While looking for November’s Photo of the Month for my other site, SierraVisions.com, I came upon this image in my files. Not only did I make it the photo of the month, I also turned it into my newest black and white image.
When I shot this photo last November, I remember liking the way the main elements in the image contrasted. To me, the chaotic nature of the tree branches working with the simplicity of the tree trunks and snow covered ground create a very interesting scene. That contrast didn’t show up to well in the color version, but in the black and white it’s very powerful.
When I began working on the black and white image I had a hard time getting the scene to look like I wanted it. The tree trunks kept going black on me and the branches had way to much contrast. I also had problems with the snow on the ground wanting to blow out and go pure white. I was getting pretty frustrated and considered giving up on the image. That’s when I had an idea that I had to try. I thought maybe if I did an HDR of the color image and then turn that into black and white I could keep some detail in the tree trunks and the snow. It worked nicely. Not only did the HDR keep the snow from blowing out, it also preserved the shadows on the ground that are such an important part of the image.
I then proceeded to process the image the way I do all of my black and white images. In Photoshop, I use a combination of Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro and adjustment layers to get the look I want, (Someday I’ll have to do a tutorial on my B&W technique.)
