Jon Canfield is a photographer and writer with a love of nature, macro, and landscape subjects. Jon is a frequent contributor to PC Photo, Outdoor Photographer, Digital Photo Pro, and Shutterbug magazines where he writes on a variety of subjects, particularly in the digital output area.
A popular instructor with NANPA and the Lepp Institute, Jon is also the author of several books on digital imaging, including the best selling RAW 101, and The Digital SLR Guide. Prior to moving full time into photography, Jon worked at Microsoft on digital photography projects. Jon’s clients include Pantone, Canon, HP, Microsoft and Inkpress, among others.
I find it interesting, and in some ways amusing, that black & white photography has become more popular than ever. With so much of the world focused on bright (often artificially bright) color to grab your eye, black & white imagery has a simpleness about it that is refreshing. What I find amusing is that many of today’s fans of this medium have never shot film and seem to view it as a new discovery of sorts.
For me, black & white has a special place because of the way everything is reduced to its essentials. Reducing a scene to shades of gray allows you to focus on textures and shapes and the way light interacts with shadow. A quality monochrome image needs to be stronger in composition and more precise in exposure than the equivalent color image that might get by with a weaker composition. For me, this need translates into a slower, more thoughtful approach to image capture, and one that I find relaxing in our all too hectic world.
One of my main influences growing up was Ansel Adams, who obviously knew a thing or two about creating a compelling image in shades of gray. It was through Adams’ images that I discovered Yosemite and a love of photography. His iconic scenes have been shot by thousands of photographers trying to reproduce what he captured so masterfully. While some of these images have been very successful, and I confess that I’m guilty of doing the same at times, I think the real value here is to learn what makes the image, whether it’s “Clearing Winter Storm” or “Moon and Half Dome”, or any of the other classics, so successful, and applying that to your own imagery.
I’ve made it a personal project to capture many of Yosemite’s waterfalls in black & white, but not with the intent of reproducing anyone else’s compositions. In a heavily photographed area like Yosemite, this isn’t as easy as it might sound, but there are still unique images to be found by stepping off the marked trail (and for many visitors, just stepping outside of the parking area). As an example, the photo shown here, Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, was shot from near the top of Sentinel Dome, across the valley and a fair hike with a bit of scrambling.
Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls
Canon ID Mark II, 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/60th, f/11
Copyright, Jon Canfield
Since I shoot digital, all black & white work is done in post processing. But, when shooting, I try to see in black & white, planning ahead to visualize what the end result will be. As an added benefit, I find that this type of visualizing has helped my color photography as well and made me much more aware of what is in the frame. It may sound like basic stuff to many, but it opened my eyes and gave me a whole new insight into what makes for a successful photograph. And, in the days of six frames per second, it’s refreshing to go back to the slow composition style of large format photography.
Bridalveil Fall and Leaning Tower
Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm @ 32mm, 1/50th, f/9
Copyright, Jon Canfield
This particular project is going to keep me busy for years. Yosemite has so many waterfalls, and from one day to the next you can capture a completely different image of the same subject that I doubt I’ll ever feel truly finished with this subject. And in the meantime, what I’m learning is helping to shape my entire photographic style. While I have no delusions of becoming another Ansel Adams, I’d like to think that by studying his work, and other great masters of black & white photography, I can learn and apply the concepts to my own work to become a better photographer.
-- Jon Canfield
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