Road Trip - March 2025 #2 - Black and White

 

More photos from our Road Trip in March.  I had so many photos and it took ages for me to cull and edit!

These are the shots that I knew would look better in Black and White

My workflow for Black and White digital photos is to shoot in Raw colour and then convert.  It is easier to do this than to keep changing the settings in camera.  Also, shooting in colour Raw mode captures the full sensor data giving higher dynamic range for extracting more details in shadows and highlights when converted. 

I can pick which photos I will be converting when I am taking them; the light and shadow in a photo is a good start to deciding which will be converted.  A dull, overcast day is always a plus; when colours are muted and don't have that bright punch to them.  Ever had a lot of clutter in the background of a photo?  Converting to Black and White can hide a lot of colourful background clutter in shadows that don't detract from the main subject.

I guess I'm sentimental about Black and White.  Dad was a keen photographer and all his photos were in Black and White.  He used to develop them at home.  I know he had an enlarger for prints but I am not actually sure how many he would print at home.  

Black and White photos can lend more drama to a subject I think.  Strip away the colour distraction and all that is left is the subject, composition and raw emotion of the subject.

And then, there is that emotional response that Black and White photos can evoke as I said; feelings of nostalgia, romance, drama.  

My go to software for conversion is Nik 6 Silver Efex by DxO.  I originally saw this software years ago when it was owned by Nik and thinking that it was something that I had to get.  Although this software offers many different templates to choose from, it is also a full editing software and you can make your own templates for future use.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these!  I certainly enjoyed travelling around getting them!

All photos Copyright © Life with Jordy Photography

All Rights Reserved

Rainy Day in Forbes, NSW.  This is the top of the War Memorial Cenotaph; the 4 service
personnel brilliantly captured in bronze by the artist.
 I shot at f5.6 to get a shallow depth of field and put the background out of focus.

This was a sunny day on Ben Hall Rd, Forbes.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the road was
white cutting through the very brown grasses and recently cultivated crops in the paddocks
either side. We had just visited the location where the Police had caught up with
Bushranger Ben Hall and shot him dead.  The Black and White sort of matched my mood
coming from that historic place that we had learned about in school.  I wanted to
give this a Film Noir look and was happy when the natural Lens Vignette darkened the
corners on conversion. 

The rise and fall of the Great Dividing Range from Mt Hotham as we drove
along the Great Alpine Way.  It was a hazy day in the Ranges and the
distant hills were almost lost in the haze. Black and White suits this photo
much better than the colour version; I love the way the tones lighten up as
the eye moves toward the distant hills.  A lovely trip!

Deep Creek Old Bridge on the Great Alpine Way at Wiseleigh, Victoria.
There is a walking track around this that can be accessed at Nicholson and
Bruthen. The track is part of the East Gippsland Rail Trail which is 96
kms long between Bairnsdale and Orbost in Victoria.  Applying the
Vignette here has really highlighted the cloud in this photo that was not
really that visible in the colour version.

It was a really overcast day at Lake Entrance, Victoria.  Low cloud, almost like a lifting fog, hung 
around all day.  It did rain a little but not as much as it was threatening to.  Caught these birds who
appeared to be waiting for the fishing boats to get back in for a feed of fish guts. 

Same subject as above from a different angle.  I love to hang around the Jetties and Docks where
the boats are moored.

Lakes Entrance, Victoria where you can see how low the cloud was all day.  There wasn't many
people around but this photo is still 'busy' with masts, rigging, rope lines, nets and buoys.

This is where black and white comes into its own.  Overcast day and colours dulled down.  This
is where I will convert to Black and White.  As you can see, the monochrome highlights the currents
in the water and shows up the broken edge of the boat shadow which was not as noticeable on
the colour version. 

A rural road in the locality of Kanoona, Victoria.  This was always going to be 
a Black and White photo.  I knew that the white road would stand out 
amongst the mid tones of the up hill paddock and that the detail of the 
cloud would also appear when converted.

This was a partly cloudy day in Bega, NSW.  I edited in Silver Efex Pro and applied a Red Filter
which gives a dramatic contrasty look.  Silver Efex Pro also offers various vignette styles and
my favourite of these is called burn edges, which has 3 different levels that can be applied.
I brushed different areas of the grass, buildings and trees with the Dodge Tool which brings
out the highlights in those areas.

Tathra Wharf in Boulder Bay, NSW.  Once again, Black and White suits the overcast, dull day. 
Just converting to Black and White has highlighted the shadow areas in the clouds which were
not showing in the colour version. 

A closer look at Tathra Wharf.  A very dull colour photo is transformed 
on conversion to Black and White.  The monochrome highlights the
light and dark tones of supporting beams, the detail of the rough hewn
posts is clearer and, the dappled shadow of the wharf in the water is
accentuated.  The clashing colours of the clothes of the people on the 
Wharf is no longer a distraction for this photo of a section of a 
Heritage listed Wharf.

It was the whiteness of this bridge against the darkness of the background that made me
want to show this in Black and White.  The background was already very dark shadows with
no hint of green for the foliage.  I must admit to removing some very distracting road signs from
this photo that I considered would detract from the final product.  

The shadows and textures of these crashing waves and the rocky background immediately
said 'Black and White' to me.  This photo was taken at Narooma, NSW where the effects of a 
tropical Cyclone 1400 Kms away to the north in the Sunshine Coast of Queensland were being
felt in rough seas all down the eastern coast.

Boat moored at Ulladulla, NSW.  I wanted to get a nostalgic look to this photo so on 
converting it to Black and White I added a slight Sepia tone.

The Cormorants in Ulladulla Harbour were diving onto fish.  The water was reflecting a very 
strong Sunlight.  Because the strong light reflection blew out all the detail from the birds
I decided it would make a very nice Silhouette photo with a dark vignette to capture the
dappled tones of the water. 

There wasn't much colour to the chimney subjects; a dirty brown.  Converting to Black and White 
has given some crisp tones to the subject (and to the tree branch on the right) highlighted against
the darker sky and cloud.