Why I love monochrome

The appeal of monochromatic art and photography

I was driving home across the Axe valley in Devon and just before the level crossing for the main line into Waterloo there are fields that are often flooded.

There is a farmer's gate into the field on the south side of the road and as I drove past I caught sight of a gorgeous vista. It was blue hour in winter. The sun had just dipped and there were the common mists at these low levels.

As I momentarily glimpsed this scene and drove on for a few yards the voice within posed the question: "Are you just going to ignore that then?"

There were no other vehicles on the road, so I stopped, reversed and parked in front of the gate. This was what I captured:

Original photo of flooded field at dusk in Devon

I don't claim to be a photographer, understand how all the camera settings work or know how to use Lightroom and Photoshop. No doubt a professional would find many things to critique in that image, but it's what I saw and did in a moment.

I find that monochrome photography and art often captivates me more than colour in certain circumstances. It reduces the image to focus on composition and form. It can provide a unique atmosphere.

When I got home and downloaded the shot, I immediately thought that I should try and convert this in to black and white. So this is what I came up with:

#317 devondusk

When you compare the two images it obviously can be subjective. The two things that grasped my attention in that split second moment were the reflection of the trees in the floodwater and the mist in the distance.

This rendering of the original captures my wow moment. Any breathtaking situation will involve some level of emotion and this published image, rather than the original, portrays how I felt when I caught a glimpse of nature through a gate and its uplifting impact.

Thanks for reading this! JME