Nature Photography in B&W

Howdy,<P>

I just received close to a truck load of T-Max (mostly 100) and Tri-X from my uncle in Indiana the other day through UPS. With it was a letter that generally said, "try nature photography with your new camera with these films." Given that it was a pleasant surprise to have free films delivered to your door steps, I have close to no idea how to shoot nature in B&W. Do I just load the camera, focus, and depress the shutter release button just as I've been doing with normal color films? Must I compensate for anything? Bracket like crazy? etc...?????? How did Ansel Adams take those amazing photographs?

<P>Best regards and thank you in advance

Go to the library and get the Ansel Adams series of books.

Well, among other things he:

<ul>

<li>Used a large format camera (most of the time)

<li>Spent many years working at it

<li>Spent much more time in the darkroom than behind the camera

</ul>

 

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The last point may be critical. I think most, if not all, of the

really good B&W nature (landscape) photographers do a lot of work

in the darkroom. Shooting 35mm film and sending it off to the

photofinishing lab (if you can find one that still does B&W),

isn't the most likely route to success. Can't hurt though, and

you may learn something. Reading Adams' books isn't at all a bad

idea either!

One thing that I have dabbled a little in is hand-coloring B&W photos. You can buy either Marshall's photo oils or pencils.

 

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After selecting a certain, good photo for coloring, you'll probably want it enlarged to at least 8x10. It might help to print it light by about 1 stop, since coloring it will darken it somewhat. Also, it is better to use fiber paper than RC, as fiber has better "teeth" to grab the oils/pencil colors. Also, you might prefer the warmer look of sepia tone on your print.

 

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After you've gone through the rest of the details (which I'll spare you), you'll have an old-fashioned, nostalgic-looking color photo.

I'm not a big fan of nature photography done in black & white. That's not to say I dislike Ansel Adams' work -- it's just that to me, it's more difficult to get an engaging black & white nature shot than it is to get an engaging color nature shot. Adams' dedication and long hours in the darkroom are a testament to that.<p>

 

That said, here's some advice. If you shoot color slide film, you might want to try shooting black & white slides. I'm not sure of the exact procedure, but I believe you have to rate the TMAX 100 at ISO 50 and then develop it in special developer.<p>

 

(Beware: a gross generalization follows.) For most nature shots, the higher the contrast, the better. That's why so many nature photogs use Royal Gold 25 and/or Velvia. My own experimentation with black & white nature photography was much more successful when I used methods to boost contrast a bit: sometimes with a contrast enhancing filter in the printing stage, or printing on higher contrast papers, or selective dodging & burning.<p>

 

Good luck...

Just a couple of additional thoughts on this.

 

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1. Check the dates on the film packages. Make sure you're shooting fresh film, or you'll waste a lot of effort.

 

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2. Check the prices on development and printing of B&W negative film in your neck of the woods. Here in Dayton, it will cost you over $22 to get single prints. When you consider that you can get 36 Fuji Sensia RD100 slides (including Fuji processing) for under $7 via B&H, you really have to wonder if you want to bother shooting a truck load of T-MAX or Tri-X.

 

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3. If you are going to do your own darkroom work, go on and enjoy the B&W. Otherwise, thank your uncle, but when you send him a picture to show him your work, just have a lab make a b&w print from one of your slides. :-)

Go ahead and just shoot !

 

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Fast black and white film is just great.

You don't have to worry about colour casts, and fast film generally has a good exposure latitude.

You will of course be able to use a small aperture for greater depth of field and a fast shutter speed for stopping movement and reducing camera shake.

It's great for flying birds for instance.

 

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As a press photographer I use Tri-X for many years, and loved it.

Obviously it's much grainier than, say 100ASA film, but it depends what you use it for, and anyway, you got it for free, so enjoy it !

 

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Richard.

