Colour or Black and White?
When we are fully immersed in nature, there is no past and no future, only the present. Michio Hoshino
Lion ©kathykarn
Last Sunday I attended an online seminar on Backlit and Black and White photography with Wildlife Photographer Tin Man Lee. Black and white photography gives the photographer artistic choices. Tones, patterns, forms and lines take on power in a monochrome image. BW can also simplify and eliminate problematic issues. Messy vegetation, a constant challenge and distraction in wildlife photography, can be toned down and even eliminated in post processing in black and white.
Tin Man challenged us to go back through our archives to see if there were some images we might have overlooked that could be converted into black and white. What could we do with post processing to add drama, impact or mystery? Energized; I went on a deep dive into my 2026 Kenya folder. Here are some of my results and observations:
Strong contrast adds mystery. Lightening highlights and darkening shadows direct the viewer’s eye
Hyena ©kathykarn
African animals are wonderful subjects for black and white, some of my favourite images in my gallery are in black and white. The joy for me in photography is there’s always more to learn. How could I see differently? How could black and white add impact?
Lion ©kathykarn
As I explored converting images the landscape images were the most challenging to work with. Despite a lot of tinkering in Adobe Lightroom, I couldn’t make some images work. The vegetation was still too busy and/or the focus was off, like in the image below. The memory of the moment of this family coming towards me in a cloud of dust still warms my heart. The photo just didn’t capture it. It’s a “non-photo” as Tin Man says.
Elephants Family Amboseli National Park ©kathykarn
I was reminded again that less is more in black and white. Including negative space adds impact. To do this you have to get low and that’s not always possible from a safari vehicle. Photographing giraffes from a hide at water level gave me some BW options to play with.
Giraffe @kathykarn
Giraffe ©kathykarb
I spent a few hours down the rabbit hole of black and white conversion. Like my Tusk and Trunk image, when I cropped some previously rejected images I found new perspectives. It was like finding a hidden picture within a picture!
Elephant @kathykarn
Elephant and Ivory ©kathykarn
Here are some key BW reminders for me from the exercise. How about you? Do you have a preference? Colour or black and white?
Less can be more
Zoom in – you might find a whole new picture
Contrast adds drama
Black and white eliminates distractions
Strong contrast adds mystery and drama
BW brings abstraction into the scene
Playing is learning!
For readers in the London ON region, two of my monochrome images are part of Breaking Through Visual Noise in the TAP Centre for Creativity Salon, 203 Dundas St. London, which opens on June 10th. Several photographers from the London Camera Club are featured in the show. All are welcome, I hope you will check it out! The show runs from June 9-20th.
The Wisdom of Elephants ©kathykarn
The Irishman and His Guiness ©kathykarn
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