Re-discovering my B&W Roots

As a former assistant to Galen Rowell, I have spent a career chasing the light – staying up late and getting up early for untold sunrises and sunsets. (As photographers, we seem to have an obsession with the color red, as in sunsets and slickrock) So it is a bit of a revelation to suddenly fall back in love with black and white – it’s sculptural forms and visual grace. And now, with digital, it is all so much easier than the days of Tri-X and Agfa paper, fixer and stop bath. I applaud those photographers still working with these classic media, but I am re-discovering my roots through the new media.

I shot this small waterfall this morning in arctic Norway, drawn by the counterpoint of rock and water.  I shot it in color, of course, but have now made a habit of looking at nearly every image with the saturation dialed back to zero. Many are not improved (icebergs, I have discovered, are still a rapturous blue – not a color  you really want to discard). But some pictures simply beg for black-and-white.  This was one of them…

Nikon D3, 70-200mm lens