Photographing Black and White Landscapes page 5: Best Gear for Black and White

Useful equipment

Backpack
There are various types of camera bag but for landscape photography a backpack type is generally the most practical. By carrying your gear on your back the weight will be more evenly distributed, giving you better balance (important when walking over uneven ground), greater comfort over long walks, and it leaves your hands free for climbing over stiles and so forth.

Tripod
A lightweight tripod is a
must if walking and if it can fold up small then so much the better. You should keep sturdiness in mind too, so avoid anything too flimsy. The best combination of strength and light weight is a carbon fibre tripod, though of course these are also the most expensive. For landscapes a pan and tilt head is generally more useful than a ball and socket type, as you can level the horizon and lock this off while still maintaining movement in the vertical and lateral planes.

Remote Release
For maxuimum depth of field you’ll want to be using small apertures, and therefore a tripod and slow shutter speeds. You can use the self-timer button to release the shutter, but a remote release offers a greater amount of control and stability.

Grey Card
Being able to get a light reading from a grey card feels almost like cheating, but if it gives you better exposures, the why not take advantage of it? There are a couple of companies that now make fold out versions of these which are light and give you a bigger surface to meter from. Alternatively, you can buy the traditional cardboard targets, which are also very good.

Filters
There’s a small selection of filters that can be very useful in black and white photography. Chief among these is a Neutral Density (grey) graduated filter, which is used for darkening the sky to maintain more detail and introduce a sense of drama. They come in several strengths. A polarising filter is useful for removing unwanted reflections. Finally, if you prefer to shoot b&w in camera, rather than convert to mono later in editing software, consider a set of yellow, orange and red filters. These can boost contrast, darken skies and bring out clouds, with yellow having the mildest effect and red the strongest.

Wideangle Lens
A good wideangle lens will generally be your main stock in trade for landscapes. The 18mm end of your standard zoom lens may be wide enough for your needs but if not, take a look at the selection of superwide zooms on the market, such as Nikon’s excellent 12-24mm lens.