Sometimes Colour Is Better Than Black and White
Sunday 29 October 2023, 20:10 by Nando Harmsen | 2,727 views | 15 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
I love black and white. I often choose to present my landscape photography in black and white too. But sometimes it is simply better to choose colour. Especially when there is a beautiful colour palette in the landscape.
I often find a black and white landscape more atmospheric than a colour photo. Especially when there is beautiful, well-matched contrast in the image. I have written about that often.
As I also mention as a tip in the book The Black and White Bible - 101 Tips for Masterful Monochrome Photos, sometimes colour is simply better. But the conditions must call for it. Choosing colour just because it feels compulsory is not right.
Think of a beautiful misty sunrise, when warm light streams across the landscape. Or a cloud cover during sunset that shows more colour variations than there are types of coloured pencil.
But however beautiful the colours are, you need to pay attention to composition. The abundance of colour cannot be an excuse for poor composition or a lack of subject. If you do not take that into account, the photo will still fail in the end.
In this article, I show a small selection of my most recent landscapes, in which colour plays an important role. Taken in the Netherlands or elsewhere. Enjoy them and let them inspire you. I have included the EXIF data for anyone interested.
About the author
Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.
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15 comments
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toondevos
wrote on Tuesday 31 October 2023 at 11:08
| reply
Photographing in black and white, or converting photos to black and white, is often done in photography.
Translated from Dutch.
It’s strange, I sometimes think, that in painting, work is almost never done in black and white. By that I mean paintings in, for example, oil paint or acrylic, landscapes, portraits. That kind of work. So the kind of painting that visually comes close to photography.
If black and white photos are so beautiful and are often preferred, why do painters then almost never do that? -
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Donald Willemsen wrote on Tuesday 31 October 2023 at 11:29 | reply@Nando, you show a series of beautiful photos with the EXIF data included. But does it actually make sense to include that EXIF data? In post-processing, you might adjust the exposure, highlights, shadows, for example, and then the EXIF data really isn't correct anymore.
Translated from Dutch. -
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john wrote on Tuesday 31 October 2023 at 12:28 | replyNando what beautiful photos, lovely compositions and atmospheric. Deliberately chosen f8-f11 to get everything sharp, but What I wonder as an amateur is whether the photos were taken in A mode or M mode.
Translated from Dutch. -
Nando
wrote on Tuesday 31 October 2023 at 13:34
| reply
It makes absolutely no difference whether you photograph in A or M. The result will be the same. The only difference is that in M you have to set everything yourself, while in A the camera sets part of it for you. That's all.
Translated from Dutch.
I almost always choose f/8 or f/11 for this kind of photography. It is kind of the standard setting. When using a telephoto lens and given the distance to the subject, these aperture values often provide sufficient depth of field. -
Paul eos wrote on Tuesday 31 October 2023 at 13:09 | replyI completely agree with Toon Devos, if black-and-white photos are so beautiful then why don't people also buy a black-and-white TV?
Translated from Dutch.
But if people like seeing that, no problem for me though. -
Nando
wrote on Tuesday 31 October 2023 at 13:36
| reply
Looking at photos and watching video/film are still two different things, Paul. Why lump everything together?
Translated from Dutch.
By the way, there are also films in black and white, even recent ones, and they work just fine on a color screen too, you know. -
Donald Willemsen wrote on Tuesday 31 October 2023 at 14:00 | reply
@Nando, it must also have something to do with choosing f/8 or f/11, because most lenses deliver their best performance at those apertures (sweet spot).
Translated from Dutch. -
Nando
wrote on Tuesday 31 October 2023 at 14:23
| reply
On my camera, with 45MP, the sweet spot is f/5.6. That has everything to do with refraction. Maybe f/8 is the lens's sweet spot, but the camera's refraction limit is still different.
Translated from Dutch.
No, that's not a reason for me to choose it. It's often theoretical nitpicking, by the way. You don't see this difference in the end anyway. Maybe only in laboratory tests and one-to-one comparisons. -
Donald Willemsen wrote on Tuesday 31 October 2023 at 14:05 | reply
Many think that when they see the EXIF data displayed with the photo, they can take such beautiful photos with those settings too. But that's not how it works. By using the same settings as an acclaimed professional photographer, you don't take better photos .
Translated from Dutch. -
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Dick wrote on Tuesday 31 October 2023 at 15:31 | replyYou too can set your TV to black and white.
Translated from Dutch. -
HennieTerheijden wrote on Tuesday 31 October 2023 at 16:02 | replyPainting only in black and shades of gray is more difficult than in color.
Translated from Dutch. -
Donald Willemsen wrote on Tuesday 31 October 2023 at 18:25 | reply
@Hennie, Carel Willink didn't have any trouble with that either
Translated from Dutch.
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