I love getting out before the Sun rises above the horizon
There is something magical about seeing the day being born that makes me feel alive
When I first got started with making my images in B&W, I thought that the best time to do so was during the day
After all, a beautiful, warm, colorful sunrise sounds like the worst nightmare for a black-and-white photographer
It is true that these kind of situations are very challenging as it takes serious conviction to ignore color
It is very easy to get carried away with them and ignore everything else that a scene has to offer
This could be a mistake, though. Instead of chasing the crazy colors and
exploding skies that more often than not do not make for a good image, we should follow the light
Sunrise gives us an incredible opportunity to capture the landscape in a totally different way
Things that you can clearly see during the day are now hidden, out of sight, laying in the dark
Others are highlighted by the scarce light
It's a very different world and if we can free ourselves
from the tyranny of the colors, black and white will let us decide what to do with it
As you know, I love black and white, I'm a black and white photographer after all
Currently, I'm in the Algarve in Southern Portugal
Everything is very colorful around here
The weather helps to. It's been sunny and clear skies so far until today that I decided to make this video.
It's very cloudy and overcast today so... point well taken universe, well taken.
Anyway, I thought that I could make a video talking about why I think that black and white is not only suitable for
colorful places like this or colorful situations, but in my opinion it's actually the best approach
I feel like it is necessary, because for way too many, black and white is just an afterthought or it's just a last resort
mechanism that they use to fix a bad image that didn't really work in color
This is because monochrome is great for any situation at any time, unlike color.
Another common mistake that I see is that black and white is relegated to boring light situations,
like cloudy and gray days like today
In my opinion, that's another mistake
So this morning I revisited a viewpoint that we found a couple days ago.
At that time, it was during sunset and the whole place was exploding with colors from the red cliffs,
the beach, the amazing water of the ocean, to the of course sky
I went back there this morning trying to make a point and to show that we can still create a good
B&W image even in a very colorful situation, in a very colorful place like that one
I like the image that I got, but I believe that I have better examples to show you.
Look at this sunrise I recorded last year in Bandon, Oregon. It was beautiful, one of the best I've seen
the sky was exploding a purple magenta
I don't even know what other colors, it was a beautiful mix of colors.
There was one photographer on the beach who was going crazy trying to capture it all
I understand what he was doing and why he was doing it
But I still believe that the light was pretty bad for photography that morning.
You see we're talking about the West Coast, so the Sun is rising from the other side
The whole landscape was in darkness while the sky was super bright
It was really pretty, a really pretty scene to see, but that doesn't make for a good scene to photograph
Of course, you can use HDR you can use grad filters
But when the difference in the dynamic range is so big and so huge
I don't think there is any way to make a good color image from that situation
It will look fake in my opinion
This sunset from Joshua Tree National Park is another good example
The sky exploded but the whole landscape was pretty much dark. I captured both moments with my video camera
I took snapshots with my phone, of course, because you don't see those skies every day
It was beautiful
but the only image that you will see in my portfolio.
on my website is in black and white
The reason is because, as I said
the light was pretty bad. The Sun was behind a cloud and that can create these amazing
conditions where the sky looks crazy like this, but it also kills all the light
There is no light hitting the landscape at all, and in my opinion the way to go in these conditions
is just to go for silhouettes of dark objects against that bright sky that we have
That's what I did in Joshua tree
and this is the only image that I have from both that sunrise and that sunset
This is not to say that you can't deliver amazing or strong images using color
Of course you can, but you see where I come from from NW Spain the fall is over there and pretty much everything looks
dead and grey right now. It's really hard to find that color that you need for your images. You are confined to those very few
sunrises or sunsets that we have during the winter, or to those rare moments where you find color in the landscape
Black and white doesn't have those limitations
It works perfectly fine in that kind of landscape, and it works perfectly fine in this kind of landscape
Black and white sets you free!
You can get creative using colors in a black and white image
For example, this one, this is not one of my favorite images
but this is a shot of a rainbow in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon, and I think it looks pretty cool
Black and white makes you more creative because it offers you the freedom of
detaching your images from reality
color photos are just too normal, and you can create your own normal with B&W
Now, while black and white might seem simple at first. That's what I thought when I got started
It's actually really hard to master. After a few years of shooting almost exclusively in black and white
I still consider myself just a beginner, like I just got here and I'm just getting started
learning all the secrets of black and white images
One of the reasons why it's so challenging
is because we see in color and it's really hard for us to look at things in a different way
That's why I've recommended using a mirrorless camera or your phone
Or even a viewing filter to preview your images in black and white
This is going to come in very handy for me here in the Algarve to make sure that my eyes and the colors are not deceiving me
This might change during the next few days
but the way I'm gonna be approaching black and white photography
Here in the Algarve is I'm gonna be taking advantage of these white buildings and white houses because they contrast very well
Against the blue skies. I'm gonna be using the orange filter
to create a darker sky. Also the red cliffs that are at the coast
that is gonna work very well with the orange filter - the reason for that
Is that the orange filter not only is gonna darken the sky and the water
highlighting the cliffs anymore
but the cliffs are red, brown. That filter lets that kind of light pass through while blocking everything else
so that filter is gonna make those cliffs be even brighter than they look in real life
I've shown this example before, but I took this shot in Monument Valley in Arizona
I'm gonna let you decide which one was taken with an orange filter and which one was taken without an orange filter
I'm planning on doing something very similar here
Where are you going?
I hope this video was useful for those of you who shoot in black and white or for those who are thinking about getting
started with black and white photography
I seriously believe that monochrome is an incredible tool,
more flexible and powerful than color, and lets you be more creative and thoughtful about your images
I encourage you to try it if you haven't yet.
I'd love to hear your opinion about this, please leave a comment down below with your thoughts, or if you have any questions.
And I think that's all for today.
Thank you so much for watching and see you in the next one