Black and white or monochrome photography is not only ‘retro’, it also has its own special appeal. So why not document your next trip in black and white?
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Intro
I admit that black and white photography has a special place in my heart. Because when I started taking photos as a teenager (a long time ago), I also had a small darkroom in the cellar. I developed my films in there and made my prints on photographic paper.
At the moment, photography with analogue cameras is making a comeback, and younger photographers in particular are enjoying shooting with film again. They are doing this with colour film and also with black and white film.
Manufacturers have also recognised the trend, especially Fujifilm, who offer monochrome simulations in addition to many beautiful colour film simulations on their cameras. Sony, Lumix, Canon and Nikon now also have such simulations in their programmes, as does Leica.
But did black and white photos ever disappear completely? Not really, because the classics among the famous photographers who created beautiful works in black and white are and remain timeless. Portrait photographers always like to work in black and white and fine art landscape photographers do the same.
I admit that I’m addicted to digital cameras and personally don’t want to go back to analogue cameras, but I had that experience back then and remember it well. I also now prefer to edit my pictures in Lightroom rather than in the analogue darkroom.
Whether analogue or digital, if you want to take black and white photos, you can do both. In digital photography, you can also easily take colour photos and then change them to monochrome images in post-processing. We’ll come back to this later.
It has never been as easy to take black and white photos as it is today. And there’s nothing stopping us from experimenting a little and using this beautiful type of photography while travelling!
Black and white or monochrome?
Black and white images are not just black and white, they also have many shades of grey in different gradations.
Black and white are not really colours, but lightness and darkness. Shades of grey lie somewhere in between. However, they can also be described as exercises in colour.
You can also colour your black and white images, for example in sepia or a bluish hue.
Monochrome means that the entire image consists of different shades of a single colour. If it only consists of black and white grey tones, then we colloquially call this black and white.
What makes monochrome images look particularly good
Monochrome images lack information, namely colours. This can be a disadvantage, but it can also be an advantage. Namely, whenever the colours in the image are not so important for the image, and perhaps even disturbing.
In this case, other effects are more important: contrasts, for example. A less colourful scene with strong contrasts can therefore look much better if it is rendered in monochrome.
This effect is often used in street photography, where hard shadows of houses cover part of the light and the sun only reaches parts of the street.
The absence of colour can also reinforce a feeling of monotony or loneliness in a scene, or help to isolate objects.
In minimalist landscape photography, a footbridge that leads out onto the lake and ends in fog can therefore be particularly effective in black and white. The same goes for dark trees in a snow-covered meadow. The colours would not make the picture any better.
When monochrome is not the best choice
If there are few contrasts in the image and fine shades of grey do not come into their own, the black and white image may not be particularly effective.
The colourful flower meadow then blurs into a uniform grey, because the colours of the flowers and the grass create a similar shade of grey.
In this case, objects can only be highlighted by colour. Insects can see colours, that’s why the flowers are colourful!
If contrasts are more colour contrasts than light contrasts, then the colour photo is perhaps also the better medium. For example, the red letterbox in front of the blue house wall.
If in doubt, try it out: You can always shoot in colour and post-process in monochrome…
Shooting in monochrome or post-processing?
We’ll get to that now: If you want to use film simulations or recipes in your camera to shoot monochrome images as a JPEG, then you can save a colour JPEG or RAW at the same time and decide later which you prefer.
Or simply take a photo in colour and reduce the colour saturation to ‘zero’ in Lightroom or other software. Then you have removed all the colour from the image and can see how it looks in black and white. If you first duplicate your image and then edit the copy, you can see the difference side by side.
What, that was all? In principle, yes! But you may want to edit your black and white image further. Also use the colour sliders and check the effect on your image.
Why? Well, the colour sliders can help to create specific contrasts in the image. In the past, we used coloured filters in black and white photography, today the colour sliders in Lightroom serve the same purpose.
Inspiring monochrome photography
There are many classic and modern photographers who are masters of monochrome photography.
For your – and my – inspiration, I’ve picked out a few great sources:
Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams became famous above all for his wonderful black and white photographs of Yellowstone National Park. He was a master of composition and a fine art photographer. See: https://shop.anseladams.com/collections/original-photographs-by-ansel-adams.
Sebastião Salgado
An incredibly talented Brazilian photographer who, among other things, created fantastic black and white images of the primeval forests of the Amazon. See: https://independent-photo.com/de/news/amazonia/.
Henri Cartier Bresson
The French photographer and photojournalist is a classic of black-and-white photography on the streets at home and around the world. See: https://www.magnumphotos.com/newsroom/religion/henri-cartier-bresson-india-death-gandhi/.
Sean Tucker
Sean Tucker is a photographer in England who mainly takes wonderfully aesthetic pictures of people, but also of other things, at home and when travelling. Much of his photography is in black and white. See: https://www.seantucker.photography/street.
Roman Fox
Another modern English photographer who takes street and travel photography in many countries around the world. Many of his pictures are also in black and white. See: https://www.snapsbyfox.com/portfolio.
John Taggart
If you want to see super beautiful monochrome landscape photos, check out John Taggart’s portfolio. See: https://johntaggartlandscapes.com/collections/black-white-landscape-collection.
Conclusion
The world is colourful! And that’s why I usually want to photograph it in colour. But it can also be a nice idea to occasionally rework a few pictures in black and white.
Monochrome images have a different effect on us than colourful images. They don’t automatically become more interesting – but some can be particularly interesting.
In this article, we have discussed which images are particularly suitable for monochrome and which are less suitable.
If in doubt, the proof of the pudding is in the eating! Take your last photo series, convert some images to black and white and see how they look to you. Try adjusting the exposure and also try the colour sliders. I’m sure you’ll soon find out what you like and what you don’t.
And maybe we’ll both get to enjoy our pictures in black and white again. Because it’s retro? Yes, maybe – and because it’s beautiful!
I wish you lots of fun with your monochrome travel photography!
More interesting articles for you
Better travel photos in poor light
Street and city photography – basics for travelling
Versatile full-frame cameras for travel photography
ZEN – OR THE ART OF TAKING A GOOD TRAVEL PHOTO
Cover picture: Seagulls at the harbour (Photo: Ulrich Knüppel-Gertberg)
