Wildlife in Black and White

It’s rare that I will take an image to black and white. Usually I work so hard to get the right light, the right balance of colors, that I hate to take it all away.

But black and white has a few distinct advantages. The absence of color allows for shape to shine through. Strong lines, defining details – sometimes these come through far better with a lack of color. The eye is drawn to the line of the mountains in the background, the ruffle of damp fur, the velvet of a new pair of antlers, the crunch of sagebrush underfoot.

With these two images from a Yellowstone trip two days ago, I could not help but subtract the color. I was able to get close enough to the animals – a bison and and mother, and a bull moose in velvet – that the texture of the animals themselves speaks out. While the color was beautiful – the vibrant green of spring grass and the grey-blue of a stormy spring day – the transition to black and white works for these images.

Sometimes texture is king.