Black and white photography is truly quite a ‘departure from reality’, and the transition from one aspect of visual magic to another was not as complete as many imagine.
Ansel Adams
If a black and white photograph is a ‘departure from reality’ (and surely it is), then why are so many photographers still drawn to taking them? And what is their appeal for the viewer?
To some extent, the cult surrounding black-and-white photography is based on nostalgia.
René Burri
Is it really merely nostalgia? After all, the oldest among us grew up in a world of black and white films, TV and family snapshots. Or is it because many of the greats of photography shot in black and white, as it was the only medium available to them, and we yearn to emulate them? Even today many of the best artistic photographers choose black and white over colour.
I personally always shoot in colour and usually only decide later, in post editing, if monochrome would work well for a shot. Even if I ‘see’ an image as black and white I will take it in colour, as I prefer the effect I can get with later editing options to that created in camera.
While the islands of the Philippines are full of colour, from the greens of rice terraces to the turquoise blues of the sea that surrounds them, I still found a number of subjects that worked as well, or better, in monochrome.
So here, for this week’s Monochrome Madness, is a selection of these, all edited with Nik Silver Efex Pro. I already shared a few in last week’s post about cropping, so I won’t repeat those here. But I’m sure many of these images will show up in future posts in their colour versions (and some already have).
Rice terraces near Banaue
[my feature photo was also taken in this region]
Rice harvesting tool, Bangaan
In Vigan
In Vigan
In Vigan
Memorial at the US military cemetery, Manila
San Juan Bautista, Badoc
San Agustin Church of Paoay
In El Nido
View from El Nido just after sunset
A beach on Bohol Island
Seaweed, Bohol
Seashell, Maniloc Island
Swimming pool, Maniloc Island
43 Comments
equinoxio21
Very good. Though I increasingly find B&W better at some things than others. People work well, I find. Architecture. I’m working on my February Angkor pix, some of the Bas-reliefs and temples work well in B&W. I find shades of green don’t as well. Or maybe that’s my slight colour blindness?
Au revoir Sarah
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 🙂 I agree about people and architecture working well in black and white, also a lot of details such as bas reliefs. I think the challenge with greens is the subtlety of shifts between the shades, especially in nature. Having plenty of contrast makes it easier to create an effective monochrome image.
equinoxio21
Agreed. Now I suspect that my “Daltonism” plays a part, though I can “see” almost all colours, I don’t think I see them as you or any “normal” person do… I have noted that there are small differences I don’t see that other people do… Fun at the end of the day…
Sarah Wilkie
I hadn’t heard red-green colour blindness called Daltonism before, I had to look that up. A friend of mine has it too so I understand some of the differences it can make 🙂
equinoxio21
Haha. That would be “Franglais.” It’s what we call it in French. Probably a Dr Dalton. There are several forms, light, like mine, where I can’t tell a few greens from a few browns. All the way to seeing in B&W…
Teresa
Love your gallery of my home country. Brings back memories…all beautifully captures in b&w
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Teresa, I’m so glad to be able to share my impressions of your beautiful home country 😊
Amy
Wonderful mixed photos of Philippine, Sarah! A great idea to convert these into BnW. The Rice terraces is breathtaking.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Amy, I’m really happy you liked these images 😊
grandmisadventures
Beautiful pictures. The one of the rice fields in black and white gives the feel of what a difficult job that must be to work in them. Color pictures of the rice fields to me seems more scenic.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Meg 😊 That’s an interesting distinction. We see the beauty of this landscape, especially when we see all the lovely shades of green, but the locals probably see mainly hard work, amd the monochrome emphasises that by removing those greens.
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
I’m definitely in the camp that thinks the people shots work best here. I particularly like the first, solitary man in Vigan. He looks so thoughtful. I also like the memorial – I don’t know what colour it was originally but i can’t imagine it would work so well.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anabel 🙂 The memorial has off white slabs carved with the names set into a brick structure.
