What a splendid afternoon at Kehoe Beach! The light was incandescent, burnishing the sea to a blinding platinum white. We had taken our favorite trail, off to the left and downhill to a still-water pond strewn with ancient driftwood logs. Jean and I walked the pond’s edge, following the creek to where it emerges onto the sandy shore. Kehoe’s creek, especially after the winter rains, carves beautiful patterns in the sand as it courses its way to the sea. It is the handiwork of this creek that soon captivated me during our recent February and subsequent April visits.

Looking Down
During these recent visits to Kehoe Beach I began looking down, more carefully, at the ephemeral designs the creek was making. As followers of my blog may know, I have become increasingly more fascinated by the beauty of our world as seen very close up. In our February visit, the light was sparkling brilliantly on the winter creek as it rushed by. I paused to photograph across the creek, toward the Point. Then, a flash of light caught my eye. I looked down and then kneeled with my camera, closer to the creek. I was transfixed by the patterns I began to discover.

Returning to Kehoe Beach
In early April, Jean and I were suffering from a bad case of cabin fever. So, before our beautiful, life-giving beaches were shut down, we headed out again for a walk on Kehoe Beach. I brought my camera. On the trail, we took our customary route and turned left, downhill, before the dunes. Going this way feels as though you are entering a sanctuary, a sacred place. Indeed it is. We followed the creek as it narrowed and delivered us to the beach. The light was softer this time. The creek was moving more slowly, pooling and creating patterns in the tiny grottos it had carved. I walked slowly along, looking down. Time stood still as I became lost in a photo revery. Jean sat on a nearby driftwood log, lost in her own revery as she watched the waves come and go. The more I looked the more I found. Here are some of the designs that appeared before  my lens. Click on the individual image s here to see the enlarged views.

New Kehoe Beach Collection
I’ve gathered these pattern photographs along with my best classic landscapes made at Kehoe Beach into a new collection. The Kehoe Beach Collection includes film photographs created in the late 1990s  Two of my favorite photographs were made creekside during a brief break in a winter storm just before sunset. Dune and Clouds was made first as I braced myself against a strong wind blowing off shore. Winter Sunset followed. I think both of these capture the primal forces of nature at the ocean’s edge.

Northern Nevada Highway

Readers respond to last week’s post

Last week I wrote about a dilemma I experienced while processing a recent photograph I had made. In my post, Uncharted Territory – Monochrome or Color I expressed disappointment in the quality I got when I converted the color image to grayscale. I asked readers to take a look at a couple of samples and weigh in on which of the two versions of each image worked best.

I received a significant response and found the comments provocative and illuminating. Following is a breakdown of the totals sorted by preference, followed by excerpts from comments both publicly posted at my blog as well as ones sent directly to my email. After these representative comments I will make some closing remarks summarizing my current thoughts on color vs monochrome photography.

The untitled photographs embedded here are representations of what happens to certain images when converted from color to monochromes. Click on them to get a larger, better look.

Totals
Preferred the color rendition: 13
Preferred the monochrome: 6
Both or couldn’t decide: 11

St. Mary’s Church, Nicasio, CA

Readers will recall that I was unsatisfied with my attempt at converting a color original into a monochrome version. I felt that I lost some of the presence, the graphic quality of the landscape, in translation. Also, I wondered if I was even preferring the color version. This was out of character for someone who has produced only monochromatic photographs for more than 30 years, I asked if anyone wondered “if had lost my marbles?”

Here are some of the comments I got, both from emails to me and posts on the blog page:

Dianne:
No, you haven’t lost your marbles! I LOVE the color; it’s so clearly Spring and completely JOYFUL, where the monochrome just doesn’t convey that energy.

Bets:
…vista is just too big for b&w in this case

Barbara:
The clouds jump out more in monochrome. But the water and hills look nicer in color.

Anne:
The colour works partly because the colour palette is minimal – blue, green and white.

Rishi:
The monochrome is far more powerful, looming presence, dynamic strength. The clouds are urgent and almost jump off the page. In color they are friendly, here the emotional impact is insistent and attention-grabbing.

John:
…in the first pair of photos, I think the color version has a lot more pop, and tells the story better. The different colors in the photo all translate to a much narrower range of gray tones.

In the second pair, though, I do prefer the b/w version. The composition is simpler and the different areas are well distinguished without need for color.

Mary:
I felt the clouds in black and white were strong, almost demanding of attention, whereas in color they seemed almost an afterthought.

Tom:
Although pretty, I find the color version a bit too much like a travel postcard for my taste. I think the monochrome in large would be better.

Sue:
Both images are lovely. However, I find the textures of the monochrome completely irresistible and could study the image for a long time. In color, my eyes sweeps across and sees familiar blues and greens and I’m less inclined to linger.

Tom I.:
Observation: the subject has tremendous detail in an expansive frame, and perhaps lacks the strong, few elements and high contrast that BW exploits so effectively.

Frosted Leaves of Grass

Then, finally, I heard from an old friend with whom I’ve had many stimulating discussions about visual perception. We share a love for black & white photography. I have excerpted his longer email for the salient points. I think Stuart articulates very well why I was in such a quandary about the photographs I recently posted at my blog.

Stuart:
…the color version shows better contrast between the water and shore features…likely to be because the luminance contrast is low so that one must rely on color contrast. By comparison the clouds in the scene are more dramatic in B& W. Here the luminance contrast is strong.

…color and form information become separated early in the neural pathway. Form is carried at higher resolution than color. Thus, the color information (blurred) can distract from form information (sharper). So the form stands out better in B&W because the distracting color information has been removed. But, if the luminance contrast is low, color information is needed and B&W does not work.

Thus, B&W works best if luminance contrast is high and form is the dominant feature of the scene.

Two Water Glasses

Closing thoughts
It was stimulating to read so many excellent comments. They provoked me into taking a closer look at what I have been doing and why. Putting a little distance between my efforts of last week helped also.

From time to time I find that I’ve made a landscape image that looks better to me in color. But, I love the monochrome so  much that I quickly abandon any plans to show it in color… so far! I want to step away from the color and explore what is underneath it; forms, lines, textures, shadows, the light itself. These feel primal, fundamental and deeper to me.

So, for the time being, I’ve decided to stay the course. I will remain faithful to my monochromatic work. I suspect that if and when I include color photography in my portfolio it will be of my macro or abstract creations. For now, the landscape will be in black and white, as it always has been.

Surging Bubbles, Point Reyes Seashore