Monochromatic Nature Photography

Text and photos by Heather Cline 

Antelope Slot Canyon

The term monochromatic is often associated with black and white images and while that is accurate, monochromatic photographs are those that are dominated by a single color. They may contain small amounts of other colors but are defined by one color taking center stage. If you are struggling to weed out distracting elements in your compositions, this approach can be an effective way to simplify your images. 

This article includes tips for incorporating this approach into your photographs. 

Local Landscape

The color that makes up a landscape can be the result of a concentration of trees, plants, flowers, or the local geology. Spring and autumn are ideal seasons to capitalize on growth and rapid change in the natural environment. In contrast, forests and desert canyons provide more stable palettes to capture throughout the year. Leverage the landscape to create impactful monochromatic images. 

Canyonlands National Park

Time Of Day 

Just before sunrise and after sunset is blue hour, named so for the hue it casts on landscapes. Sunrise and sunset are no different, but with a reliable golden light that blankets the scene. In the image below, fog helped to disperse the light in a soft even manner to result in a golden hue. You can generally rely on these times of day to achieve a monochromatic result. 

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park

Reflections

Under the right conditions, reflections can enhance a monochromatic landscape. Below is an example where reflections have contributed to the creation of monochromatic landscape photographs using a wide-angle lens.

Hidden Beach, Lake Tahoe

Composition

Monochromatic images offer a chance to simplify by highlighting details with supporting backgrounds and allowing the textures and details to create a compositional impact. Since colors set a tone and mood, you also have the ability to affect how the viewer feels when they look at your image. 

Honeybee on sunflower

Compression

If an area has good potential for monochromatic images but you find the surrounding area a bit too cluttered, try pulling out a telephoto lens to zoom in on the area you want to highlight while blurring out any distracting elements. Don't forget to experiment with different f-stops to increase or decrease background blur. In this example of the mushrooms in the forest, I wanted to keep a hint of the surrounding environment, so I didn't open up the f-stop to its widest setting. 

Mushrooms in the forest, Silver Falls State Park

I hope these tips have provided you some inspiration for maximizing the potential for impactful images by leveraging monochromatic scenes and subjects. Until next time, happy shooting!