Black and White Landscape Photography

While I personally prefer color photography almost always, there are times when a landscape can be very interesting to me in black and white.

I suppose that what makes a black and white photo successful is the focus on contrast, texture and tone.  Sure, things like proper exposure, an interesting subject and good composition all matter in a black and white photo, as much as they do in color.  However, not all photos that “work” in color, will also “work” in black and white.

A photograph that is vibrant with color will often make a very bland black and white photo.  Conversely, a scene which originally has very bland color, can be transformed into an interesting photo when shot in black and white.  This is especially true with landscapes, as the black and white can make the image about the shapes, texture and contrast in the scene.

Some subjects, such as a field of wildflowers, will likely just not be interesting to look at in black and white.  So, it is wise to really think about the scene before choosing to shoot in black and white.  However, it is easy to later convert color images to black and white in Photoshop, or other image editing programs.

Here is some of my favorite black and white landscape photography found on Flickr: