My Love of Black and White Photography
- Rikki Neukom
- Feb 17
- 9 min read
When I first came to Lake Louise to work, I was 18 years old. I had just dropped out of Fine Arts Film School at York University because the costs to continue on in Film Production was astronomical. Our production prof had a real conversation with us saying that 4 years of Film School would cost the equivalent of 7 years of medical school. You see, this was the early 90's, so we were still cutting and splicing strips of film and paying for processing. I would start using video 2 years later at college in TV Broadcasting and Production.
My friend's mom had suggested we apply to The Chateau Lake Louise and The Banff Springs for the summer as she had worked a summer back in the day in Banff and loved it. I ended up getting a job as a housekeeper at The Chateau and that's when my life changed.
Do you remember the first time you came to the Canadian Rockies? Or maybe you have been lucky to have known this place all of your life. Well, I remember that feeling of being so small against this massive, mountainous landscape. After growing up in Kitchener-Waterloo where our ski hill was as high as Olympic Park in Calgary, the mountains and landscape entering the Rockies from Highway 1 felt epic, not even real. I instantly fell in love with a place, something I had never experienced before.
Back then, I did not have any kind of creative camera. However, deep down inside I wish I had. I did my best with my little Fuji point and shoot.
I would go into souvenir shops and look through old black and white photographs of the park in awe. I remember this one picture by Byron Hill Harmon of Mt Assiniboine and the Teepee. This image remains in my head and has stayed with me, hoping I could one day take pictures like that. I soon discovered Ansel Adams work as well with his series of photos in the Grand Tetons. I was drawn to the light and the shadows and how black and white photography brought on a mood to the mountains and the landscape that touched my inner soul. Of course, back then that is all they had to work with. They depended on the light and the elements of the natural world, their camera settings and of course the dark room to create powerful images. It was a lot of thought and work. Also, can you imagine the camera equipment they hauled to these places?
In high school I took film theory. We would watch classics like Citizen Kane by Orson Welles and The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock. This is where I first learned about composition and the use of light and shadow. I soaked it up and my friends and I would try to bring those elements in the movies we created in production class.
What is Black and White Photography today? My friend Chatgpt shared this definition with me.
"Black and white photography today is the art of removing colour to reveal emotion, contrast, texture, and light at their purest. In a world saturated with colour and distraction, it distills an image to its essential story, where shadow, highlight, and composition speak louder than hue."
Over the last couple of years I have dabbled more in turning my photos into black and white, wanting to produce photos I had dreamed of taking since a teenager. Whether it be landscape, wildlife, intimate scenes, street photography or portraits.
My most popular print to date is this picture below of a Common Raven I took back in 2024. Up until that moment, I wasn't very free with my post editing. I was following rules and regulations in the photography world. Listening to podcasts who would emphasize what was the right way and wrong way to share a picture. These podcasts, I don't listen to anymore.
I had always wanted to take a picture of a raven but hadn't had the best opportunity. Usually the lighting wasn't that great against the dark feathers. However, this particular day while sitting in my car at Cascade Ponds parking lot, I looked out my window to see a raven hanging out right beside my car. At the time I thought it was pretty awesome. Now, that I photographed many ravens I have learned there are certain parking lots they like to hang out in, knowing there's a chance a crumb of food might be tossed there way.
However, I rolled down my window and pointed my camera at the corvid and got excited. I knew I had taken a clear picture of this guy.
I went home and the photo was a bit dark and I knew I had to make some adjustments in post, but I had this feeling I got something. I then decided to try turning this picture into black and white. As soon as I did that, I felt this feeling come over me that I created something special. I had posted black and white photos before on my Instagram and they weren't well received. But, I knew I wanted to share this one. Well, I must have hit the algorithm at the right time because it was my most viewed picture on Instagram and Facebook I had ever shared. It also has become the most popular print I have sold at the markets. I am very proud of this picture.
After this, I started playing more in black and white turning pictures that maybe were taken in harsh light conditions, using the light and shadows to my advantage. I also started editing more just to get the effect I wanted....throwing being a purist and realist out of the door. This was my opportunity to play and create the mood of an image that I had in my mind, going back to my teenage days of black and white film studies.
This picture of a bear was taken in harsh light conditions. As you can see I have shared this image in colour and even had Fine Art Photography Cards made out of this image.
However, one day at a market a woman asked me if I had a black and white picture of a bear who was staring right at you. At the time I didn't. I wish I had got her contact information because less than a week later I sat down at my computer and created this image in black and white.
Any chance you feel differently looking at the first image compared the the second? The first image is intimidating because of the angle I was able to take the picture of this bear (I was in a car taking the picture out of a sunroof). The second image...ooo, I really don't want to mess with this guy. I liked the idea of keeping the light on the one side and darkening the other. Actually, the original colour picture I brought up the shadows on the left hand side because I thought the harsh shadow didn't work in colour.
