Snowy landscapes in black & white

by Craig

Bright sun reflecting off the fresh snow, dark pines and dark rivers, and the full range of contrast that the landscape has after a spring snowstorm (or in a break from one) create perfect conditions for shooting black and white landscape photos.

My favorite playground, the bend in the Crystal River known as Placita, was in fine form this past Sunday. I walked a large loop through the area, enjoying views of Chair Mountain and the surrounding scenery as I basked in the sunshine and fired off several dozen photos.

Regardless of which method you use to adjust your levels (auto, sliders, set-points), it's important to have bright whites and deep blacks before converting the image to black and white in the channel mixer. I also like to use the unsharp mask as the resulting photo causes one to notice shapes and textures more than in a color photograph, so those elements should be sharp.