Resurrecting Black and White

             Black and white photography is an art form that is making a return to popularity and will live on even in this digital age. More and more images are being created in monochrome and one prestigious company is even making a totally black and white camera. With the availability of high quality print materials, today an artist can duplicate the beauty and essence that was once only achievable with film and silver paper.
            There is far more to making a fine black and white print than just decreasing the saturation of a color image. The secret is a balance between contrast and detail, which sometimes is difficult because they can easily cancel each other out. Strong contrast with full definition creates enormous visual impact. A well composed image helps, too, but the ideal is to have pure white to pure black with a full grey scale in between.

SOLITUDE  ( film )

             The prints that I am showing in this post are made from negatives and digital but it is virtually impossible to tell the images apart. The film prints often have signs of grain but with inexpensive, noise reduction software this can be almost eliminated. The level of quality in your ink-jet paper is of extreme importance, as well, and printing with a pigment printer will ensure longevity. It is definitely exciting and rewarding to make a striking black and white print.

MICHIGAN  DUNES   ( digital )

APPALACHIAN  WINTER   ( digital )

FIRST  SNOW   ( film )

QUIET  PLACES   ( digital )

RUBY  BEACH   ( film )

IRON  HORSE   ( digital )

STARFIRE   (digital )