This paper presents a personal reflection on photographing the Vermont landscape in black and white. The author, a lifelong Vermont resident with over thirty years of photographic experience, explores the aesthetic and technical principles behind monochrome photography, including exposure, grayscale gradients, and composition. The paper also examines the philosophy of capturing images in-camera rather than relying on post-production editing, and discusses how the absence of color affects the viewer's emotional and intellectual engagement with a photograph.
I have had the wonderful fortune of being able to live in Vermont for most of my life. The splendor of the landscape is what first motivated me to pick up a camera over thirty years ago and endeavor to capture its beauty and tell a story. My photographic images are an extension of the world in which I grew up and continue to live in today.
The images in this portfolio of Vermont are in black and white. I chose this medium because, for me, black and white, or monochrome photography, comes naturally. When I am photographing, I try to look at how I can use light, shadow, and composition to capture the character that black and white photography has to offer.
Having both black and white in a shot is important, but just as important is having a wide gradient of the grayscale. The presence of a variety of grays adds depth and vibrancy to photographs. Capturing these grays is, again, a matter of proper exposure and making sure not to wash them out with too much white. In all of my shots, I look for the possible middle gray and then expose the surrounding elements based on that reference point.
Proper exposure is key, especially in black and white photography, to maximize the visual and emotional potential of monochrome work in every shot. Each shot should contain pure black and pure white. Each shot should also be different in its range of tones; they do not all have to share the same level of lightness or darkness. Some will be much darker overall, and some will be much lighter. The proper exposure is what makes each shot accurate and unique in capturing the moment and the circumstances under which it was taken.
Just as the grays, darks, and whites are relative, so is proper exposure. What is appropriate for one shot may not be appropriate for another. This is yet another aspect of black and white photography that challenges me. There are different challenges for photography with the presence of color and without it, as I have experienced firsthand.
"Growth through shooting more and experimenting"
"Preferring in-camera composition over post-production"
"How monochrome imagery affects viewer emotion"
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