Spring in Glorious Technicolor – or Muted Monochrome

Even though over the last few days the weather has reverted to winter chill with a vengeance, I think it’s definitely the week that Spring has Sprung. The daffodils have suddenly burst forth into golden glory. The grass is lusher. Dandelion and daisies crowd the verges. Spring announces itself in an explosion of colour, in contast to the muted browns and greys of winter with its dull skies and overabundance of mud.

So is there even any point in ‘doing’ spring in monochrome? I thought I’d find out, and chose four images where it’s not just spring flowers telling the story, because they’re complementing the buildings they grow near.

Perhaps these aren’t part of the story, because snowdrops show their faces from early January. But they’re white, so may not suffer so much in monochrome.
Primulas on a traffic island near York Minster.
Tulips overlooking Knaresborough Viaduct.

Part of my own difficulty is that I don’t enjoy tinkering with photos. What comes out of the camera either works, or it doesn’t, and then I’ll junk it. At most I’ll level the picture up, maybe lightly crop it, even – slightly – fiddle with brightness. So my translations into monochrome are crude at best. If I want monochrome – and I’m increasingly choosing it over colour – I’ll shoot in black and white. And perhaps follow up with a further version in colour. I admire those photographers who use editing tools with discretion, so what we see is the original shot – just enhanced in subtle ways. I’m less keen on dramatic editing. But in a diary that is already over-full, I guess I don’t feel like giving this particular skill the time it needs to learn to do it well.

I’ll finish with Fountains Abbey as it is now, its grounds carpeted in daffodils. Black and white as my featured photo, and – my much preferred version here – in the above-mentioned Glorious Technicolor.

For Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

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Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

55 thoughts on “Spring in Glorious Technicolor – or Muted Monochrome”

  1. I like seeing the two versions, monochrome and colour, of the same image. Somehow I can’t pick a favourite. Both versions highlight different things. It’s quite surprising. Even the one I though I should prefer in full colour (York Minster with the bright primroses) – the black and white one has something I really, really like. Hm. Interesting pictures, as per usual, Margaret!

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  2. I think your first mono of Fountains works well, but after that I lose interest because the colours need to be vibrant and tell their story. And don’t they do it well? I’m no photographer, Margaret, nor really interested in the process. I just like beautiful photos xx

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    1. You were rthe person for whom colour photography was invented, Jo, and you celebrate vibrant colour so well. I tend to agree with you in with this particular set of photos, but I’m a big monochrome fan too.

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    1. Oh, the viaduct over the Nidd is glorious. Yet I can imagine the fuss there must have been when it was proposed. I’d probably have been out there with my banner, protesting!

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  7. Margaret, I am with you, I am unsure of what to do to edit photos other than add a watermark or crop a photo. I prefer color to black and white. But black and white is best for winter and it is now spring. Use color and show how the earth is being reborn and colonized after the long winter which is more suitable for black and white. I love the preview of what is to come. I was in the backyard yesterday evening and I noticed daffodils pushing their way to the daylight. A glimpse of what is to come. Stay well and live life in technicolor.

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    1. Glorious technicolor even! Thanks for your observations, Clay. It seems your spring is a little later than ours. But it’ll soon come rushing along. And needing colour to record it at its cheerful best.

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  9. Spring for me is all about colour after a usually dull and grey winter. I am surprised therefore to like the York Minster image better in monochrome than colour. Possibly because I find all those primula colours far too brash. Daffodils must be in colour! But the problem with the Fountain’s Abbey photo I think is that the building itself is too grey. Not enough contrast. Same applies in the colour version. Tulips also must be in colour unless a macro or close-up shot preferably of one in decay – but as always these are my personal opinions. I am always happy to see your photos (and increasingly your black and whites) whatever the format.

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    1. Thanks for that Jude. I agree with your comments about both Fountains Abbey and York. Funnily enough, although I wouldn’t have wanted those primulas in my garden, in the context of a civic display, I found them OK. I didn’t really expect this experiment to work, and it didn’t – but maybe it had to be done – once only. Thanks so much for your accolade!

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      1. I disagree. I think your experiment did work. It made us consider the images carefully. I found it interesting to see which ones worked in monochrome and which didn’t.

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      2. Oh, thanks. That had been the idea, but I felt the result was clearly that spring was best left severely alone by the monochrome photographer!

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  10. As you know I like monochrome a lot but only when it suits the image and subject matter, and I confess I prefer most of these in colour. The exception is the Fountains Abbey shot which I think works equally well in both 🙂

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    1. Inteesting. I wasn’t wild about the Fountains shot, and yes, this is an experiment I shan’t repeat. By the way, it was you I was specifically thinking of when I said I admired those photographers who use editing tools with discretion. I like to kid myself those photos haven’t been edited at all, but emerged just as we see them, straight from the camera, and you always score highly!

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      1. And yet almost all my photos have been edited just a tad and many of them quite a bit! But apart from an occasionally arty moment I do like to keep them looking fairly natural and representative of the scene as I saw it 🙂

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      1. My husband was born in York and emigrated to Canada as a young man. We flew over to York 48 years ago so I could meet the family and to get married. We have been a number of times since. I bought the painting from an antique shop in Knaresborough.

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  13. You have brought out some important points about photography, Margaret. How much editing should be done? I believe that it’s the imperfections that often make our memories more relatable and meaningful. I love your photo post!!

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  15. In the three pairs you showed, it’s interesting to see how color affects my perception. The color images lead my eyes to concentrate on the flowers. The monochromes lead me to the structures. Excellent post!

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  18. A very interesting post Margaret. I find I prefer B&W in some of the images, color in others, all lovely. I agree on your opening image – the color version is wonderful. On the other hand I prefer the primulas image in B&W. You know what they say, different strokes for different folks? I suppose that applies to images too! Wonderful post!

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  19. Oh my! Think you are inspiring me to a monochrome post as the skies here continue to be grey! 5 days too without wifi waiting for an antenna repair due to strong winds! So have missed many posts.

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  20. It’s interesting seeing both, though I think you notice different things in each. For me the monochrome versions are more about the buildings and looking at them, where as the colour ones are more about the flowers and foliage.

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