How To Get Breathtaking Photographs Of Landscapes In Simple Black And White

Landscape photography looks easy to shoot but requires dedication and hours of hard work. It is not only a difficult genre to pursue, but is an extremely time consuming task. But the end result is worth every penny spent. One of the main attractions of landscape photographs is the beautiful colours that nature has to offer but what if we take colour out of the equation? It becomes even more challenging. Let’s find out how we can get breathtaking photographs of landscapes in simple black and white.

- Souradeep Roy

Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment. - Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams was a legendary landscape photographer and environmentalist who drew inspiration from the American landscape which is vast and varied. His black and white landscape photographs revolutionized how landscape photography was seen or felt by the audience and he is still considered to be the father of landscape photography. Colour photography, in a way made things easy for photographers as the spectacular colors and textures of the sky, the earth, and the sea made even normal photographs look amazing. In this article, we will do something different. We will use Ansel Adams’ quotes to find out what tips he may have encrypted in the lines to see how it helps us in our photography!

You don’t take a photograph, you make it.

Landscape photography, as mentioned above, isn’t easy. One does not simply point their cameras and shoot a landscape at any point of the day. It isn’t a leisurely activity. One has to keep a lot of things in mind. One of the most important things among others is to ‘make’ a great landscape photograph, one has to select the right time of the day. Check if you are shooting towards or against the sun. Go ahead and recce the area you wish to shoot a day before and see how the light changes through the day. See how the sunlight falls on the hills or the plains or the seashore and try to understand the different angles which you can shoot from. In short, just pointing the camera will not be sufficient to get the great photograph that you are looking for. The play of light becomes especially important when you are shooting black and white because of the lack of colors. The viewer is drawn to the other facets of the image which include contrast, shadows, and highlights!