works, the strength of the moment stands apart from what was at one time a simple visual occurrence, to become a transformed emotional graphic representation of what was felt. In fact, once color has been removed, all that remains is the emotional experience, and black and white can effectively capture those moments like no other visual medium.

Winter Photography - Whitetail Deer, Sandhill Cranes, and A Coyote

 A cold front fell across Kentucky this week, the kind where the landscape froze under a blanket of snow and the wind knifed through every layer of clothing. Along with it came a photographic opportunity I could simply not pass up. In spite of the frigid temperatures, I ventured to the cornfields and setup my simple camo-burlap blind and waited for the deer to find their way into their feeding grounds. 

During that wait, a flight of about two hundred Sandhill Cranes flew over, their ancient migration a right of passage for all nature photographers. Although they did not set down in front of my location, they did set down nearby. Just seeing them was reward enough. 

A short while later I noticed some movement across the cornstubble. A quick look through the camera's long lense revealed a coyote searching for a meal. He was not typical of most coyotes around here. He looked strong and healthy and his thick coat carried a lot of black across his back and sides and the length of his tail. He also had a while chin and lower neck. I thought he might have been what is known as a coydog, a cross between a wild coyote and a domesticated dog. Regardless, he was fun to watch.

After a while he trotted the length of the field and crossed in front of me and passed over into the other western field. A few moments later, I heard snorts of distress and alarm from the deer as they encountered this marauding hunter. The coyote must have caught something for there was a continuous crying of alarm sounding a lot like a dying rabbit, but not exactly the same. It also carried the sound of a young deer being alarmed, the kind of sound that alerted and agitated the deer herd. They, wanting to distance themselves from the coyote, entered the field in front of me where I was able to capture both video and still shots of these amazing animals.

Come and join me on this fascinating, very cold and snowy, photographic hunt across the farm country of Kentucky.

Photographing Kentucky Deer

 Spent a few hours on a cold January day videoing the deer that inhabit the fields and woodlands around where I live.