I shoot "nature photography" with both b/w and Velvia and I find it is difficult to do both at the same time, because composition and color translate so differently for the two mediums. (I also hand color many of my b/w photos, but that is an entirely different dimension) In addition to the "just go out and shoot to try it suggestion, I recommend reading: An Ansel Adams Guide: Basic Techniques of Photography by John P. Schaeffer. It is a Reader's Digest version of the Ansel Adams series, and very readable and understandable, especially for a beginner. Have fun. kaethe

Lawrence:

 

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Let me start by saying, if you don't want to shoot the TMX and TriX, I'll be happy to do that for you, even if its out of date. I shot and processed well over 100 rolls of those two films in the last year. Just e-mail me personally, I'll give you my address.

 

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More to the point...YES, you can take some great shots with both those films! In fact, they're my two favorites! The TMX should be shot on a tripod, with careful composition because of its fine grain and beautiful detail. Maximise your depth of field for really spectacular shots. Try some water shots with trees and low sun angles. Also, look into the dark nooks and crannies where you dare not go otherwise. The TriX has such beautiful lattitude and is so forgiving, just load it up and fire away. What the heck, you got it for free.

 

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And as for prossessing...buy yourself a Patterson tank and reel and some Kodak chemicals and develop the film yourself, its easy, really! I would use D76 straight up for the TriX and Tmax straight up for the TMX. If you only want one developer, go with the Tmax. You can't hardly process the TriX wrong and you'll get much better results with the TMX using Tmax developer. After your negs dry inspect them for the winners, and print only those that look good to you. Either do this youself (if you can get access to an enlarger), or find a local lab that will to do it for you. Since you'll only print a few shots, cost shouldn't be a big issue.

 

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Now about exposure. This is where you have tremedous power you would not otherwise have with color slide or print film. You can use the ZONE SYSTEM. Woooo! But, don't be afraid, you don't have to read every Ansel Adams book, or calibrate your system or any of that stuff, just do this. (I assume you have a camera with a meter, preferably a spot meeter, also, the meter is not so bad that all your shots come out with bad exposure). As you survey a scene, look at the darker areas and decide on the darkest place in which you would like to have detail on your neg. Meter that, and underexpose it by two stops. So if you meter says 1/60 at f5.6, take the shot at 1/250 at f5.6. You get the idea. Now meter the brightest area of the scene. How many stops brighter than the dark area you just metered is it? If its about 5 stops, just fire away. If its much less (like only 3 stops)it is a low contrast scene, and if it is much more (like 7 stops)it is a high contrast scene, in either case, then it would be worth you while adjusting the developing time of you negs. The Kodak B&W darkroom guide will give you guidelines, but basically you want the film having low contrast to be developed longer. Try about 15% longer for each stop of of contrast below 5. Conversely, if it was a high contrast scene, develop a little less. Again, try about 15% less time for each stop more than 5 stops.

 

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Now, since you have to develope a whole roll at once, try not to mix high and low contrast scenes on one roll. Find a subject, and shoot a whole roll of it. Remember, you got the film for free and processing it your self will cost next to nothing.

 

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Ansel Adams' pictures look great, in part, because he compressed the dynamic brightness of the scene into the lattitude of the film he used. No blown highlights and no murky detail-less shadows. The color slide guys won't be able to touch that! You'll have some shots you cold not otherwise obtain, (even if you chose "desaturate" in PhotoShop!)

 

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Go for it!

 

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Dan Brown

Fort Worth, Texas

You have hit upon an interesting problem here. Black and white 35mm landscape photography is a neglected subject. There are sound theoretical reasons for choosing a larger format! But it is an interesting challenge, which I have recently decided to accept myself. The best sources I know on the subject are the Leica manuals. In the 15th edition of 1973, for example, you will find several helpful articles. I especially recommend "Getting the Most Out of Black-and-White Film" by Bill Pierce. He explains some specialized metering methods and suggests a possible set of compromises for shooting scenes of different contrasts on a single roll. There is also a very long article by Ansel Adams: "The Zone System for 35mm Photography." This will be more useful to you than the standard books on the subject because the system for large format does not translate fully to 35mm. Good luck!