Black and White Landscape Tree Photo

Clouds. Clouds are catnip to a black and white photographer. Clear, blue skies are just pure evil. Well, not evil, but they’re just so damn boring. Whenever I’m out shooting in clear skies, I have to make sure the foreground is extra special because I have to compose the image with as little sky involved as possible.

On this day, however, there were clouds. Glorious, ominous, pre-storm clouds that made me giddy with anticipation.

I don’t like to talk about my gear often, because it doesn’t matter as much as the final photograph. But most of my black and white work is shot using a monochrome camera that is incapable of shooting color. One of the advantages of this type of camera is that I can use color filters that create a more dramatic look.

The previous plans for the day were scrapped as soon as I saw that sky. I packed up my camera and headed for the Rattlesnake Bar area of Folsom Lake. I had been there with my wife and daughter a couple of weeks prior, but on that visit, the skies were clear, and blue, and nauseating.

There were only two other cars in the parking lot, so I basically had the place to myself. Hopefully, I wouldn’t get attacked by a bear, mountain lion or rattlesnake. That’s the type of landscape photographer I am: cowardly and non-adventurous. I’ve talked myself into believing that these traits have made me the creative artist that I am.

Looking for the Right Spot

Shooting in black and white forces you to look for different subjects and aspects to shoot. When looking for a black and white photo, you look for textures, contrasting light and shapes. It was the latter that I was on the hunt for that day. I wanted to make the perfect silhouette against the dramatic sky.

Since I had been to the area previously, I had an idea of what I was looking for but the location of the sun, clouds, and subject still had to cooperate. As an example, I have a favorite tree that sits alone atop this hill in the town of Loomis. I have taken photos of that tree on film, with several different cameras, and in various conditions, and I bet most people would think I’m shooting a different tree each time.

Not sure why I went down that tangent. Let’s get back to our story. There was a rock and tree that I shot last time and I really liked how they relate to each other, but the composition didn’t feel right (I ended up nailing them in my Rattlesnake Rock photo). Before venturing to the area I already, I decided to walk in a different direction but would still allow me to circle back to my planned composition.

The air was crisp and cool and refreshing. Whenever I spend day after day at my computer editing and writing, I have to remind myself to get outside and live a little. I stopped at the water’s edge and just took in the glorious view in front of me. For some reason it blows me away to be standing on a spot where in normal conditions, the water would be ten to fifteen feet over my head. Yeah, call me crazy, but I find it fascinating.

I didn’t have much luck finding things to shoot on my little detour. I think there was a reason I explored the area I did last time, because there was bupkis at my present location. Hey, I was getting exercise. It wasn’t a complete waste of time. Just to be sure I checked the sky for the thousandth time to make sure the dramatic clouds still hovered above.

All the Pieces Fall Into Place

As I approached the large rock and neighboring tree, doubt sprang up in my head. Even though it was mostly cloudy, the sunlight still played a roll in various spots around the rocky area and it was not playing nice in my chosen spot. For final confirmation, I positioned myself where I thought the best composition would be and I let out a heavy sigh. The clouds behind the rock and tree were flat, uniform, and just plain piss poor. I needed something else.

I circled the area and came across a smaller tree I saw last time. It sat atop a small hill surrounded by round river rocks. I actually took a photo of it last time but the clear skies made for an average picture. But boy, not that day! As soon as I crouched down to get a looks, the smile returned to my face. The small tree (might it be a bush?) was perfectly backlit by the sun. And on top of that, a mass of light and dark clouds moved slowly behind it toward the open sky.

The topography was not comfortable enough for my knees so I bent down as best I could while still being able to look through the viewfinder. I lined up the tree in my camera, focused, and fired off several shots. I moved a few feet to either side to see if those angles worked better, but it turned out that my original idea looked best.

I titled this photograph Coming Storm and entered it into the Monochrome Awards. I didn’t win but it still got an honorable mention. This has been one of my favorite photographs I have taken in recent years.