Some high contrast B&W landscape and nature shots

[Athena]

I love the high contrast B & W scene setting in my CX3. Since some of the shots do not qualify for the landscapes category, I put all the pictures in this category instead. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as it helps me to learn .

Thought I'd include this picture just because it made me think I'm looking at footage from a James Bond-like undercover surveillance operation, which I think is somewhat humorous .

Paw prints to nowhere.

Ghostly.

Water.

 

[ZDP-189]

I have always thought of high contrast B&W as a way of emphasising shapes of contiguous blocks of shadow and highlight, line, subject matter and at times, emotion. I have tended to avoid using it in situations of high lighting or subject contrast, where I wanted to preserve detail in the shadows and highlights, or where texture was a key feature in the image.

In the old days, when shooting something like P3200, I'd think in high contrast, seek out suitable subjects and plan the shot using the spot metering and exposure composition to make the shot I wanted. I wasn't much good in the darkroom (in my darkroom days I only had access to FP4) so I would try to get it right in camera.

In the digital era, I have become soft and lazy. I twist the mode dial into scene mode (HCBW) and dial in the exposure by trial and error. The best way would be to instead shoot in RAW, well exposed across the image and then to get the exact image I want in post-processing. This offers much more control, and I can change my mind about the post processing after having taken the shot.

 

[odklizec]

It's a very good set of high contrast B&W photos! I personally did not find much use for this particular scene mode. But your set opened my mind a bit I will give it another try.

 

[Athena]

ZDP-189 - thank you for your contribution. I have to admit though, that I do not fully understand some of the things you talked about, for example, things like 'FP4' and 'P3200' - I am not too familiar with the technical side of photography . I only started getting into this hobby last year, so I don't know very much at all about the old style of photography, or dark rooms. However, I thank you for your comments and appreciate that you took the time to look at my pictures .

 

[Athena]

It's a very good set of high contrast B&W photos! I personally did not find much use for this particular scene mode. But your set opened my mind a bit I will give it another try.

Thank you very much Pavel . I hope you enjoy trying out the HCB&W scene mode - I was surprised and happy that I actually inspired you to try it out - I wasn't expecting that at all!