Action in the Dark

As a professional sports photographer one of the challenges I face is stopping action in low light situations. The physical difficulties (shutter speed, aperture, ISO) are topics for a different post. I wanted to take a few minutes to share a little secret about black and white images. Contrast is the amount of difference between the light areas of a photograph and the dark areas. In black and white images this tonal difference can be exploited easily. Without the distraction of colors, our brains can only work with what our eyes supply, or… contrast. When our eyes detect a sharp difference between adjoining sections of a picture, the edges look sharp, crisp and clean. Look around the face of the fighter in the background and down the muscles in his arm. The sweat looks exact, precise, and defined. The opposite occurs when gradual shades of gray are prominent, like on the shoulder of the fighter on the ground. Molding this very distinct attribute of contrast in a picture can lead the observer around the photograph, their eyes lingering in different places. It’s all about me showing you something I thought you should see, and using the camera to bring it to you.

By the way, the picture was taken at Harrah’s Casino during the XFE 36 Mixed Martial Arts event that took place last Friday night. My pictures from the fight are on their website.

February 21, 2014: Josh Key (white  gloves) sits atop Elder Ramos (black gloves)during the XFE 36 MMA event at Harrah's Philadelphia Casino in Philadelphia, PA.

February 21, 2014: Josh Key (white  gloves) lands a punch to the nose of Elder Ramos (black gloves)during the XFE 36 MMA event at Harrah's Philadelphia Casino in Philadelphia, PA.

The Closing

Spring is drawing to a close and Summer is beckoning; many days in recent weeks have been filled with rain. I have gotten a few breaks from time to time on an evening outing to snap a few pictures. We are preparing for the next trip so my next post will probably feature a Summer 2013 gallery. In the meantime I leave you with this image from the dam at Marsh Creek State Park. The sunset wasn’t particularly bursting with color, but I felt it made a nice black and white picture.

Nikon D800 Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm f/6.3 ISO 100 5 image HDR

Black and White photography

Black and white photography has always been a bit of a conundrum for me. It’s so romantic, so dramatic, so direct, and yet, not real. I enjoy photographing rich colorful landscapes with deep azure blue skies, or magenta sunsets, or lush green sprawling meadows, or bright yellow “pop off the page” daisies. This is how we see, so I’ve always felt that if the photograph was drained of its wonderful palette there must be dark forces at work. One of my favorite photographers, Moose Peterson, recently taught a class on Kelby Training about black and white photography. It’s much more of an art form then I had thought.

Technically there’s a few things a black and white picture needs to have, namely something black and something white. These two obvious necessities give your mind the parameters to frame the rest of the shades of grey. Without a clear black the picture looks like everything is in a fog, without a clear white the picture lacks contrast and becomes just a darkened scene. Think of pure white and pure black like the header and footer on a page. Your brain can see that the interesting stuff is in the middle.

Emotionally, the power and depth that a black and white picture can emote is impressive. As an observer, having the color stripped away lets you look deeper, into the essence of light. Without all the color, the picture feels more precise, more pure, and even more truthful.

I used to wonder if color technology existed at the beginning of television and film, would black and white as a medium, even exist today. Now, I am sure that it would. Black and white images have a beauty that is only possible without color, and sometimes a story is better told without a rainbow of noise.

Nikon D800 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 @ 50mm f/16 ISO 100 1/60 sec