Vignetting can
harken the yesteryears.
Silhouettes combined
with vignettes can
make your images look
very Hitchcockian.Ansel Adam’s
The Camera, The
Print and The
Negative offer
great learnings
on the subject.Devendra LingwalWould this scene look
just as mindboggling in
colour? The absence of
colour is what makes
the lizard virtually
indistinguishable from
the background.SHOOTING T ECHNIQUEAPRIL 2015 BETTER PHOTOGRA PHY
69the mode and see what emerges on the
screen before you. Even if you prefer to
postprocess rather than shoot in B&W,
this exercise will allow you to see how
a particular scene will look when it is
completely stripped of colour. You might
also be able to observe patterns and subtle
details, which you may have missed when
viewing the frame in colour.It Begins at Home
Nature is not just the great outdoors...
it’s also the fruits and vegetables that are
currently in your refrigerator. Take a
look at legendary photographer Edward
Weston’s work, and how brilliantly he
has photographed nature as still life, with
subjects like lettuce leaves and bell peppers.
The black and white medium emphasises
form, making for stunning still life studies.Looking for Contrast
Nature often lends itself well to stark blacks
and whites. Backlit leaves and flowers,
shadows cast by a tangle of branches, shafts
of light pouring through foliage can make
for dramatic high contrast images.Capturing Form
One easy way to draw attention to form
is by rendering your subject into a
silhouette—be it the sprawling branches
of a tree against the sky, or a bird taking
flight across a pond. Another option is to
go close to your subject and isolate it from
background clutter.A Multitude of Textures
The variations in contrast and tonality can
greatly exaggerate the textures of natural
elements like rivulets of sand, craggy rock
formations, heaps of dried leaves and even
the bark of trees. Even the fur of your pet
or a close-up of the feathers of birds can
provide you with striking textures.Arun SundarBetter PhotograPhy