Why convert landscapes to black and white?

 

 

When shooting landscape images, deciding between a color photograph and a black and white one can be a very difficult decision. There are situations when the colors are nice, but a black and white image can still end up being more powerful. On the other hand, sometimes a scene which doesn’t work that well in color can result in a beautiful monochromatic print because of the textures, the way the light looks or any number of other factors. There’s no right or wrong answer here, but it’s worth considering when to choose a black and white image rather than a color one, specifically for landscapes.

This is precisely the topic tackled by photographer and educator Thomas Heaton in his latest video. In a recent video, Heaton converted a color image to black and white and numerous viewers commented that the image would’ve looked better in color, so Heaton decided to further discuss why he converted the image and more generally, what he believes makes an image good for black and white. Readers, what do you look for in a black and white image and how often do you convert photos to black and white? If you do like black and white photography, what’s your favorite software for a conversion?

(Via Thomas Heaton)