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Home → Essays and Inspiration

Black and White and Wildlife

By Jason Polak 8 Comments
Published On August 13, 2024

Splash on that color, those bright blues and greens and reds! Soft feathers and golden light, warm fur and rich browns, smooth exoskeletons with a mesmerizing plethora of endless iridescence all beckon to the lens. How can the wildlife photographer resist the epic array of beautiful color from the world of animals and plants, millions of species, millions of shades? Is it ever right to turn away from nature’s gift of the full visible spectrum?

PlainParakeet_Eating_Jason_Polak

I tremble at the thought of removing those greens. Faint oranges are like the most sublime of flavors, flowing in abundance through those frail autumn leaves. How can one resist?

Oh yes, there’s portrait photography. No problem with black and white. Human beings have special centers in our brains to recognize faces, after all. The human form is pure shape overflowing with emotions and moods and feelings. With portraits, black and white is an old friend, always ready for adventure. And landscape, also! What of those rocky outcroppings and sparse plants? I see textures galore already approaching a nearly monochrome palette, bringing philosophical feelings to a familiar place.

Arizona_LandscapeRock_Jason_Polak

But birds and animals?

Beaver, can I remove your color? Yes, there are textures too, smooth against pointed, lines like the aligning of iron filings against a magnet. But won’t I miss those familiar browns? No, they will return another day, bounding back begging to be captured when the time is right.

beaver_in_water_Jason_Polak

The sun speaks, “yes, I’m back here.” Back where? Backlit! Pouring with its desaturated calmness against the hyperactive gallinule, leaving only those curves – up, down, sprouting out like grass and yet not grass. Form, not color, is what I see. So long, my blues, but not forever.

Common_Gallinule_Silhouette_Jason_Polak

Rufous-bellied Thrush, will you still sing your sweet rising and falling melody without your orange bursting from brown, so alert through that golden eye-ring, peering, watching, waiting? It bursts, it sings on metal, power lines, powerful, parallel, and ready for a perfect intersection. Geometry and pattern are dominant – demanding, even. In just a minute, monochrome!

Rufous_Bellied_Thrush_Metal_Jason_Polak

Oh fly, green under crimson, a crime to whisk away? Tones say sorry, they need their day in the sun. The color fades and the shadows play, running from subtle to seismic, textured light to medium dark against the pitch black lurking in the underbrush, filled with mysteries for another day. Colors step aside, textures shine, curves of eyes above little lines.

Fly_Grass_Shadow_Jason_Polak

The big conundrum is when to choose. Emphasize the texture, highlight a curve, when color doesn’t matter – then only shade is deserved. But can both be truth? There, some proof! A large white bird, slower than the shallow water in which it stands. The embodiment of action and patience, quickly striking and infinitely watching. Color for the former, monochromatic tone for the latter. I have no regret for eschewing color for this egret.

Great_Egret_FaceBW_Jason_Polak

Birds bursting with bright reds, plants with rich greens all around. Color is tempting and alluring, for wildlife especially. But in just the right conditions, and the right kind of light, the grays and the whites can be perfectly right.

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Filed Under: Essays and Inspiration Tagged With: Black and White, Essays, Wildlife Photography

About Jason Polak

Jason Polak is a bird and wildlife photographer from Ottawa, Canada. He has been interested in photography ever since he received a disposable film camera as a small child. His career as a mathematician led him to move to Australia in 2016, where he started seeing colorful parrots. A few casual shots with a lens completely unsuitable for birds got him hooked, and now wildlife photography is his biggest passion. Jason loves to show the beauty of animals to the world through photography, and one of his lifelong goals is to photograph five thousand species of birds. You can see more of Jason's work on his website or on his YouTube channel.

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Lis Maestrelo
Lis Maestrelo
August 14, 2024 9:01 am

Between your writing style in this article and your beautiful B&W images, I can’t point out which one is more poetic.

0
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Massimo Vignoli
Massimo Vignoli
August 14, 2024 1:26 am

This is an engaging topic, Jason. Well done.
Back in the time I made a lot of BW portrait and fashion photography, with mixed results.
Never really tried to shot wildlife this way even If sometimes I saw outstanding result. The reason is I need “to see in BW” while making the picture, to expose it properly and compose it depending on contrast, shades and shapes more than colours. But your article inspired me to try next time I find out a suitable subject. Thank you!

0
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Jason Polak
Jason Polak
Author
Reply to  Massimo Vignoli
August 14, 2024 6:50 am

Thanks, Massimo! Hope to see some black and white experiments from you!

0
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Pat
Pat
August 14, 2024 12:36 am

I like your examples, except for the beaver. At first I thought it was a log and then *mabe* a snake or alligator. Maybe some dodging/burning would have helped.

-1
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Jason Polak
Jason Polak
Author
Reply to  Pat
August 14, 2024 6:49 am

I actually rather like that the beaver is a bit “shadowy” and blends in because it’s often how I see beavers in the field, quietly moving and not completely apparent until they make their big splash with their tail. And for the record, I used quite a few masks to dodge and burn it in a way that I found appealing.

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Philip Van Gelder
Philip Van Gelder
Reply to  Pat
August 14, 2024 9:31 am

I actually like that the beaver is not immediately identifiable, the shapes, and movement, and the reflection draw you in to examine the image more closely allowing you to then “discover” the beaver. Nice shot, Jason…

1
Reply
Elaine Lansdown
Elaine Lansdown
August 13, 2024 7:36 pm

Very poetic, Jason! And I must say, there is something very calming about your black and white images. You have given food for thought here.

2
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Jason Polak
Jason Polak
Author
Reply to  Elaine Lansdown
August 14, 2024 12:05 am

I appreciate that very much, Elaine.

0
Reply

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