I took this picture some months ago in Agua Caliente Park, a small park located on the far east side of Tucson, up against the Rincon Mountains. The original image lent itself nicely for a black and white treatment.
And as I have said here before, black and white is not as easy as it looks. In fact, in so many ways, it is harder than working in color. It is why I admire all the pre-digital black and white photographers who worked their magic in the darkroom. Fortunately for me, I don’t have to do that to create good black and white images. No more messy and smelly chemicals, or manually dodging and burning, or timing printer exposures perfectly. I can do it all now in the digital darkroom.
Still, it takes a lot of work, as well as study and practice to come out with decent black and white images. Often, I must spend more time creating the black and white image than I do with color. In color photography, the colors are predefined, whereas in black and white, I must experiment with many shades of gray to find the right combination for a good image.
Mind you, I am not bitching…I am just making you aware of the work it takes in case you want to try it for yourself. I love trying to create the perfect black and white image. I doubt I will ever do it, but it is fun to try.
No comments:
Post a Comment