Color or Black and White?

Newport Cove, Ocean Drive, 6:57am

I always get out of bed early when I'm in Acadia, with the eternal hope that there'll be a stunning sunrise with the sky lighting up in a brilliant show of fiery reds and oranges over a beautiful Acadian landscape. Unfortunately it doesn't always happen that way. Often, the sun remains hidden behind a veil of clouds and at the appointed time, all you see is dull, heavy cloud cover.

This was one of those days. But fortunately, there was a misty fog this morning and as the weak sun tried in vain to pierce the gloom, I knew there would be no good color to photograph that day. So instead, I decided to think in monochrome.

The image here is all about the line of the coast, and the weak sun straining to cut through the fog. When color is an integral part of your image, photograph in color. But often a photo is more about shapes, textures and form, and color might only distract from your image. When doing landscape photography, ask yourself if color is important to the image. If not, think in black and white and pay more attention to contrast, and the subtle differences between light and dark.

Of course, if you're using a digital camera, you're already shooting in color (hopefully your camera is set to shoot in raw), and you'd plan to convert the image to black and white back home anyway. But I find if I think in black and white while I'm shooting, I tend to think more in terms of contrast, and shades of gray. Always have your end product in mind while you're shooting.