Colors of the Wind: A Study in Black and White Landscape Photography

The Garden of Eden may be paradise, but East of Eden is a beautiful world as well. One filled with an abundance of color. Sometimes I imagine myself singing along with Pocahontas about painting with all the colors of the wind. Wait, if the wind is invisible, how many colors did she have to work with?

When I first took up photography, all my images were colorful. It had not occurred to me that art could be in black and white as well. But, there’s Ansel Adams, you say. You have a point.

Then one day I came upon an abandoned house in Needville, Texas. More like we drove past it, but I made my brother double back and turn into the dirt driveway so that I could snap a photo. I hope the house was abandoned…otherwise I could have been shot for trespassing. Did you know that in Texas, property owners have the right to shoot anyone that trespasses? At least that is what I have heard, but I never want to find out firsthand.

Now that I am looking at the image again, maybe this wasn’t worth endangering anyone over.

Fast forward a few years and a fancy camera later. On a trip to New Orleans, Louisiana, I spent a day touring historic plantations along the Mississippi River. Of course, instead of focusing on the beautifully-maintained plantation homes, I was most fascinated by this abandoned shack. Come to think of it, the property didn’t appear to be open for tourists, and I was roaming around on my own without permission. Oh dear, I probably could have been shot. Is that legal in Louisiana?

Now you are beginning to wonder if I ever stay out of trouble. I plead the fifth.

Portland Head Light, oldest lighthouse in Maine. New England

Portland Head Light, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Let’s look at my day trip to Portland Head Light, in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. (Originally mentioned in Lighthouse at Portland Head.) It’s one of the oldest lighthouses in all of Maine, if not New England. It was early October, and slightly overcast, but the image is much more dramatic in hight contrast black and white. No trespassing laws were broken during the taking of this photo. (None that I know of.)

This post was inspired by Leanne Cole PHOTOGRAPHY’s Monochrome Madness.