Best Black & Whites - 2017 Photographs

Wheeler Peak in the Clouds

Photography 101 in college at University of New Mexico was all about black and white. And darkroom. I liked black and white when I could manipulate the images in the darkroom. After college, with no darkroom at my disposal, I didn't much like black and white any more and immersed myself in color photography.

My sister does the most awesome black and white photographs of flowers but I was reluctant to let go of all my colors. Bored one day while photo editing I reduced the saturation on a few photographs. Not totally no color but just a hint. Together below was one of my first. It was easy to play with snow because the world is so white to begin with. Together sold promptly.

Together

And lots of snow launched my exploration in earnest with black and white, Ansel Adams inspired. I even printed up a series of trees in the snow for a Ralph Solano exhibit. Memory of Trees was a four photograph series. Memory of Trees 1 is on exhibit at Enchanted Circle Brewing in Angel Fire. The other three, featured below, are hanging in Binford-Bell Studio in Black Lake.  Come visit.

In Memory of Trees 4

In Memory of Trees 2

In Memory of Trees 3

Shadows figure large in my explorations of black and white. But so do trees as they cast long shadows. Photography is about light and ergo shadows but black and white is also about patterns made by branches, backgrounds, clouds or reflections.

Standing Tall

Lying Low

It is easy to delete color when you are dealing with the whiteness of snow or the monochromatic world of a sandstone canyon but I knew I had been totally seduced back to the now digital world of the darkroom when I took a picture of yellow cottonwoods on a blue lake and deleted the color.

Reflections of Light

I have printed four of these photographs and three remain in my to be printed folder. The last photograph, Reflections of Light, is also in that folder but in the color version. It is also awesome in color.