B&W, a real challenge

Make no mistake, Black & White is a whole different world from Color photography. That said, it isn't the ONLY way to photograph fine art, interpretive work, news & journalism or anything else. It is one way and works for some and ranges from frustration to failure to absolutely of no interest to others. Some get good results with what seems to be little effort while others spend eternities in darkrooms searching for the magic film/developer/paper combination that will lend life to their work. Still others are systematic to dogmatic in their efforts. Some interpret, others record and still others waste everything, including time, effort, film and paper.

Beware those who would teach you the ONLY way to shoot B&W. Just like color, it is different for most everyone who tries it. At its best, the B&W image communicates to almost everyone. At its worst, we pray the numnuts who printed the images didn't fix them properly so they fade quickly, sparing us all the pain of looking at images that torture our psyche. If you decide to get serious about learning B&W remember one thing: take pictures you like.

Your vision will do more towards getting good results than all the darkroom tricks ever invented. The world does not need another technically perfect photographer pushing us to look at tonal range, print quality, paper surfaces, etc., when the pictures themselves are boring.

Perfect technique of boring vision is overdone. Weak technique used with a strong vision holds back the expression, but the vision is still there. It needs strong technique to allow it to really shine. If you would communicate with an audience, be it family, friends or the worlds finest artists, match your vision with excellent technique so your images will show at their best.

How do you get good technique in B&W? Must be the developer...right? Or the film? So much is written about every facet of the B&W image that you can go crazy just reading it all. Getting confilcting information. This expert uses this, that one uses something else. Weston did something different and another printer uses Platinum.

So, how do you learn what will work for you? Just as with color, it is difficult to pick a film that is lousy. Some may be better than others for your view of the world and my choice may not be your choice. It doesn't matter at all, just so you get the results you like with excellent quality. TMax, HP5+, or TechPan are all used by many photographers with varying results. One friend who has written down every 4x5 exposure he has ever shot can't imagine how I can use TMax 100. Another tried it, using my shooting as a reference & thinks I am crazy. Still another uses it but won't use my developer for anything-"absolute Crap!!!" is his comment. But, it works for me. What you learn to use through experience will work for you. It is almost impossible to buy a rotten film in todays market.

The way to learn what will work for you is simple, pick one film and developer and paper and use them for at least a year. Shoot a lot of film using real world subjects, taking real pictures. Fine tune a bit as you go along. Don't spend weeks and months testing, re-testing and further testing even more. Photography is about taking pictures, not testing and paranoia. No matter what you use the manufacturers will come out with something new in the future. Get comfortable with what you have chosen and learn it well. This will help your continuity and give you a baseline to judge by when you decide to try something new. I use one simple rule of thumb when trying a new product. If it isn't demonstrably better than what I am using(judged by viewing my prints-the final product) I don't change. While densitometry readings are great & I use them to finesse development, I take pictures. That is a lot more fun than reading charts.

My firm belief is that photography is about the photographs, not the arcane ritual. Let people see great photos, not hear tales of 1/2 gram more benzotrazole on Polygrade with a variation of Dr. Beers formula. People like to look at pictures and if you are getting good results, they will like looking at yours whether you spend days getting them perfect or do it in a much shorter period of time. Show pictures & leave the technical side for those who want to discuss it. But, show pictures. Quality speaks volumes.

If you are a color shooter, B&W may seem intimidating at first. After all, there is no COLOR to hold your attention. No bright red, yellow or blue. You actually have to look at the photograph. You may have to concentrate as you do so. You might have to use your imagination to fill in what the 'missing' color 'should' have provided.

If you aren't comfortable in the darkroom your first worries are probably with the quality of your printing. If so, work with a good custom printer. Look at the original prints of as many master photographers as you can. Quality is quality, it doesn't change. A tonal range that suits the feeling of the print is fine, not need to go from perfect white to perfect black on the paper. It is seldom called for. Print, or have your custom printer do so, to make an image that expresses your feelings. Poor quality will detract from you vision and it is so easy to print well that there is no excuse in showing substandard work. As I said, if you aren't comfortable in the darkroom, work with someone who is.

