Seeing Differently: Monochrome Mornings Day 4

In the final part of my monochrome mornings series I took a different approach, mostly dictated by the weather.

The morning was dull and dry, with very little wind. On a day like this, there would be no light and shadows, and no contrast provided by the morning sun. Instead, I would have to look for textures and natural contrast occurring within subjects, and between subjects in a frame.

I took out my old but loved Nikon D5600, powered up the battery, and headed out with one lens, the Nikon 50mm prime, a lens which had largely gone unused in recent times.

The results were mixed.

Given that there was no natural sunlight the high contrast black and white of previous days was not possible out of camera. I settled for low contrast and enjoyed the challenge of looking for subjects that would offer some potential for making black and white images.

The Results

I like one or two of the images, but they were mostly just experiments.

There was contrast here but the image is too cluttered for my liking. I prefer simplicity in black and white photography.

This image works for me as it is a strong subject and the image is uncluttered. It would look better with some direct light hitting it, in my opinion, although the peeling paint does add a little contrast.

There is some contrast here and the image is uncluttered. It is just an uninteresting composition.

As with the second image, the subject lends itself to monochrome as the impression is given of something old. Even the cobwebs are visible when colour is stripped away.

This scene may have looked better in colour. Do you agree?

The patches of black where the paint remains add to the success of this monochrome image, and provide a little extra interest in an otherwise boring subject.

The gate locks gave good opportunities for experimentation. The dark and light within the subject provide enough contrast for a decent monochrome image.

The dark door and railing are simple contrasts against the textured white background.

I like this image. The subject provides some interest although the contrast is not as strong as I had hoped. It could be improved with some editing.

The 50mm focal length was hard to work with, having been used to a wide focal length.

The subject range in the location didn’t lend itself to this type of photography so there were a few very similar compositions. I hope to repeat the exercise in a different location, and with a different focal length.

Nonetheless, the experiment was worth trying, as experiments always are, and I have learned how to improve for my next outing.

I hope you have enjoyed this short monochrome series.

While black and white photography does not appeal to everyone, I do believe that it is worth trying because of what it teaches us about photography in general - about the way light behaves at different times of day and in different seasons, how geometry and texture are important elements in photography and the effect that stripping away colour can have on how we compose our image.