High Contrast Black & White

So I've been into photography for over a year now, with the turning point where I became really serious when I plonked down some cash for a Sony NEX-3 to use with some classic manual focus Nikon lenses that my sister has.

One of the themes that has really gotten my interest is black & white photography. Ever since I discovered the B&W setting, trying tips to shoot in B&W, and using Lightroom's B&W filters, I started looking up books on the masters such as Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Those are still great starting references - learning about shooting simply, street photography, the rules of photography, learning about details and so on.

The thing about black & white is that you have only 2 colours and the various shades of grey to make an impact. And perhaps because of that, it can evoke very strong emotions in the viewer. I've since come to learn that contrast and composition are key to strong B&W images. This topic is further expounded here.

Today, I stumbled across this website that shortlisted 40 awesome high contrast black & white images. I took a step back to breathe.. I realize the masters were great, but you don't have to look so far back in time to find brilliant images such as these. Fantastic.

Check them out at wowitsalightbulb.com.

Breath-taking.