Before this year I wrote what I believed was quite a personal article about what it’s like to be a colourblind photographer. In the forthcoming weeks and months after publishing and writing it (and using it broadly re-shared across some very major photography blogs) I had contact with so many additional colourblind photographers who reached out to me to thank me for putting into words something many of us struggle to explain to others. One specific email was from a mother whose young son can also be colourblind thanking me for giving her hope and opening up her eyes to not treating it because of physical disability. On the flip side to the incredible conversations that I had with individuals who knew what I was explaining, or who knew somebody who was colourblind, there have been also several quite negative conversations and remarks in the normal anonymous trolls urging me to quit photography, or questioning my ability to be able to promote my job or provide the skilled workshops I do.
Russell Falls at Tasmania — This is one of my favorite photography places and I am actually excited about re-shooting a few of my favorite compositions particularly for black and white within the forthcoming months and years.
One definite conversation that actually stuck out to me was one person giving their very educated and thoughtful advice that I should just do black and white photography, and should never print any pictures that have colour inside them. From the article that led to those conversations I was very clear in stating that I very often get colors wrong, I find this to be a success once I do get pictures that have a lot of colour variants in them right.
I also say this about black and white pictures in the original article–“Why not simply shoot black and white you may ask? Well good black and white graphics aren’t only colour images that have been desaturated or flipped into monochrome on your editing suite of choice. Very good B+W images are just as hard to create as good colour images as the reliance on such a limited set of colors on your pictures is an art set of its own. And, where would the fun be in just hoping to create pictures with a scarcity of colour? Apparently the world is a really colourful area so thats what I like to attain in the images that I create.”
Secret Falls in Tasmania — that I live quite near the waterfall and have consistently seen it in colour and deliberately saturated the greens enclosing it prior to revisiting it especially to create several black and white pictures.
But following those conversations it actually got me wondering why I have never contributed black and white photography a really good try. I mean, if I could create colourful images while just seeing 5%-10% of the colour spectrum certainly producing black and white pictures can’t actually be that hard, right? I’m the kind of person who wants to be challenged to accomplish that. Some people just find those online remarks and unwanted conversations as trolling by unidentified keyboard warriors and can take that type of things to center. I view them as a challenge set down by individuals who often than have no clue what they’re talking about. A challenge that will only allow me to develop as a photographer and to continually learn and improve your own skills.
Gordon Dam Tasmania — One of my most prosperous pictures I have ever made is from this location. I recently revisited it and reshot it to specifically produce a black and white image of that which is quite frequently a very moody and climate impacted place
As my article processing comprehension has significantly improved and the assortment of methods I use in Adobe Photoshop has expanded, the struggles of colour adjustments in some of the more complicated tools also have become a lot tougher for me. Sometimes it’s very embarrassing for me once I get my spouse or friends to check my pictures after a first edit to find that I have completely messed up the colors! Seriously, my Job RAWcast co-host Kieran Stone will vouch for it. I cannot even start to count the times he’s saved me from public embarrassment.
Liffey Falls Tasmania — I believe that the strength and contrast of the water flow really can help to make the black and white edit of the work nicely.
To step back and think about adding black and white pictures to my repertoire has contributed a fresh perspective on the creative path. Additionally, it has made me enjoy many other components of photography such as the effects of really powerful compositions, interesting shapes and textures, solid leading lines, the subtleties of tonal variants and contrast adjustments. Removing colour has made me love the complex balance of light and dark, the direction of lighting and the way it casts shadows, the fact you may work with flat light and create top excellent landscape pictures outside of the little window of time about sunrise and sunset we like to take in.
Cradle Mountain Tasmania — This unbelievable location is quite often cloudy and moody and I quite enjoy the simplicity of the scene in black and white.
Without the intricacy of colour that confuses my simple brain, I have been able to master the curves, levels and luminosity masking tools in Photoshop and really understand what they achieve in the luminous worth of pictures. I’m a huge fan of long exposure photography and also a NiSi Ambassador (and even prior to this) extensively use and also teach using neutral density filters to make the style of pictures I really adore. Black and white pictures are specially suited to really dramatic long exposures and the simplicity of the tones generated in components such as water and clouds from extending time works exceptionally well.
Understanding how changes to the elephants in almost any pictures can help to create whites brighter appears so simple. However, this has also helped me to understand that in my colour images too. This may seem strange to some, however I think converting my pictures to black and white and creating white balance adjustments from there on what will ultimately grow to be a colour image has also helped me to receive among the most confusing sections of image processing into a colourblind person correct.
Black Spur Victoria — Focussing on strong compositions in black and white pictures really can help to provide pictures impact.
I’ve got a huge thirst for knowledge in regards to photography and I firmly believe that learning as much about all styles of photography can aid your overall skillset. Through time I have resisted going down the path of making black and white graphics because I did not view it like a real challenge I needed to shoot. One of the things which I want to explain to people really often about becoming colourblind is that I do not find the world in black and white. So until recently producing black and white graphics just seemed counter-intuitive to everything that I have been explaining to people since I was a young kid!
Lake Pedder Tasmania — The south west area of Tasmania is more often than not shy and overcast — ideal conditions for black and white.
Writing that article earlier this year not only helped lots of other people understand and be able to explain what they encounter themselves through being colour challenged, but it’s also completely changed my perspective on my own photography and creativity. Many people tell me that I shouldn’t be doing photography since I’m colourblind, so I should just be generating black and white pictures set me down a path that’s given me an even bigger appreciation for an art form that I genuinely love. So to those people, I thank you. I watched your remarks as a challenge rather than as something negative. A challenge that let me get a larger comprehension of the way to create another kind of vision I feel comfortable in sharing with the whole world.
Camel Rock NSW — This is an extremely common sunrise and seacape location in the Sapphire Coast of NSW. On this specific day that the light was quite flay and the sky was not doing much but it worked well for black and white.
About the Author
Jason Futrill is a photographer based in Tasmania, Australia, who specializes in aerial photography along with lengthy exposure landscapes. He is one half the Project RAWcast podcast team. You may see out more of his work his website, Instagram, Facebook, along with Twitter. The article was also published here and shared with permission.
source http://www.visagesphotography.co.uk/a-black-and-white-pictures-challenge-by-a-colourblind-photographer/
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