Nature Photography How To

Black-and-white images often convey a powerful sense of drama that can be difficult to replicate when shooting in color. And stark, barren winter scenes are the perfect time to give monochrome photography a try.

In the quick video below, Finnish pro Peter Forsgard provides five great tips to get you started thinking and shooting in b&w. He illustrates this advice with beautiful winter landscape imagery, but you can make good use of his tips for shooting all sorts of outdoor images throughout the entire year.

If you’re familiar with the work of great masters like Ansel Adams, you've no doubt heard the  “previsualization,” whereby you see an image in your mind’s eye before you snap the shutter. Forsgard says this step is particularly important because of the unique nature of capturing the world without color.

As Forsgard explains, those new to b&w photography often have difficulty visualizing scenes with the color removed. One way to do that is to concentrate on shapes, contrast, leading lines, and light and shadows. This takes a bit of practice, and it can be helpful to convert a few color files to monochrome, examine how they look, and think about why some work and why others don’t.

Forsgard also discusses the difference between high-key and low-key imagery and he explains what this means when shooting in b&w. Another helpful tip involves emphasizing the texture of objects within a scene, and striving to capture photos that viewers can “feel.”

In addition to his other helpful tips, Forsgard explains what he means by “drawing with light.” He also reviews various genres of b&w photography to give you several ideas from which to start.

You can find more helpful outdoor photography advice on Forsgard’s YouTube channel, so be sure and pay a visit. And check out another tutorial we posted recently, with six nature photography tips from six iconic masters of our craft