That said, I do belive you will get your finest results if you know how to print very well. Even then you can choose a good custome printer to put your vision on paper. As long as you know and understand what can be done it is easier to help another in doing it for you. If you don't know what good printing is, how will you recognize a realy good print? I like to print my own work. Others work with friends who are excellent printers. As long as your prints look good and you like them, do whatever it takes to get them that way. Just don't settle for less than excellence either way.

So, what to take pictures of? If someone has to tell you, you are lost. I am not referring to being inspired by the works of others, or even making the pilgramage to the bronzed tripod holes of Weston, Adams or your favorite heroes. Do so for inspiration. Learn from their vision as you stand where they did & discover to your dismay that your work "oesn't look like theirs".!!! If it does, consider yourself lucky or talented, but don't get stuck in the hole of re-creating everything they did. Push yourself beyond what your heroes did. Use their work for inspiration and reference while trying to see the world with your own vision.

Everyone uses the same gear, the same films and the same papers. There are no secrets at all. If it works, use it. If you really do 'need' a different lens/camera/filter/film, then get it. If it is actually holding you back, do what is needed to get what you need. Dump whatever is standing in the way of your creativity. It is usually not your camera or lens or film. It is usually our own vision that needs pushing a bit.

Take a workshop & learn from others. Watch participants & see their work. It will be different from yours & may spark your imagination and push you in new directions. I recently took the Ultra Large Format/panoramic camera workshop put on by Tillman Crane and The Waterford School in Sandy, Utah. What a different way of working. What an inspiration. I am going to get a 7x17/14x17 for an 8x20/12x20 camera-or build one. It feels good using these formats and the only film availble is B&W. It is nice extension from my 5x7, a format I feel I do well in. The workshop was worth it.(a review is on The Large Format Home Page)

So, take a workshop & learn from others. Just remember, you are getting information on what works for someone else and it may or may not work for you. We aren't all alike, have the same abilities or like the same thing. But seeing how excellent people work will help your technique and will broaden your vision. The structure will help even if you are very unstructured. The exposure to others ideas and interpretations can only help. A workshop will help you figure out the answer to the question, "What to take pictures of"?

I find B&W a challenge and the vision I use in shooting very different from my color work. It tends to be a bit more abstract in some ways and at times is more literal. It isn't the same as the color at all. For me, very few subjects work well in both color and B&W. I tend to choose one or the other. Oddly enough, I shoot a lot of sports work in B&W while most of my friends prefer color. We both have success, we just see the games a bit differently. Same with landscapes in Large Format. Velvia is magic, but the interpretation of the scene in B&W is spiritual. Both are good and both are valid. One isn't better than the other, just a different vision. A different way of working.

I 'see' the world differently when I have the 5x7 loaded with B&W. With the 4x5 and chromes loaded, I look at things much differently than with B&W. I shoot differently as well. I don't have the crutch of color to try and attract a viewer, to hold interest. B&W isn't easy, especially when working towards showing images to viewers raised on television, with an attention span measured in minutes at best. B&W is a quiet view of the world, not a commercial blaring for attention. It is an abstract view at best and requires viewer participation in the image. Good, strong, clean vision shown with excellent technique is not easy,but that is what is required if your images are to succeed. Fine B&W will have to be better than color if it is to hold the attention of those who stop to see your images.

Everything in our world works against the B&W image. It is harder to work with, takes more commitment to get good results and requires education of the viewers if it is to succeed on more than a superficial or 'WOW' level. B&W speaks to those who are in tune with themselves, who understand(either consciously or subconsciously) that vision is more than looking at pleasing shapes and who are willing to take the time to look at what is presented. B&W is not simple and the whole genre is rife with those who will never move past the cliche' images, an affliction we all suffer from to one degree or another at times. I belive B&W is worth the effort. That the rewards of excellence are worth what it takes to get good enough to express your soul on paper. The B&W image, when well done, whether in traditional silver, digital futureimage, historical alternative processes or what may yet come, will always have a place in the world of fine images.

For me the reason are simple.

Color satisfies the mind. B&W seduces the imagination.