When I was in Kenya, I spent a couple of days at a local neighbourhood school that my family has helped raised money for, creating a library. I was able to take pictures of the school children playing in the yard. The sun was harsh and high above when I was taking these pictures. The school is colourful and the children's uniforms are colourful, however I was drawn to turning some of the images into black and white. For me, I had always imagined that one day I would take pictures like this of school children in Africa and when I dreamed of those pictures they were in black and white. I feel black and white photography takes away from the distraction of colour and focuses on what is actually going on in the picture.
In the following two pictures, what catches your eye first?
Both are great pictures. The first picture to me, the eye is drawn to the story. The boy looking right at me. The kids leaning into each other as they wash their hands before lunch. The little girl standing at the end probably thinking these boys are crazy.
The second picture, I am first drawn to the girls blue hair and the colours of the uniform. Then, I take a look further to see what is taking place in this picture.
In this picture I am focused on the girl and her beautiful smile. In fact, I am mesmerized by the reflection in her eyes.
Now, landscape and the reason why I began this blog post the way I did.
Landscape can be a bit tricky because most people want to see exactly what I saw, through colour. However, this past weekend I finally grasped the meaning of black and white landscape in winter. I was traveling along the Icefields Parkway. I had started later in the morning and the sun was already very harsh. Some mountains were highlighted by the sun but most were in flat shadows. As I traveled up the road I noticed something that I hadn't come across before. There was so much snow dripping off of the mountains and the trees. I had never been up the highway in February before and it suddenly became a whole new world for me. I got it. I looked at the views differently. I wasn't just seeing mountain scapes, I was seeing light and shadows. I was seeing little areas on the mountain where the sunlight was highlighting it like a spot light. My eyes were drawn to those areas.
I had rented a 200mm-600mm lens from The Camera Store in hopes of seeing what the big deal was and why I had this feeling I needed to invest in one. Originally I thought; "Well it's great for wildlife and I do love taking pictures of birds and animals, but is that enough to take the plunge?" My luck with wildlife wasn't the greatest over the weekend, but I had a feeling that what was going to happen. So, I played with the lens in other ways. I thought, how can this lens benefit me photographing nature? Well, driving along the Icefields Highway gave me that answer. I love the grand scapes of the mountains but I also love looking at what is growing on the side of them, or the rock formations or if there are small scenes in the big scene. This lens got me closer to those scenes.
I started looking for the "spotlight" areas. As I followed the light I started to "tune into nature" and what was there. I started noticing textures in the windswept snow. I saw single trees growing out of nowhere. I adjusted my camera settings to create moods with the light. I wanted that good old Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock moody lighting. I wanted to tap into Byron Hill Harmon and Ansel Adams. I have turned landscapes pictures into black and white before, but, I don't think I took the pictures thinking that "Ah yes, this is going to be a picture I turn into black and white." However, this time was different.
I was so focused on the lighting I didn't even realize there was an avalanche going off on the right hand side when I took this image.
I cannot wait to return to the mountains to play more with light, when it is sunny. I so often go there in the mountains and it is cloudy haha.
So, what about the lens? What are my thoughts? Well, I love my Tamron 50mm-400mm lens for the choices it gives me. It is on my camera about 90% of the time. As a nature photographer I can easily be flexible with what "Mother Nature decides to present to me" and can capture that moment without having to switch lenses. The downfall, I find some of my pictures aren't as sharp and of course when it comes to wildlife, I do sometimes wish I could get a closer reach without sacrificing the quality of the image. The Sony 200mm-600mm was a bit of an adjustment, having to accept that the landscape in front of me, I couldn't take a picture of instantly. However, I readjusted my vision and I found it easier to focus on the smaller scenes, which is one form of photography I love. When taking pictures of wildlife, the autofocus was fast and I was able to capture more sharp images. So, is it worth purchasing and have the extra step of carrying another lens and switching between two?
The image that sold me on this lens is this one.
You are probably wondering, why the heck would this image sell you on the lens? Well, I wasn't prepared for this moment so my settings were pretty dark. I didn't have my ISO set to automatic. Also, his wing is cut off in the corner, so not the perfect composition. But, I noticed something about this picture that I thought, if I brought up the light I would see an image I had yet to capture on my Tamron.
I put the picture into Lightroom, brought up the light and turned it into black and white and this is what I saw.
I had never captured a picture of a bird in flight like this. Just getting that little bit closer I was able to capture more detail of the bird flying by. I was able to get their eyes clear and the beak. I showed Thomas and he was just as excited as I was to see this photo. He will also benefit if I buy this lens because he will use my Tamron 50mm-400mm when I am not using it.
So, now I will save. If you have any interest in sponsoring me to raise the money for my next lens I invite you to take a look at my Online Shop and purchase a couple of Fine Art Photography Cards or a journal or head on over to my Pictorem Account and purchase a print ;-)
As we welcome in the Year of The Firehorse, I am excited and inspired to pushing my photography to another level.
Stay tuned for my Substack Post this weekend where I will break down an image I turned into black and white and show you my thought process. Sign up for my SUBSTACK email.
Sign up for my monthly newsletter at www.rikkineukom.com, scroll down and enter your name in the box.
Follow me on INSTAGRAM
Comments