Monkey's Tale
If you gave me a choice, I’d probably almost always pick colour over black and white. But, the borders of the rice fields stand out so much more in your black and white, which gives it a different, maybe even more interesting look. Maggie
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Maggie. I know you prefer colour over monochrome so I’m pleased you found a photo here that appealed to you. I agree, black and white emphasises the patterns of the rice terraces.
Sue
Great set of images, Sarah! For me , the street photographs in Vigan were the best, but I did like the El Nido image
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Sue, always good to hear which ones stand out for you 🙂
Sue
Pleasure!
Leanne Cole
You have made some great points Sarah, why black and white. I think for every person who is drawn to it you might get a different answer. I am finding myself being more and more drawn to it. I never shoot in B&W, mainly because I shoot in RAW and it never does that.
Now your images, they are stunning. I love the first couple, the patterns and shapes are interesting, the one with the memorial is really stunning.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Leanne 😊 Vigan was great for street photography as so much of life seems to be lived out on the street.
Alison
The end photo of the pool is a great shot with the reflection. I think people in black and white makes their expressions stand out more
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Alison 😊 I do feel that’s right about black and white photos of people. And I’m glad you like that pool shot!
Anne Sandler
Wonderful black and white series, but I agree with Ritva. The street photography really stands out in black and white.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anne 😊 There seems to be a split jury on this post, with some favouring the street photos and others the seaweed etc!
Anne Sandler
They were all great Sarah, but I think you are the street photography queen!
Sarah Wilkie
😊😊
bushboy
I like the seaweed, shell and the palm reflection Sarah. I have been taking photos in B&W as well as colour of the same scene and looking the difference on download. Sometimes I might discard the B&W if it didn’t come out as I hoped.
I must remember to add a border to my B&W, it is really effective.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Brian 🙂 I learned that border trick on a photography Zoom presentation during lockdown and have been using it ever since!
bushboy
I always seem to not get the border size right 🙄 and give in
Sarah Wilkie
I do 5 pixels on these shots, which are sized down to roughly 2500 pixels on their longest edge – if that helps?!
bushboy
5 pixels is a good size. I resize to 600 X 800 pixels for my blog photos. My program has an auto “resize for blogs” function
Suzanne@PictureRetirement
Sarah, the memorial photo is striking.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Suzanne. That memorial runs in a full circle, with those panels of names which are all the men lost in the fighting whose bodies have never been recovered – although some have been found since the memorial was built, in which case there’s a marker by the name.
margaret21
These are great in b/w. For some reason it’s the seaweed that attracts my interest the most. Although nostalgia must play a part in our appreciation of monochrome images, I also think it offers a different, and often welcome perspective – in portraits for instance, when we’re not distracted by other things, such as clothing or bright street furniture but simply focus on the subject – the person.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Margaret 😊 I agree with you about the way monochrome removes distractions. There’s a famous quote by Ted Grant, which I’ve used in previous posts: ‘When you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls’
margaret21
I was trying to remember that quote when I wrote the comment! Thanks.
Heyjude
The one that stood out for me is seaweed. Simple, but so effective.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Jude 🙂 I took a few like that on my beach strolls but this was my favourite.
Marilyn Armstrong
I like them all, but the view from El Nido after sunset is spectacular.
A few types of pictures make black & white special for me. One is any photo that is mostly angles and textures. Cloudy skies can really POP in black. Finally, any picture in which there are many skin colors and it’s nearly impossible to get the right color for each person. Stuff that is inherently colorful — flowers, birds, fall foliage and so on — for me anyway doesn’t seem quite right in black & white. I really like professional head shots in black & white. You can get quite dramatic without blinding your viewer. And finally, a lot of high contrast pictures look better in black and white. I know the few times I worked in a studio, we always worked in black & white and we got some really interesting pictures.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Marilyn 🙂 I’m glad you like that El Nido shot as I had to work on it a bit. I stitched together two shots to make the panorama and had to remove a man who strayed into the shot but in an area so dark I didn’t notice him at the time of taking it!
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography
I really enjoyed these, but my favorite were the ones with people in them
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Ritva 🙂 I think B&W does lend itself especially well to street photography.
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography
Yes it does